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Banana Nut Blondies

4.7

(3)

Squares of banana walnut blondies stacked on top of one another.
Photo by Yossy Arefi

These banana nut blondies have all of the flavors of your favorite banana bread in a more compact form. They are just sweet enough, with lots of toasty walnuts inside and on top. Chocolate and banana are such good pals; these would be great with some chocolate chips, too. The recipe as written is vegan-friendly; feel free to use dairy butter if you don’t avoid dairy.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘Snacking Bakes' by Yossy Arefi. Buy the full book on Amazon.

Flavor Variation:

Chocolate banana nut blondies: Add up to 1 cup (170g) vegan chocolate chips when you add the nuts.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes one 8 by 8-inch pan

Ingredients

8 Tbsp. (113 g) unsalted vegan stick butter, melted, or ½ cup (125 g) liquid coconut oil
¾ cup (150 g) organic light brown sugar
½ cup (125 g) mashed very ripe banana (about 1 banana)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. fine sea salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (83 g) chopped toasted walnuts

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Coat an 8 × 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with a strip of parchment paper that hangs over two of the edges.

    Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, banana, vanilla, and salt until combined, about 30 seconds.

    Step 3

    Whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. Fold in the flour and ½ cup (55 g) of the walnuts with a spatula and mix until well combined. The batter will be very thick.

    Step 4

    Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup (28 g) walnuts on top.

    Step 5

    Bake the blondies until slightly puffed and golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

    Step 6

    Let the blondies cool in the pan on a rack for about 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper to lift the cake out and onto the rack to cool completely before slicing. Store loosely covered at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Snacking Bakes-COVER.jpg
Recipe excerpted from Snacking Bakes, copyright © 2023 by Yasameen Arefi-Afshar. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Buy the full book on Amazon or Penguin Random House.
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