Ryan Tempfer and Kimberly Tran, co-founders of No Eggs or Ham blog and recipe creators:

This may just be the best dessert we’ve ever made.

Its flavors are unique, without being “too far out there”. The texture has a perfect balance between chewy & cakey. And it’s really easy to make (always a plus), and it includes my favorite dessert additive: salt.

Salt Makes Sweets Better

When we think sweets we tend to think sugar, or some other component of sweetness – whatever that means to you – but, when balanced with salt, sweetness comes to life. For this reason, almost every dessert recipe out there features at least a little bit of salt.

Taking that one step further, adding salt directly on top of a desert – where it comes into direct contact with tastebuds – sparks saliva the moment it touches the mouth, which then acts like a kind of ooze whose job is to grab flavors from food and bring them around to every taste bud in the building; salt essentially paints every flavor in bold.

The Magic Dessert Ingredient from the East

Another dessert law that often goes unnoticed in the West is citrus. In many countries on the “other side of the globe,” desserts aren’t just sweet – they’re sweet, salty, sour, and sometimes even bitter.

When it comes to citrus, it acts as a bright torch in a dark room, in contrast to the decadent heaviness that sugary sweetness carries.

Thus, these vegan blondies are latent with freshly grated lemon & orange zest, which infuses them with a burst of heavenly fragrance. Plus, it’s citrus season! So it’s time to get your fixing in and make up a batch of lemon cookies (but that’s another post), too.

What are Blondies, Anyhow?

Let’s halt this train for a second to talk about blondies – what are they? If you’re one smart cookie, you’ve probably figured out that they’re brownies, only without the chocolate, making them “blond” in appearance. Like brownies, they’re rich, dense, buttery, chewy, and only slightly cakey. They can be made plain or filled with chocolate chips, toasted nuts, and much more.

Because gluten-free flours don’t usually have the same strength that wheat flours do, which gives brownies their chewy edge, we implement an ingredient regularly used but highly controversial in the health food world: Xanthan Gum.

Xanthan gum is found in a massive variety of foods found on the market, including sauces, plant-milks, ice creams, drinks, breads, and much, much, more. Now, I’ve done A LOT of research on this product.

What I discovered comes down to is this: Xanthan gum is a relatively innocent additive with highly beneficial results unless you have an extremely sensitive stomach.

If you are one of those people with a weak stomach and know that Xanthan gum causes problems for you, then simply leave it out. The dessert will still be amazing without it. However, if you’re feeling experimental, we found that the addition of Xanthan gum lends this vegan blondies recipe with a dense crumble, more cohesive structure, and a pleasant chewiness. Either way, we think you’ll be enthused with the results.

More Important Ingredients in NoEggandHam.com’s Vegan Blondies Recipe

We covered salt & citrus, now let’s talk chocolate. Aside from being absurdly rich in antioxidants, dark chocolate has a decadent nature that doesn’t overwhelm the palate with sweetness. For this reason, dark chocolate chips add a slightly bitter yet intensely comforting feel to these blondies. And, well you know… it’s chocolate, which makes any desert better in my opinion.

Finally, we have toasted walnuts…

whose biggest contribution to these vegan blondies is their crunchy bite. In an overall soft & moist treat, walnuts surprise the muncher (that’s you) and make you use different parts of your mouth to chew, which contributes to a more satisfying eating experience. On top of that, by toasting the walnuts prior to folding them in, there’s an added flavor profile of bold earthiness, which serves to balance out the dessert’s brightness.

Plus, walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3s and antioxidants.

These blondies go far beyond basic grocery store vegan deserts (which I’m a total sucker for) and up to the ranks of a high-end bakery! We hope you find it in yourself to take a leap of faith and try out a few foreign ingredients. We’re confident you’ll be happily overwhelmed by the results.

If you like what your taste buds are tellin’ ya, leave behind a nice rating, share your thoughts with us in the comments, or show us your creations by tagging @noeggsorham on Instagram.

Salted Citrus Vegan Blondies with Toasted Walnuts & Dark Chocolate Chips

Chewy, rich, and buttery blondies laced with fresh orange & lemon zest, topped with a sprinkle of coarse pink salt. Packed throughout with toasted walnuts & dark chocolate chips.

Difficulty: Easy

What You’ll Need –

Dry Ingredients

• 99 g (1/2 c + 1 tbsp) green banana flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt, divided (medium/coarse preferred for topping)
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum (optional)*
• 63 g (1/2 c) walnuts, lightly crushed
• 45 g (3 tbsp) bittersweet chocolate chips (we used 85% cacao chocolate)

Wet Ingredients

• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax meal + 5 tbsp water)
• 1 c light coconut milk
• 2/3 c virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 c erythritol
• 1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest, 1 tsp aside
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest, 1/2 tsp aside
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp liquid Stevia extract

What To Do –

1. Pre-heat oven to 325° F. Spray a standard sized nonstick loaf pan (dimensions: 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 in) with coconut oil spray, or lightly coat it with regular coconut oil.

2. Roll out a piece of parchment paper long enough to cover the bottom and sides of your loaf pan.

3. Then, cut the sides of the paper so that it fits directly into the middle of your pan, essentially creating a “sling” that you can use to easily remove the blondie from the pan. (Reference this article for how-to visuals.)

4. Once the oven is ready, place lightly crushed walnuts on a cookie sheet and set in oven until crispy and fragrant; 4-5 minutes. Set aside. Note: Keep an eye on the walnuts, as they can go from perfect to burnt within minutes.

6. In a medium mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the green banana flour, baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and xanthan gum; whisk for about a minute to ensure the Xanthan gum is evenly distributed.

7. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flax eggs and let them sit for 2 minutes.

8. Slowly whisk your melted buttery coconut oil into the flax eggs – this may take a couple minutes of heavy whisking. Once cohesive, whisk in coconut milk, vanilla extract, stevia, 2 tsp orange zest, and 1 tsp lemon zest.

9. Pour dry ingredients on top of wet ingredients and stir – with a wooden spoon – until smooth. Then, stir in chocolate chips and toasted walnuts until evenly distributed.

10. Spoon batter into prepped loaf pan and use a spoon or your hands to evenly spread the batter throughout the pan. Then, sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of orange zest, and 1/2 tsp of lemon zest. Lightly press down to ensure the zest & salt sticks.

11. Place in the center rack of your oven and bake for 33-37 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center is still soft; an inserted toothpick will come out clean.

12. Place pan on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then, use parchment sling to gently transfer blondies from pan to cooling rack. Let cool another 30 minutes before cutting.

13. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut through horizontally three times, thus making 8 pieces. For smaller pieces, cut through vertically two times, then horizontally 4 times.

14. Enjoy while lightly warm, or let cool completely then place in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to 3 days.

 

Recipe Notes

*Xanthan Gum lends a chewier, more cohesive texture, however, if you don’t feel like going out to buy it, simply leave it out. They’ll just be slightly cakey-ier without it.