Whole food, refined sugar free, date sweetened pumpkin blondies! Made without oil, eggs, dairy or gluten! They make the perfect treat when you want something delicious thats still healthy!
I’ve been following a mostly WFPB (whole food plant based) way of eating for over 10 years now and have attempted to make MANY desserts healthified! Blondies / bars are pretty much a foolproof recipe when it comes to baking oil free/ date sweetened/ egg free desserts. They’re much easier to master than try to make healthy cookies or cake IMO! These date sweetened pumpkin blondies are perfectly sweet, moist and gooey on the inside while still holding their shape.
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED FOR DATE SWEETENED PUMPKIN BLONDIES:
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 10-12 dates
- 3/4 c hot water
- 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp ground flax
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- choc chips plus optional walnuts for mix ins
HOW TO MAKE THEM:
The first step is making homemade DATE PASTE. For this recipe I found 10 – 12 medjool dates plus 3/4 cup boiling hot water to be the perfect ratios. My method is carefully removing the pits of 10 (or 12 for sweeter blondies) medjool dates and placing them directly into my stainless steel Vitamix container. Next I boil water in my kettle and measure out 3/4 cup and pour it directly into the blender with the dates in it. This way I don’t have to dirty up an extra bowl! I let them soften for 5 minutes and then blend for 1 minute on high until its super duper smooth with no chunks. You can make a double batch of this and save half for next time! it will stay good in the fridge for a surprisingly long time- I have kept some in the fridge for over a week before.
NEXT make sure you blend up 1 cup of rolled oats into flour for this recipe and set it aside. To make the blondies simply mix up the wet ingredients- date paste, pumpkin, almond butter and vanilla until smooth. Then add in the dry ingredients- oat flour, almond flour, ground flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice and stir to combine. Add in as much chocolate chips as your heart desires plus walnuts if you want. Transfer batter to an 8×8 baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake for about 25- 30 mins at 350. Let them cool before slicing (or dig in with a spoon while its hot and it will be delishhhh). They firm up as they cool!
NOTES: to make these REALLY refined sugar and dairy free you will need to hunt down some special chocolate chips (or just use whatever ones you prefer). Dairy free/ sugar free chocolate chips can be insanely expensive (like $10 a bag 😅) but I have found some at Trader Joe’s for only about $4 that are vegan and sweetened with allulose! Other brands to try are the HU baking chips, Lily’s or Just Date (which are sweetened with dates!)
Pumpkin Blondies! Date Sweetened, No Oil, Eggs or Gluten!
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- 2. Make oat flour by blending 1 cup of rolled oats in a high powered blender until smooth. Set aside.
- 3. Heat up 3/4 cup of water to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the pitted dates and let them soften for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend for 60 seconds until completely smooth.
- 4. In a large mixing bowl add the date paste, 1 cup of canned (or fresh) pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup smooth almond butter and 2 tsp vanilla. Mix together until smooth.
- 5. Add in the dry ingredients- add the 1 cup oat flour, 1/3 cup almond flour, 1 tbsp ground flax seeds, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and gently stir to combine. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts if using.
- 6. Line an 8×8 dish with parchment paper. Spread out mixture into pan and top with more chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 (25 for gooey, 30 for more firm). Let them cool before slicing. They will firm up as they sit.