Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies. (Gluten/Grain/Egg/Dairy Free with directions to make Sugar Free.)

 I thought of the idea to make these blondies last night at midnight.. and by 7am I had the perfect pan hot out of the oven.

(Yes, I do usually sleep- but this past week I became hyperthyroid after adding exercise to my routine for the first time in three years. Little did I know working out can increase your t3 and t4 levels! Needless to say I’ve had some insomnia and been taking advantage by baking during the night.  Its all about the silver lining!)

I wish I had thought to make these blondies a LONG time ago. They are delicious and easy- and I can eat them even despite my laundry list of food intolerances.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies.

• 2 packed cups of blanched almond flour (see substitution notes below)
• 3/4 cups of peanut butter (see substitution notes below)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (see substitution notes below)
• 3/4 Tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 10 Tablespoons of Water or Milk (dairy or nondairy)
• 1-2 bars of  dairy free chocolate. (see substitution notes below)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a the bowl of a stand mixer mix all of the ingredients until smooth.
3. Chop bars of chocolate and stir in the chunks into the blondie batter. (It should end up the consistency of thick peanut butter).
4. Bake for 30-33 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Baking Notes & Substitutions

• Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour,  If your not a risk taker- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for. For the best results use a mild tasting nut or seed flour.
• To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.) If you flour is course, then be aware that your cookies are going to spread more and not turn out as good.
• Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe. Only use other Nut/Seed flours.
• The granulated sugar can be ANY of the following varieties: Organic Cane Sugar or regular cane Sugar, Sucanat, Coconut Palm Sugar or Granulated Maple Sugar. To make this recipe SUGAR FREE use xylitol or erythritol. I have become a huge fan of the Truvia Baking Blend made out of erythritol and is available at most grocery stores. It works spectacular in all of my cookie recipes.
• For the Peanut Butter I used Trader Joes Unsweetened- its super thin and creamy. If you use another peanut butter  that is thicker you may need to add a little extra water. Your batter should end up the consistency of thick peanut butter- so feel free to add an extra TBS of water (or milk) or so if needed to get that thickness.  (add a little at a time, a little will go a long way). If you want to avoid peanuts another nut or seed butter will work. Follow the same guidelines and add a little extra water (or milk) if needed.
• For the Chocolate: I used a bar of Simply Light sugar free/ dairy free  dark chocolate. It can be found at Trader Joe’s or Whole foods. Any bar of chocolate can be used in this recipe.. additionally you can always just use allergen free chocolate chips or chunks from Enjoy Life.
• PLEASE follow these guidelines if you would like the recipe to work! Making other changes will give you different results. Experiment at your own risk.

-Brittany-

Tagged as: blondies, cookies, desserts, egg free, gluten free, grain free, starch free