Protein Scotcheroos
Published 1/7/2024 • Updated 8/6/2024
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These protein scotcheroos are made in 30 minutes with a short list of whole ingredients. They pack protein powder in both the chocolate topping and scotcheroo base. Enjoy!
As midwesterners, we love a good dessert bar, and thee protein scotcheroos are sure to impress. Not only do they pack that butterscotch and chocolate-y flavor you love, but we’ve added chocolate protein powder to both the rice crispie base snd chocolate topping.
What’s in these Protein Scotcheroos?
These protein scotcheroos are composed of two layers, a peanut butter rice crispie layer and a chocolate layer. The peanut butter layer consists of rice crispies tossed in peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, and of course, protein powder.
And the chocolate layer packs butterscotch and semi sweet chocolate chips, coconut oil, and protein powder that all melts down to the most gorgeously glossy chocolate topping.
Substitutions & Variations
- Chocolate chips: you can use a dairy-free chocolate chip or milk chocolate. We don’t recommend removing the butterscotch chips as they are crucial to the flavor.
- Protein powder: we tested this recipe with collagen powder, too, and that worked great. Feel free to use any kind and any flavor. Chocolate would be delicious!
You can also mix up how you cut these bars. Triangles would be fun! Or you can make them smaller to be more bite-sized to serve a crowd, too.
Best Protein Powders
Check out our top protein powder recommendations for baking, smoothies, and everything in between.
Garden of Life
Raw Organic Protein
Simply Tera's
Pure Whey Protein
Sun Warrior
Protein Powder
Garden of Life
Organic Whey Protein
Top Tips
We recommend a double boiler for melting the chocolate for this recipe because it helps ensure even melting, and is the best way to avoid burning the chocolate. A double boiler consists of two stacked pots: the lower pot holds simmering water, and the upper pot sits inside it.
The heat from the simmering water in the lower pot gently and evenly transfers to the contents in the upper pot. Essentially, it’s a way to heat things slowly and evenly without direct contact with the heat source. If you don’t have two pots, you can use a pot and a metal bowl, as well.
Add coconut oil as necessary. If the peanut butter used is not oily enough, you may need to use more coconut oil to smooth out the peanut butter mixture.
Storage + Freezer Instructions
After slicing the scotcheroos, store them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. We don’t recommend storing these at room temperature as the coconut oil will cause the bar to not hold its shape.
We recommend storing these scotcheroo bars in the freezer as they will last the longest. We have them in a gallon-size bag and that works great!
Protein Scotcheroos
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Layer
- 2 cups all-natural, drippy peanut butter
- ¾ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ⅓ cup vanilla protein powder, we used Whey Garden of Life
- 6 cups rice crispies
Chocolate Layer
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup butterscotch chips
- ⅓ cup chocolate protein powder, we used Whey Garden of Life
- Coarse sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Line a 9×13-inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Heat the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir to combine and heat until melted and becomes glossy.
- Remove from the heat and add the protein powder, rice crispies, and the peanut butter mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or wet your hands and mix until combined.
- Pour the rice-crispy mixture into the lined pan. Press the rice crispies firmly down to the bottom of the pan with your hands. Set aside.
- Set up a double boiler on the stovetop.* Heat the pot over medium/low heat. Add the coconut oil, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips to the top pot. When the mixture begins to melt, stir the ingredients constantly until the mixture is melted and becomes glossy.
- Slowly add the chocolate protein powder to the melted chocolate, stirring until combined before adding more protein powder. When all of the protein powder has been added and mixed in, remove from heat.
- Pour the chocolate over the rice crispies and use a spatula to evenly distribute. Sprinkle on coarse sea salt, if desired.
- Place the pan in the refrigerator until set.
- Serve immediately or store on the countertop for softer bars or in the refrigerator for a firmer bar.
Tips & Notes
- A double boiler is a kitchen tool used for gentle and indirect heating of foods or liquids. It consists of two stacked pots: the lower pot holds simmering water, and the upper pot sits inside it. The heat from the simmering water in the lower pot gently and evenly transfers to the contents in the upper pot. Essentially, it’s a way to heat things slowly and evenly without direct contact with the heat source. If you don’t have two pots, you can use a pot and a metal bowl, as well.
- If the peanut butter used is not oily enough, you may need to use more coconut oil to smooth out the peanut butter mixture.
- Be careful not to heat both the peanut butter and chocolate mixture over too high of heat to avoid burning.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
A healthier option for one of our all-time favorite desserts!
These scotcheroos were a hit with my family. I actually prefer these to the original corn syrup recipe, they aren’t as sweet and I like the texture better.
So good! I didn’t think it could taste as good as “normal” scotcheroos, but it did!!
My husband, who can spot a healthy dessert a mile away even said these were good! The whole family devoured them.
A little crumbly as others have noted but very tasty! Will be making these again!
These are so good!! I subbed chocolate peanut butter protein powder and they turned out amazing–a little crumbly, but overall delicious!
Not sure I’m a huge fan of butterscotch but delicious none the less! Loving this series!
These tasted so good, they are just a bit crumbly! Glad to have a healthier version of one of my favorite bars !
Keeping these together is a little hard, and I will need to keep them in the fridge. I am excited for a dessert with a little extra kick of protein, though. Thanks for the recipe!
These were delicious! I just took a small taste before the kids got home from school and I accidentally ate four more “tastes.”