Healthy Gluten-Free Vegan Blondies

Healthy Gluten-Free Vegan Blondies

Neither gluten-free nor vegan does necessarily mean healthy.

There is as much gluten free industry trash on the market as non-gluten free, and a huge part of the vegan products is so highly processed stuff that a piece of organic meat most probably would be healthier as well as more ethic than those fruits of industrial processing.

If I make things vegan, it's in the first place because I avoid dairy. But even though I don't think that organic meat and eggs are bad for us, I *do* think that it is not necessary to have huge lots of them. Producing meat and eggs for human consumption in huge quantities is a waste of resources and does more harm to our environment than cultivating plants (if they're cultivated reasonably).

Besides that, there are many people who are allergic to eggs, so I like developing decadent, yet healthy recipes with as few allergens as possible.

These blondies are easy to make, gooey, sweet and decadent but not overloaded with tons of sugar or unhealthy fat. The secret ingredient is the pear puree which is sweeter than apple sauce and gives the blondies a fudgier flavour.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium ripe pear, peeled, cored, and diced, with 1/8 cup water or
• 1/8 cup + 2 teaspoons pear puree
• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (olive oil works well, too)
• 2 tablespoons soy or other plant milk
• 1/2 cup brown rice or millet flour (or any other gluten free flour)
• 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 cup muscovado sugar (or raw cane sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

• Cook diced pear with 1/8 cup water until mushy (add more water if necessary); you want the consistency of apple sauce.
• Let cool.
• Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.
• Layer 4x8 inch (10x20 cm) loaf pan with non stick paper so that the ends of the paper reach over the brim of the pan - this helps removing the blondie from the pan.
• In a bowl, combine flour, xanthan and baking powder.
• In another bowl, cream together pear puree, coconut or olive oil, milk, sugar and vanilla.
• Stir flour into wet ingredients, then pour into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for about 30 minutes (check for doneness after 20 minutes).
• Let cool until set, then remove from pan and let completely cool on a wire rack.
• Makes 8 blondies.

Enjoy!

What do you prefer? Blondies or brownies?