Chocolate Mousse Protein Bars

These chocolate mousse protein bars are divine - soft, silky, and bittersweet. Perfect with a mid-morning coffee or as an after dinner sweet treat. Enjoy!
Yield: 9 servings of 1 bar each, totaling 9 bars
Macros (per serving): 255 calories | 12g protein | 21g fat | 3.5g net carbs
Prep: 25 minutes | Cool: 3 to 4 hours
Equipment Required: 7-inch (18cm) square cake pan or 9x5-inch (23x13cm) loaf pan
Storage: refrigerated for up to 5 days. Can also be frozen.
Ingredients:​
  • ½ cup (120g) tahini ✎​
  • ¾ cup (84g) vegan vanilla-flavored protein powder ✎
  • ⅓ cup (29g) unsweetend cocoa powder
  • 2 ounces (57g) unsweetened baking chocolate​, chopped
  • ¼ cup (48g) granulated allulose or granulated keto-friendly sweetener of choice
  • 1 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
  • ⅛ tsp + a pinch salt, divided
  • 1 x 13.5-ounce (400g) can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 tsp (3g) (or more ✎) agar agar powder
Directions:
  1. Put the tahini in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
  2. Combine the cocoa powder and protein powder in a small bowl.
  3. In another small heat-safe bowl, put the baking chocolate, allulose, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
  4. ​In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, agar agar powder, and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Bring to a low boil on medium heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk occasionally and monitor and adjust heat if necessary to prevent boiling over.
  5. Meanwhile, line a 7-inch (18cm) square cake pan or 9x5-inch (23x13cm) loaf pan with parchment. Allow the parchment to hang over at least 2 sides of the pan for easy removal of the bars and/or use a loose-bottomed pan.
  6. Add roughly ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (150g) of the coconut milk mixture to the chopped chocolate bowl and whisk until all chocolate chunks are melted. Add the remaining coconut milk mixture to the tahini bowl and whisk until fully combined.
  7. Add the protein powder and cocoa powder to the tahini-coconut milk mixture and combine thoroughly to form a smooth dough without any dry patches. I use a medium-sized silicone spatula for this.
  8. Transfer the dough to your lined pan and spread/press it into an even layer. I use the spatula and/or my hands for this.
  9. Cover the top of your bars with the melted chocolate mixture. Optionally, drizzle with a little tahini and sprinkle with cacao nibs and sesame seeds.
  10. Transfer the bars to the fridge to cool and set for 3 to 4 hours.
  11. Cut into 9 bars and enjoy chilled or at room temperature.
✎ Notes:​
  • If you don't have tahini on hand or are allergic to sesame seeds, another nut or seed butter sould work fine.
  • The bars are sweetened primarily by the protein powder. If you don't find your protein powder to be very sweet, you may wish to add some additional sweetener. If you prefer to use a plain protein powder, you could add pure monk fruit or stevia to reach desired sweetness. I'm not sure how a granulated sweetener would work here.
  • With 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder, these bars are quite soft and have a mousse-like quality. They can still hold up at room temperature and be eaten by hand. If you prefer a firmer bar that's a bit more durable, you can increase the amount of agar agar powder. I've made these with up to a tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of agar. The more agar you use, the more quickly you need to mix the final ingredients and form the bars because the coconut milk mixture starts to gel more quickly.
  • Macros for this recipes are calculated with American national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the coconut milk (Aroy-D), agar agar powder (Now Foods), and protein powder (Vega Sport Vanilla).
  • Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.