Vegan Blondies

The other night I made these delicious vegan blondies. I admit, I almost didn't try them because some of the ingredients seemed unusual. However, if I've learned anything during my years of cooking it's that sometimes the strangest seeming ingredients can add the best flavor/texture, etc. to a recipe. Check them out!

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 cup cannellini white kidney beans
    1/4 cup almond butter
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    1/4 cup organic natural unsweetened applesauce
    1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    3/4 cup brown rice flour
    1/2 cup amaranth or chickpea flour
    1/2 cup gluten free, vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and grease an 8 or 9" baking pan. Mash kidney beans well until smooth. (you can use a food processor or just use the paddle attachment on a kitchen aide.)

2. Combine mashed beans with almond butter. Mix well until smooth. Add in sugar, applesauce and vanilla. Mix until creamy.

3. Stir in salt, xanthum gum, flours, and baking powder until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

4. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (mine took about 28 minutes ). Let cool before cutting, if possible.

If you don't care to make them gluten free, you can easily substitute regular flour for the gluten free ones.

Makes: 12 brownies, Preparation time: 10 mins, Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

I got this recipe off of VegWeb. I substituted the gluten free flour for regular, but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe. Oh, and since I used regular flour, I omitted the Xanthan Gum. It's a binder for gluten free flours, so unnecessary if using regular flour. My Dad loved these, and I thought they were pretty darn good myself. I highly recommend trying them out for yourself!