Toasted pecans meet sweet maple flavor for a delicious yet healthy plant-based dessert: Gluten-Free Vegan Maple Pecan Blondies. These vegan blondies are secretly healthy while still being fudgy and delicious.
I'm going to tell you a secret...
These blondies have beans in them.
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Yep, beans. Cannellini beans to be specific. Some of nature's finest, most nutrient-dense creations are secretly blended into these blondies. Beans! They're amazing. They have TONS of fiber which is one of the most important nutrients that we all forget about.
Fiber helps with digestion. It normalizes your whole digestive system. It can help with weight loss and prevent diseases. I could go on and on... But I won't. The bottom line is that fiber is incredibly important and we need to eat more of it. So why not pack it into desserts?
Don't run away yet! When you taste these blondies you'll never guess they have beans or are filled with healthy fiber. All you'll taste is sweet maple flavor, crunchy pecans, and a hint of sea salt. Did someone say fall?
Actually, these Vegan Maple Blondies get their fudge from the beans! They are just moist enough to make these blondies fudgy and delicious without turning them too dense. Yep, that's right. No butter necessary, these blondies get their amazing texture from plants!
And did I already mention the flavor? These vegan blondies are slightly sweet with hints of maple. When you add nuttiness of toasted pecans you get such an incredible flavor. No wonder maple pecan is a thing.
What is a blondie?
Blondies are just like brownies, except without the chocolate. They've got most of the same ingredients, are baked in a pan, and cut into squares. All without the chocolate - they're blonde!
They still have a delicious flavor! Blondies taste like vanilla & caramel in a fudgy bar.
These gluten free vegan blondies are a whole food plant-based version of the classic blondie. But here's the twist of this recipe (besides the whole vegan, plant-based, oil-free, gluten-free, sugar-free thing). They're maple pecan.
So we've got a brownie-cookie-maple-pecan conglomeration. Sound good? I think so.
Why I love these Vegan Maple Pecan Blondies
- Dietary needs - this recipe is plant-based, gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free.
- Rich and fudgy - the key to a deliciously fudgy texture in plant-based baked goods is an ingredient like chickpeas or sweet potatoes that adds some density in what would have otherwise been a dry, boring bar.
- Secretly filled with fiber - I used cannellini beans as the texture-making ingredient in this dish, giving the blondies a healthy serving of fiber. But you'd never know there are beans in these blondies!! You can't taste them.
Ingredient Notes
- Cannellini Beans: you can also use chickpeas, like I do in my basic blondie recipe. I like cannellini beans here because they are even softer than chickpeas, resulting in the ultimate fudgy texture
- Oat Flour: I used Homemade Oat Flour because it is super easy to make and also cheap but store bought oat flour works well too.
- Pecan Butter: This stuff is a game-changer. Almost all baking recipes require some fat. And my usual fat source is nuts. Normally, I go for almond butter or cashew butter because they both have neutral flavors. But not this time! Pecan butter adds some more pecan flavor to the blondies. To make pecan butter just throw some pecans in a food processor for 5 minutes and you'll have creamy, dreamy pecan butter. If you don't want to make pecan butter you can use another neutral-tasting nut butter like mixed nut butter or cashew butter
- Maple Syrup: maple syrup is my go-to sweetener for baking recipes like this. BUT if you want a completely fruit-sweetened dish, you can use date syrup. Since these blondies are light in color the date syrup will turn the bars a brown/red color
- Flax Egg: a mixture of ground flaxseed and water. The flax egg does what a real egg does in baking - it helps to bind the batter together
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda
- Salt
- Toasted Pecans: The actual stars of the show! Make sure you toast your pecans for this recipe because it changes the flavor so much. Regular pecans are good, toasted pecans are incredible. The heat brings out a deep, rich, nutty flavor that you do not want to miss out on.
How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Maple Pecan Blondies
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 2. Add all the ingredients except the pecans to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Step 3. Stir in the pecans.
Step 4. Press the mixture the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with additional pecans, if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean and the blondies feel firm to the touch.
Step 5. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing. Cut into squares. Enjoy!
FAQ & Expert Tips
I used an 8x8 pan for THICK blondies. But a 9x9 pan or even a regular cake pan works too.
This recipe uses oat flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free and are therefore a great option for those avoiding gluten.
If you are allergic to gluten, make sure to buy certified gluten-free oat flour to avoid any trace amounts of gluten that can be added to oats during processing.
Recipe Prayer
Thank you God for fiber-filled foods. Let us remember that each bite of food helps us nourish our bodies. Amen.
Related Recipes
Love blondies? Try these other vegan blondie recipes next:
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📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Maple Pecan Blondies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 15 Ounce Can Cannellini Beans or Chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 Cup Homemade Oat Flour
- ½ Cup Pecan Butter or other nut butter like mixed nut butter or cashew butter
- ½ Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseeds + 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Chopped Toasted Pecans + extra whole pecans for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add all the ingredients except the pecans to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Stir in the pecans.
- Press the mixture the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with additional pecans, if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean and the blondies feel firm to the touch.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing. Cut into squares. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate.
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