These Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies are incredible! Gluten-free, oil-free and just 8 ingredients! Made with oat flour and almond butter! Use sunbutter for nut-free!
VEGAN ALMOND BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHUNK BLONDIES
My husband had a birthday last week. So, to celebrate, I created these Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies. He turned 45. Wow! For those asking who’s sexy hands were used for last week’s post, that would be his. LOL. Yes, his hands were love at first sight for me, haha. Seriously, no joke, my close friends know this. Anyways, for his dessert, I made him these chocolate chunk blondies. He is not a fan of cake. I know, totally weird, but as much as I wanted to bake him a cake, he wouldn’t want to eat it. He instead, wanted these.
Can you blame him? Look at them. These are sweet, dense, fudgy and so delicious. He actually likes these gluten-free chocolate chip blondies stored in the freezer and to eat them straight out of the freezer, firm and cold. I like them both warm and cold, doesn’t matter to me, I’ll eat them. The chocolate chunks make these taste more gourmet and fill up the bars more than just chocolate chips, so do yourself a favor and get the chunks.
EASY TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP BLONDIES
They really are so easy to make. No sugar and butter to cream, no eggs to crack, no beaters needed. All you need is about 10 minutes to add 8 easy ingredients into a bowl and throw in a pan and bake for 25 minutes. Bonus for them being vegan, gluten-free and oil-free. How’s that for easy?
BROWN SUGAR GIVES MOISTURE TO THESE BLONDIES
I added light brown sugar to the mix and that made them perfect. The light brown sugar has molasses in it and it gives the bars that wonderful texture, chew and moisture. The molasses also helps bind them more than just regular sugar. The combo of both maple syrup and brown sugar is so amazing in these.
To try to keep these vegan almond butter chocolate chunk blondies from being too high in fat, I used some applesauce in place of oil and used some almond butter. They turned out moist and delicious, but also the applesauce is crucial for binding in these bars. I’m not a fan of the taste/texture of using all applesauce in baked goods and I refuse to eat something that is fat-free if I don’t enjoy it.
If you are allergic to nuts, these can also be made nut-free by using sunbutter instead of almond butter if you don’t mind a sunbutter taste.
I really hope you love these Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies, leave feedback below after you make them!
More Vegan Blondies and Brownies to try:
- Fudgy Coconut Butter Brownies
- Double Chocolate Sunflower Brownies
- Fudgy Vegan Low-Fat White Bean Brownies
- Zucchini Fudgy Brownies
- Sweet Potato Caramel Chocolate Chip Blondies
Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (205g) superfine oat flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) tapioca starch/flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup (180g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (80g) PACKED light brown sugar (other sugars will yield different results, so it's not recommended!)
- 1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup (128g) creamy roasted almond butter OR SUNBUTTER FOR NUT-FREE
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 heaping cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chunks OR use 3/4 cup chocolate chips, you'll need more since they are smaller, plus extra to put on top (120 g)
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8X8 glass or stoneware dish with nonstick baking spray or grease and flour. You could use parchment paper, but I find them to not bake as tightly this way and prefer them without parchment. Make sure your pan is 8X8, otherwise the bars will be thinner if your pan is larger than that. The bars should be 1 inch high after baked.
- In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, tapioca starch and salt and whisk well. When measuring the flours, use a scale for accurate results. Otherwise, make sure to scoop up the flours with your measuring cup and lightly pat down and level off with your finger.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the syrup, brown sugar, applesauce, almond butter and vanilla and whisk until completely smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and stir for a good couple of minutes until really thick and well mixed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out flat and even and out to the corners with the back of a spoon. The batter will be thick. Place extra chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm, golden and a toothpick basically comes out clean. I removed mine at 27 minutes and they were perfect. Cool at least 30 minutes before slicing, as they will firm up a lot while cooling and will fall apart if cut while they are too warm. Store any way you like, room temperature or the fridge. My husband loves them really firm and cold from the freezer.
My whole family LOVED these! I made the nut-free version with Sunbutter and it worked perfectly. Thanks for a fantastic recipe, Brandi!
We made these for my birthday last week and everyone raved about them! Willow was in heaven…because, well, there was chocolate chunks! This was my first time eating a vegan blondie…when I worked at Ruby Tuesday, my favorite dessert was their blondie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream an hot caramel sauce. The first bite took me back 🙂 Next time I’ll make your caramel sauce to go with these! Amazing recipe, Brandi!
Awww thank you so much Mandy for sharing that memory! I’m so glad these bars were a hit and gave you a happy memory, and more importantly, that Willow loved them!! 🙂
Brandi these were great! Easy peasy and delicious! I cut mine into 16 squares and wrapped them individually and froze them. Now every night I have one right out of the freezer with my cup of tea. I made a second batch to bring to the pot luck the craft show promoter is having tomorrow night after the show! I may or may not share!
Awesome Diana! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback! I’m so happy you loved them and they were such a hit!
I made these with Sucanat (organic brown sugar) and they came out gummy. I’m guessing you used the more traditional C&H sugar? You weren’t kidding about not substituting!!
Hi Marlene! Yes, I listed I use light brown sugar which has less molasses in it than sucanat, which can have a slightly different texture result in baking. These are blondies, so they should have a moist, dense texture, but not gummy. Maybe yours needed a bit longer to cook. Yeah, haha, since I make my recipes so simple with such few ingredients, subbing sometimes can affect the result. I will list often subs I’ve tried or different versions. There have been many successful reviews (above) from others and I know a couple of people has success subbing flour, but the only sugar I’ve tried is the regular light brown sugar.
I’ve made these several times, now, and they are yummy! They quickly became my favorite mid-morning snack.
Awesome Laura! Thank you so much for letting me know, I really appreciate it! So glad to hear!
Could you sub coconut sugar for the brown sugar?
Hi Britt! You can try it, but I would add a couple of teaspoons of molasses to the liquids because brown sugar has moisture in it from molasses and helps these bars be moist and hold. Coconut sugar is very dry and less concentrated, so it will alter the result a bit, so just add some molasses. Let me know how it turns out!
What can I use to substitute applesauce? 🙂
Hi Angie! I haven’t tried this with any other subs, but my best guess would be pureed pineapples. Just puree some fresh pineapple until completely smooth and then measure 1/2 cup. Please let me know how it turns out!
I love how quick these are to prepare, and to bake! I’ll be sure to try these both warm and chilled. 🙂
Thank you so much, I hope you love them!
I saw these on Instagram and immediately went out and bought the ingredients. Made them last night and wow! So delicious. The only problem now is trying to keep myself from eating the entire pan at once!
So awesome to hear Erin! I’m so happy you loved these so much, thank you very much for the feedback!!
Wow!! These look AWESOME!! However, I am seriously allergic to oats, and am wondering if quinoa flour would work as a good sub for that rather major ingredient?:-) Thank you for a very yummy-looking recipe!!
Hi Mary! Oh, I don’t know about that, quinoa has a very strong flavor and different texture. I personally don’t like the flavor it leaves in baked goods, and also the oats help to bind the bars. I guess if you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Ok, thanks for the info! I do use ‘sweet’ white sorghum flour quite a bit in baking, so maybe that would work instead. Either way, I am very much looking forward to trying this recipe out:-). Thanks again and Merry Christmas to both you and your family!!
Hi Brandi!
Just wanted to say I tried this recipe out for fun because I am testing the waters in terms of trying out more vegan recipes and this was a hit! It is very good and I really like the grittiness that the oat flour gives! Thank you so much for this recipe! I had a lot of fun searching for tapioca flour and oat flour because my local supermarket did not carry it. Surprisingly, it carried the exact brand of vegan chocolate you used and I’m so excited about that!! Hope you have a good day!
So wonderful to hear Amanda! I’m so very happy it was such a hit, thank you for the feedback!!
Hi! This recipe looks amazing… I went to the market and got absolutely everything and apparently I left the syrup! Is it okay to use agave instead??
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Jennifer! Yes, definitely agave will work! Be sure to come back and let me know what you think!
Oh my your husband is right! I just made these and I prefer them right out of the freezer too! Tastes like frozen cookie dough, but without any evil ingredients!
So Almond butter does not contain almonds?
Almonds are an allergen no?Tree Nut.
Not trying to be a smart-ass, just wondered because my son is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, and eggs so we do not touch Almond butter, Almond Mile, Almonds…
Hi Shelly, any recipe with a listed nut-free option is listed under the Nut-free tag since it can be made without nuts. I figured this would be helpful to people who want to make the same desserts but without nuts, which is why there is a listed “nut-free option” listed on the recipe. Hope that helps.
I made these for an event that included vegans, non-vegans and someone with tree nut allergies. I subbed out almond butter for sunflower seed butter. Everyone loved them and were amazed to learn that they were vegan. They were rich, with a consistency somewhere between cookie dough and fudge. I cut them in small squares, and although I forgot to count, I think I probably got close to 24. They held up well all evening on a buffet table. Planning to freeze the leftovers.
Just made these. Wanted something sweet and for the most part clean. Didn’t have eggs or coconut sugar which are staple ingredients for the most part. So glad I found this recipe and made these with the stuff I already had in my pantry. I put coconut oil for the non stick spray and used parchment paper over my glass pan to avoid extra dishes lol and they slid off so easily , like butter. These turned out amazing Yum. Will be making them again. Can’t wait for my 1.5 year old son to try these.
Do I have to use a liquid sweetener or can I use erythritol
Hi, yes, it needs to be a liquid sweetener since that’s part of what gives the moisture. They’d be rather dry without it. You could use agave if preferred over syrup.
These turned out so beautifully! I followed the recipe to a T (except I used parchment paper since I had NO confidence in my pan to release them nicely). This is a keeper for me!
So happy you loved these Melissa, thank you!
Will the texture be affected if I omit the no chocolate chips? (there’s a chocolate allergy in the family)
I made these with candy corn for a festive treat instead of chocolate chips. I also used the sunflower seed butter for a change. We loved them!
Love that idea!!
Hey Brandi,
These Blondies looks so tasty!
Can I use Muscovado Sugar? It is like Brown sugar?
Or Coconut sugar with Date Syrup and if yes how many please?
Otherwise soft sticky Dates for Moisture would be perfect?
Im a Date lover so…please let me know if I can use them and in which quantity please…
Many thanks!
Henri 😉
Needs to be a dry sugar, don’t use dates!