Vegan High Protein Hemp Brownie Tart
Sprout Living was kind enough to send me some of their amazing protein powders to create recipes with and I could not have been more excited when the package arrived. I always love getting things in the mail, and their protein powder is good stuff. If you have not tried it, it is raw, vegan, organic, non-GMO, gluten free, and soy free, and comes in four flavors. Chocolate Maca, Vanilla Lucuma, Green Kingdom, and Natural. It is something you can feel good about putting into your body, and great for energy, keeping you full, and rebuilding muscle. I like to take it before and after I work out. Also, I am very picky about protein powder texture and flavor and this stuff tastes wonderful and has the perfect texture as far as I am concerned.
Also, it works well in recipes, like the one I am sharing with you today! Although I like my protein around my workout, sometimes I like to incorporate it into other things as well. Like brownies. Why not have your dessert, and get your protein too?! I made some hemp brownies last weekend including the Sprout Living Chocolate Maca Protein.
These are really fairly healthy brownies. They are sweetened with coconut sugar, but not too large an amount because the protein powder adds sweetness, and I used apple sauce to keep them soft, which is also sweet. I used raw hemp seed butter to make them fudgy, these actually contain no oil, but they taste plenty rich. Dare I say it, you could feel good about eating these for breakfast. Not the whole pan, but a slice.
They turned out so delicious, and guess what? Sprout Living is allowing me to give away one of their 16 oz bags of protein powder, plus a protein shake bottle. So, if you would like to win one, scroll to the bottom of the page to enter the giveaway! Or if you would like to buy some, you can do so on their website HERE.
Vegan High Protein Hemp Brownie Tart
Makes 16
Brownies:
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup organic hemp seed butter*
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp reduced aquafaba or 2 flax eggs*
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Sprout Living Epic Chocolate Maca Protein Powder
1/2 cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Frosting:
1/2 cup walnut butter (almond butter or pecan butter will work as well)
1/2 cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp filtered water
pinch sea salt
To make the brownies, pre-heat the oven to 375F degrees. Whisk together the sugar, applesauce and hemp seed butter until well combined. Add the aquafaba and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour, protein powder. cacao powder and sea salt and beat until smooth. Scrape the batter into a greased 8 inch removable bottom tart pan. Place in the oven, and Bake for about 25 minutes or until set. Let cool.
Meanwhile, to make the frosting, whisk together all of the frosting ingredients until smooth (if it seems too thick, whisk in a little more water). Spread over the tart. Sprinkle with hemp seeds, cut into slices and serve!
*To make the hemp seed butter, place about 4 cups raw hemp seeds in a high speed blender, and blend until smooth, using the tamper to press the nuts down into the blades (this should take about 3 minutes). Please note that if your blender is not high speed it is probably not capable of making butter. Store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to a few months. You may also buy hemp seed butter HERE.
*The aquafaba is the liquid from cooked or canned chickpeas. You want it to be thick like egg whites. If you are wanting to make flax eggs, simply mix together 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds, and 6 Tbsp filtered water and let sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before using in the recipe.
