Vegan PB&J Blondies
These Peanut Butter & Jelly Blondies are fudgy, creamy, and delicious! Made from only 9 healthy, vegan, & gluten-free ingredients for a perfect dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Berry “Jelly” Layer:
- 2 cups (180 g) sliced strawberries*
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, plus more to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
For the Peanut Butter Batter:
- 3/4 cup (75 g) oats, blended to make oat flour (or 3/4 cup pre-made oat flour)
- 3/4 cup (100 g) brown rice flour*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt*
- 1 cup (235 ml) + 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk (homemade or store-bought)
- 3/4 cup (130g) coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup (200 g) natural, salted peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prep: preheat the oven to 350F and grease or line a 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper.
- Make the “Jelly”: add the berries, sugar, and lemon juice to a blender and blend until smooth. If your machine is having trouble blending, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to help assist – just know that if you do this, you will need to simmer the jelly down more. Pour the smooth mixture into a nonstick pan preheated to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Set aside to let cool slightly.
- Make the PB Batter: add the oat flour, brown rice flour, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Form a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the milk, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Use a spatula to mix the center of the bowl (wet ingredients) together first, then gradually fold in the dry flour mixture until you have a smooth, uniform batter. Set around 1/2 cup of the batter aside – this will be used to swirl the bars.
- Assemble: Pour the peanut butter batter into the lined baking tin and use a spatula to smooth it out evenly. Then, pour the “jelly” layer over the peanut butter layer and do the same. Use the reserved batter to drop 1-tablespoon-sized dollops of batter sporadically throughout the tin, then use a toothpick or skewer to “swirl” the batter and jelly together.
- Bake: bake in the middle rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the dough portion looks set and the edges start to pull slightly away from the pan; the jelly layer may not look completely set in the middle. Let the blondies sit in the baking pan for 10-15 minutes, then carefully use the parchment paper to transfer the bars to a cooling rack and let cool completely. If you do not let the bars cool completely, their crumb structure will not form well.
- Slice & Serve: use a serrated knife to cut the bars into 9 even squares; I recommend cleaning it off between each cut, as some of the jelly layer will stick to it. Serve as desired; leftovers will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, or can be frozen for up to one month.
Notes
- Berries: I only used strawberries when making this recipe, but you can use any berry (or a combination of) that you’d like! You can also use frozen berries – just make sure to thaw them before blending. You may also need to simmer the jelly mixture for an additional 1-2 minutes due to extra liquid.
- Flour: if you do not have brown rice flour, replace it with equal parts oat flour or a gluten-free all-purpose blend
- Salt: if your peanut butter is unsalted, increase the salt in the batter to 1/2 of a teaspoon
- Other Substitutions: coconut sugar can be swapped for brown sugar or cane sugar. Peanut butter can also be replaced with any other nut or seed butter of your choosing!
Find it online: https://frommybowl.com/vegan-pbj-blondies/