High Protein Pumpkin Brownies

These seasonal brownies are super fudgey from using pumpkin in the batter and are made with healthy, high protein ingredients so each bar is less than 100 calories and includes 10 grams of protein!

 

 This weekend I visited a local farm to do some apple picking: my first official "fall activity" of the season. I had fun picking some apples with my boyfriend and then relaxing afterwards enjoying the views from the orchard with some locally made hard cider (this is my fourth or fifth time coming to this orchard for that very reason!) The weather in PA finally feels less like an Indian Summer and more like actual fall and now that we are officially in October I think I'm finally ready to embrace all things fall!

All things fall includes all things apple and PUMPKIN - am I right??  I loved the first time I made protein brownies based off the recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie and ever since fall has arrived I thought that a pumpkin version of these brownies would be even better for the season! Well, turns out Katie thought the same thing because she just recently posted a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Workout Brownies. I guess great minds think alike ;) I decided to go ahead and post my version of her recipe as well to show how I made it just a little more macro-friendly.  My main secret ingredient: swapping out the nut butter she uses for gbutter!

High Protein Brownies using GButter

These high protein brownies are modified from blogger Chocolate Covered Katie and use gbutter high protein spread to give an extra peanut butter flavor without all the fat!

I had such a fun Saturday this weekend spending the night in Philadelphia that Sunday night was feeling pretty depressing having to get ready to go back to reality today...so it was the perfect time to comfort myself by trying out a new brownie recipe.

I was only gone one night but it felt like such a fun little vacation! My boyfriend and I went down to the city Saturday afternoon and hung out at Spruce Street Harbor Park which is a super cute outdoor pop-up park at the waterfront in Penns Landing in Philly.  There are outdoor hammocks you can lay on, lawn games to play, food and drink vendors, and a floating barge you can go hang out on! We had a fun afternoon relaxing out in the sun and having a few cold ciders (me) and beers (bae) before walking back to our hotel to get cleaned up for an event that night.

We stayed at the Hilton in Penn's Landing which is literally only steps away from the park and was SO NICE! Such good customer service and a great experience overall.  We were going to a charity event at a rooftop bar that night for Gym Bully Clothing Co and we had a nice time hanging out at the hotel bar sipping some prosecco before heading out for the evening. 

 My dress and necklace are from Catch Bliss Boutique (code "Rebecca25" for 25% off) and shoes are DSW

We woke up Sunday morning and enjoyed the continental breakfast at the hotel and even though it was SUCH a beautiful day out my boyfriend had to fly to Nashvhille for work :( so he headed to the airport and I headed home alone to console myself by making these delicious brownies.

I have had the recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie for her Chocolate Workout Brownies pinned ever since she first shared it last month and I have been DYING to try it! I mean, a brownie that is high in protein and actually decently healthy for you? Um yeah, obvi count me in for that one. I wanted to make a few adjustments to make them slightly more macro friendly though, and I'm SO happy with how they turned out! One brownie is just under 100 calories and packs 10 grams of protein!