Why it’s here
The sweet tooth doesn’t take camp off. Sweet potato does the job butter and most of the sugar normally do, so you get a dense, fudgy square for 140 calories instead of a bakery brownie at three times that. They’re not health food. They’re a better trade.
Makes 9 squares (one 8×8 pan). One serving = 1 square.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato (about 250 g, roughly 1 large potato)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 scoops chocolate whey protein (60 g)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats, blended into flour (40 g)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (28 g)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (42 g)
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment.
- Bake or microwave the sweet potato until soft (microwave: poke it, 6–8 minutes). Scoop out the flesh and mash it smooth.
- Whisk the sweet potato, eggs, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla until there are no lumps.
- Add the oat flour, protein powder, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until it comes together. The batter is thick. That’s right.
- Fold in most of the chips, spread into the pan, and scatter the rest on top.
- Bake 22–25 minutes, until the center is set and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
- Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 9. Warm, they fall apart. Cold, they hold.
Macros per serving
| Per square: 1 of 9 | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 140 |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Carbs | 21 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
Worked out from the ingredient weights above using standard USDA values. The protein powder is figured at 120 calories and 24 g protein per 30 g scoop. Check your tub’s label and adjust.
Notes
- Don’t overbake. Whey dries out fast. Pull them when the center just stops jiggling.
- Storage: airtight in the fridge for 5 days. They taste better cold on day two.
- Freezer: wrap squares individually and freeze up to 2 months. One goes in the shift bag frozen and it’s thawed by the afternoon.
- Want more protein per square? Cut the pan into 6 instead of 9: about 210 calories and 13 g protein each.