We recently celebrated National blonde brownie day…aka National Blondie day. I’m beginning to feel like there is a special day for everything…but to be honest, if it involves treats then I’m happy to celebrate!
I have always been a fan of brownies, but blondies have recently stolen my heart. I was always the person that picked chocolate over any other flavor, and now I find that I’m choosing vanilla…The reason being is simple: It’s so versatile…Add some peanut butter and you have a peanut butter flavoured smoothie/treat, add some cinnamon and you have a cinnabom flavoured smoothie/treat, add some coffee…and I think you get the picture…
How these came about is a story in itself…
I originally thought that I would just add some caramel essence to my favourite blondie recipe and call these caramel blondies…I then decided that a caramel topping would be amazing…this led my ADD mind to realizing that my date caramel would be an amazing addition…I then decided that the sweetening agent had to be dates…I then decided that since I am using dates as the sweetener, that I should try make these vegan…and with some trial and error- I mastered this recipe to share with all of you…I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed experimenting and coming up with this recipe for all of you. If you make them, please let me knwo!
Super Caramel (vegan) blondies
Ingredients
- For the blondie layer: 1 can of chickpeas, drained and risnsed
- 1 cup of pitted dates, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes (and then drained)
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
- 2 TBS Peanut butter (optional but recommended)
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp caramel essence
- A pinch of himilayan salt
- For the caramel layer: 3/4 cup pitted dates, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes (and then drained)
- 1 heaped TBS peanut butter
- 1 TBS virgin coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- Carob chunks to drizzle on top, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with some tinfoil, shiny side down.
Add all of the blondie ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until the mixture is thick, creamy and smooth. (See notes)
Spoon into the prepared baking tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
While the blondies are baking, make the caramel layer. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth (Make sure that there are no 'chunks' of dates in the mixture.
Once the blondies have cooled completely, spread the caramel over the blondies and allow to set in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
Optional: Drizzle some melted carob or melted dark or raw chocolate over the caramel layer to finish the blondies off. Store in the fridge.
Jo's Notes
In order to ensure that the mixture is smooth and silky, while rinsing the chickpeas, gently peel off the skin. This isn't crucial but definitely helps to create a finer texture in the baked blondie. The skin peels off relatively easily and will not take you longer than 5 minutes.
The dates are soaked in boiling water to soften. Alternatively, you can heat the dates in the microwave for 45 seconds.
Super caramel (vegan) blondies
Super caramel (vegan) blondies
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what do you think?