There are few things in this world better than a soft, gooey brownie.
If you’ve ever tried to make your own high-protein brownie at home, you know all too well that they don’t come close to the real thing.
A true brownie is soft & gooey thanks to lots of butter (or oil) and sugar, and the science of adding protein to the mix simply does not yield the same delicious result.
Is it even possible to make a decent high-protein brownie? Surprisingly yes, and I’ve got 5 different companies that are doing a pretty good job at it.
Now, let’s set the proper expectations: these are not gooey brownies with crackly tops like Mom makes. Much like protein cookies, it’s simply not possible to make a perfect replica of the real thing when dealing with macro-friendly ingredients.
But that doesn’t mean protein brownies need to be bad.
Which protein brownie is the closest option to an authentic brownie? Scroll through to find out.
5. Kodiak Cakes Brownie Power Cup
Nutrition: 290 Calories, 11g Fat, 41g Carbs (5g Fiber & 25g Sugar), 10g Protein
Kodiak Cakes makes decent products, but they often rub me the wrong way.
Much like Lenny & Larry’s, they’ve built a name for themselves in the high-protein space, yet a lot of their products are simply not good sources of protein.
This microwavable brownie in a cup has nearly 300 calories and only 10 grams of protein, which is not very impressive but is made significantly worse when you realize there are 25 grams of sugar in it as well.
I’m not anti-sugar by any means, but when the sugar content is over double the protein content, I don’t consider it a particularly good protein source. In this case, it’s just a brownie with some protein added.
Luckily for Kodiak Cakes, the taste is solid (with all that sugar, it better be). I’d consider this more of a moist chocolate cake than a brownie, but considering it’s made in a microwave in under 2 minutes, that’s kind of what you expect.
The chocolate flavor is delicious, and although it seemed almost slimy at first, that went away once this fully cooled.
If you enjoy chocolate cake, you’ll love this Power Cup. But for 300 calories and only 10 grams of protein, it’s not something I’d be reaching for on a regular basis. If you see it on sale, it’s worth a try, but it gets the bottom spot on this list.
4. Eat Me Guilt Free Protein Brownies
Nutrition: 186 Calories, 10g Fat, 10g Carbs (4g Fiber & 6g Sugar), 14g Protein
Eat Me Guilt Free offers a ton of different flavor options for their brownies, which is very appealing.
Whether you prefer traditional chocolate brownies or something sweeter like a birthday cake blondie, they’ve got an option for you.
And to be totally honest, these brownies are absolutely delicious. So why are they only ranked 4th?
These are essentially squares of cake that are called brownies. To be perfectly fair, they’re soft & moist, so they’re still very enjoyable to eat. But if you’re expecting brownies, these fall a bit short.
If these were sold as protein cake, they would be an absolute homerun. If you prefer cakey brownies, these may be exactly what you’re after.
But for me, even though they taste great, I cannot rate them too high as brownies.
3. Bowmar Nutrition Protein Brownies
Nutrition: 220 Calories, 6g Fat, 26g Carbs (0g Fiber, 7g Sugar), 15g Protein
Bowmar Nutrition brownies are one step up from the Eat Me Guilt Free brownies because they’ve managed to make them a bit more brownie-like in texture.
The texture of the classic fudge brownie was nearly perfect, and as you can tell by the photo above, it had a really nice denseness to it without being too thick or chewy.
The blondie version was very moist and packed with flavor, but it resembled pound cake much more than a blondie. Similar to Eat Me Guilt Free, it it were sold as protein pound cake, it would be nearly perfect.
Truthfully, there’s not much to complain about with these brownies. Bowmar Nutrition really nailed the flavor, and the texture of the brownie is extremely impressive.
The only reason that these brownies are number 3 on my list is that I was just that impressed by two other brands out there.
2. Alpha Prime PrimeBites Protein Brownies
Nutrition: 185 Calories, 7g Fat, 22g Carbs (2g Fiber, 6g Sugar, 11g Sugar Alcohol), 17g Protein
When I first tried these protein brownies, I found that it was a bit on the cakey side, but it was extremely soft and moist.
Then I went back to the store and grabbed another flavor to try, and it absolutely blew me away. The brownie you see pictured above is their Chocolate Cookie Monster, and it was nearly perfect.
Texturally, it was dense & moist and pretty much exactly what I’d want from a brownie.
Since one of the flavors was a bit on the cakey side (albeit still delicious) I have to split the difference here and give PrimeBites the number 2 spot.
If you see these out in the wild, you absolutely have to give them a try because they will not disappoint you, but there is one other brownie out there that simply blew me away…
1. RECON1 MRE Brookie
Nutrition: 240 Calories, 8g Fat, 27g Carbs (1g Fiber, 9g Sugar), 15g Protein
Half brownie, half cookie, full perfection.
The only way to describe the texture of this protein brownie truly is “perfection.”
The brownie layer perfectly embodies everything you want in a dense & chewy brownie, and the cookie/blondie portion tastes exactly like a moist & chewy blondie.
Unlike the other high-protein blondies out there that are more like vanilla cake, this absolutely delivers.
Honestly, there’s no reason to dislike this one. It truly tastes like a brownie and a cookie combined, and although the macros are not quite as impressive as some other options, it’s certainly not enough to deter me.
If I could change anything about this brookie, it would be to make it slightly less bitter. Granted, this is just me being nitpicky, but it lacks the sweetness level I look for in a brownie or a cookie, so the bitterness comes through a little bit more than I would like.
Still, even with the brookie being a tiny bit bitter, the texture and flavor are top-notch. REDCON1 absolutely nailed these and I will proudly give them my top spot as the best protein brownie on the market today.
UPDATE: I’ve since gone back and tried the other flavor of the MRE Brookie, which was a huge step-down and thus brought this score way down. This recommendation is for the chocolate chip fudge flavor, which I had originally scored an 8.6/10.
