Chocolate protein bites are full of protein and easy to make with just 3 ingredients, including black beans! A snack that helps with energy, weight loss, even for restoring muscle. This recipe is free of dairy, gluten, and refined or processed sweeteners.

A scattering of chocolate protein bites on a white board.

These chocolate protein bites are an easy way to satisfy your chocolate craving and get your protein. That's because these easy bites are full of both, made with the best protein source, beans, and cocoa.

I've made these bites in several flavors, including strawberry protein bites and even cantalope bites. The benefits of eating a few of these before your workout are evident immediately. So I've started packing a few in family lunches.

Just like my no bake brownies, and my buckwheat brownies, these bites are sweetened by dates, or date paste, which makes anything you add them to taste delicious.

How Healthy are Black Beans

Beans are really the perfect energizing snack, full of protein, fiber and a slew of other nutritional benefits. These include:
1. potassium and iron, good for shiny hair among other effects;
2. thiamine for a boost to your cognitive abilities;
3. heart-supporting folate and magnesium, and
4. copper to fight inflammation and antioxidants galore!

And chocolate, raw cacao, is also full of antioxidants, and mood-boosting magnesium.

How Are These Made?

Easy! Just blend up ingredients, pour into molds or mini cupcake papers and freeze.

These snacks can be made with either date paste and maple syrup as the sweetener. I found maple syrup to sweeten the flavor a bit more than dates, so if you don't have dates or paste around, you can use maple syrup instead but reduce by half.

Try to find dates for this snack, though. The reason is with only 3 ingredients, you want each ingredient to contribute heavily to the nutrition of the recipe. While maple syrup certainly isn't as harmful as refined sugar, it doesn't have the considerable fiber and iron of dates.

I like to make date paste and store it in the freezer so I always have some one hand. My homemade date paste recipe is ~~coming~~ here.

Substitutions

There are a few.

If you don't have date paste, or dates to make date paste, use maple syrup instead. I give portions in the recipe below.

You can use unsweetened cocoa powder instead of cacao powder. Cacao powder is raw and a bit more nutritious. Unsweetened cocoa powder is more processed. You can also replace cocoa powder with chocolate protein for a higher level of protein.

And you can use either black or white beans.

Recipe Tips

They really taste best with date paste. And date paste is easy to make. I have a recipe here, but all you do is buy fresh Medjool dates. I find mind in the produce section of supermarkets, usually in a plastic case. Soak them in water overnight, pit them, and blend with water into a paste. Refrigerate that paste for recipes like this or to use a sweetener for other recipes and smoothies.

Dates add a ton more nutrition and fiber then other sweeteners.
I hope you love the easy protein recipe!

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