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Got too many ripe bananas on hand and worried about they get ripen too quick? Let’s make these Vegan Almond Butter Banana Blondies! It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, sweet yet not too sweet. What’s more, they are healthy with many nutrients inside, which makes both my mind and body feel satisfied and good.
Vegan Almond Butter Banana Blondies
I bet there’s a time when you got too many ripe bananas at hand and want to use them up before they get overripe. At least that’s definitely a common scenario for me, especially in summer. So I would spend quite some time figuring out how to use them so they don’t go to waste.
I often freeze my bananas, but I already got a huge bag of that. So I start to think about incorporating them into snacks or desserts. And here are these Vegan Almond Butter Banana Blondies.
Why did I decide to make these blondies?
I often make brownies, but seldom make blondies. The reason for that is simple: I’m a chocoholic. So there’s no way I would miss the chance to add cacao powder or chocolate into my food.
But, you know, I’m an adventurous person and sometimes I just want to make new stuff. I remember that I used to love the blondies from a dessert store before I went vegan. So, why don’t make some yummy blondies in a vegan version?
Traditional blondies involve quite a lot of dairy products. But of course, there’s no way I would use them in my recipes. (I’m vegan for ethical reasons) And I don’t even like the flavor and smell of dairy products anymore. (This is 100% true!)
Instead, I totally fall in love with nut butter, like almond butter, peanut butter (this is my old-time favorite), macadamia nut butter, etc. So that’s why I feature these banana blondies with my recent favorite: almond butter.
With almond butter, these banana blondies carry a nutty flavor and richness. You could try to use other nut butter as well, but I just love the combo of almond butter and banana for this recipe.
What’s the texture like?
The texture is on the caky side, which I like. Oh, and I also use a special ingredient in this recipe: aquafaba, also known as chickpea water or chickpea brine, which makes these blondies soft and fluffier.
To get it, you could simply buy a canned chickpea and use the liquid inside, or cook your chickpeas and reserve the cooking water as I often do.
I haven’t tried with other substitutions, so I couldn’t say for sure others would work like that. However, if you really have a hard time getting aquafaba, I would say you could try with almond milk or oat milk.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention the other important elements: walnuts and pecans, two of my favorite nuts.
I like my brownies with walnuts, the same goes for blondies. They have a special nutty flavor that tastes so good with baked goodies, in my humble opinion. I also use pecans because they got a nice caramel aroma after baked.
You could stick to one kind of nuts as well. But if you have both of them, why not? right? : )
These Vegan Almond Butter Banana Blondies really make good use of the ripe bananas. If you got way too many bananas at hand, you could double the recipe to make a bigger batch, which might take longer to cook.
Anyhow, I hope you will love these blondies as much as I do. If you make them, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or tag me on Instagram (@barrelleaf). I’m always thrilled to see your work!
More Vegan Recipes with Bananas:
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Vegan Almond Butter Banana Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 large banana, ripe, ~140 g net weight
- 1 Tbsp almond butter, Homemade Almond Butter
- 2 Tbsp aquafaba, aka chickpea water*
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 45 g (1/2 cup) oat flour
- 25 g (1/4 cup) almond meal
- 1/2+1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- A pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp walnuts
Topping
- 1 Tbsp walnuts, chopped
- 1 Tbsp pecans, chopped
- 2 Tbsp almond butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 160 C / 320 F. Line an 8-inch loaf pan with parchment paper (baking paper).
- In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
- Add almond butter, aquafaba, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Add the oat flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to incorporate all.
- Stir in the walnuts. Then pour the batter into an 8" loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and pecan on top.
- Bake for 25~30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the pan unto a wire rack. Let it cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Chop into squares and drizzle the almond butter on top. Enjoy them with a cup of your favorite coffee or oat milk.
Notes
- *Aquafaba/Chickpea water: I use the water left from cooking chickpeas. You could use the liquid from canned chickpea as well. I haven’t tried any substitution so could not guarantee another replacement. But I think if you don’t have aquafaba, you could try to use the same amount of almond milk or oat milk.
- Store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days or 2 weeks in the freezer.
