Cosmic brownies are not like any other brownie. They are extra fudgy, topped with a smooth ganache and rainbow chips. This healthy cosmic brownies recipe will take you back to the 90s without the extra calories!
Do you remember those Little Debbie fudgy cosmic brownies from elementary school? Well, how could you forget, am I right? Bring me back to the days where my only worry was if they would have cosmic brownies in the cafeteria that day!
So here is the thing, the original cosmic brownies are amazing, but the amount of calories per brownie is a little steep at nearly 300 calories. This healthy cosmic brownie recipe has a bit of protein, and yields a lot less calories per serving.
Ingredients for Healthy CopyCat Cosmic Brownies:
Pillsbury Brownie Mix: You will only need a portion of this mix, but it gives the brownies that authentic brownie taste that we all love so much!
Blended Quick Oats or Oat Flour: I blended my own quick oats in the food processor, but you can also buy oat flour at the store to save you an extra step in this recipe.
Light Butter: You want to use butter in most brownies to give them that chewy texture, this recipe uses light butter to reduce the calories but not the flavor! I used “I can’t believe it is not butter†, which is 35 calories per serving.
Vanilla Protein Powder: There is not a lot in this recipe and I promise you cannot taste it but it subs as a flour and adds 5 grams of protein per brownie!
Arrowroot Starch: You can also use corn starch, but to get the flaky chew texture of that fudgy brownie this ingredient is helpful!
Fat Free Sour Cream: Rather than using loads of butter or oil, the sour cream acts as a fat source in the recipe helping to bind it all together.
1 Whole Egg: Don’t try to sub more egg whites for the whole egg, we need that yolk for this recipe!
Liquid Egg Whites: I used the liquid egg whites straight from the carton, it may make a difference if you use the egg white right from the egg.
Brown Sugar Alternative: I used Swerve, and only 1 tablespoon, this is optional!
Salt: No baking soda or powder in this recipe, just a small bit of salt!
Fat Free Half & Half: This is for the ganache, you can’t have a cosmic brownie without the thick ganache on top!
Lily’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Another substantial ingredient for this recipe, I like this brand because it is sweetened with stevia!
Candy Coated Rainbow Chips: Boy did I go on the hunt for these, I went to multiple stores to search for these without any luck! Then I finally found the Pillsbury Funfetti Brownies and used the chips from this package. They are bagged separately which makes this the perfect solution! If you run out of like almost like I did you can also use mini m&ms and chop them up
How to Make Copycat Cosmic Brownies?
Let me walk you through it, it is not hard!
Watch my TikTok video to see how, here.
- First and foremost, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×9 square baking dish with parchment paper.
- If you opt to use quick oats like I did, use your food processor, or high speed blender to grind them into a flour. If you buy oat flour, then skip this step.
- To begin, melt the butter. Combine all of the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl; butter, egg, liquid egg whites, and fat free sour cream.
- Now add in the dry ingredients; brownie mix, oat flour, vanilla protein, arrowroot starch, swerve and combine.
- Once well combined, use a rubber spatula and scrape the batter into the baking dish.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool completely.
- While the brownies are cooling, prepare your ganache by melting your chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring in half and half and pouring over the cooled brownies. Sprinkle the rainbow chips over top, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Slice into 9 squares and enjoy!
How Many Calories in a Cosmic Brownie?
As I said earlier, the store bought brand is a bit high in the calorie range at 280 calories per brownie, I mean that is not too bad but they are pretty small!
This copycat cosmic brownie recipe is 136 calories per brownie. The macros for this recipe are 4.7 fat, 20.9 carb, and 5.2 protein!
You can find this recipe in My Fitness Pal by searching HNFit Healthy Cosmic Brownies for easy logging.
Commonly Asked Questions:
Are Cosmic Brownies Vegan?
Little Debbies Cosmic Brownies that you buy in the store are not vegan. Similarly, this particular recipe is not vegan because I use a Pillsbury box mix, butter, whey protein, and eggs. There are subs you could make that could potentially work out but I have not tested any of them out.
Where To Buy Cosmic Brownie Cereal?
Yeah you read that right, there is a cosmic brownie cereal!! I am not a huge fan of super duper sweet cereal but this is fun right? I have seen this cereal at my local grocery store, ShopRite, along with Walmart. Let me know if you try it and tag me in Instagram, @haleynicolefit
Can You Make Substitutions?
Yes you can!
If you do not have light butter, you can use normal butter, the macros will just differ per serving.
If you do not want to use protein powder in this recipe, sub 30 more grams of quick oats ground into oat flour.
If you do not have fat free sour cream, you can use light sour cream or greek yogurt would work great as well!
How Do You Store Healthy Cosmic Brownies?
Once the brownies are chilled, you can store them at room temp for 2-3 days, following that I would store them in the fridge to keep the chocolate from melting.
If you would like to freeze these, they will freeze well for up to 1 month!
Full recipe for healthy cosmic brownies below! If you like brownies check out our peppermint brownies or cheesecake brownies.
Healthy Cosmic Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ArrowRoot Starch or 10 grams
- 1 whole egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup quick oats ground into oat flour 60 grams
- ¼ cup light butter or 60 grams
- 3 tbsp egg whites or 46 grams
- â…› tsp salt
- 3 tbsp semi sweet chocolate or 40 grams
- 1 tbsp Swerve Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp candy coated rainbow chips or 7 grams
- 1 scoop vanilla protein or 31 grams
- ¼ cup fat free sour cream or 60 grams
- 1 cup brownie mix or 100 grams
- 2 tbsp fat free half and half or 30 mL
Instructions
- First and foremost, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x9 square baking dish with parchment paper.
- If you opt to use quick oats like I did, use your food processor, or high speed blender to grind them into a flour. If you buy oat flour, then skip this step.
- To begin, melt the butter. Combine all of the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl; butter, egg, liquid egg whites, and fat free sour cream.
- Now add in the dry ingredients; brownie mix, oat flour, vanilla protein, arrowroot starch, swerve and combine.
- Once well combined, use a rubber spatula and scrape the batter into the baking dish.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool completely.
- While the brownies are cooling, prepare your ganache by melting your chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring in half and half and pouring over the cooled brownies. Sprinkle the rainbow chips over top, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Slice into 9 squares and enjoy!