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This Peanut Butter Blondie recipe is as easy as it gets, calling for only 6 ingredients that you probably already have on hand. They are unbelievably decadent, while being naturally-sweetened and flourless!
What’s the Difference Between a Brownie and a Blondie?
If you’re not familiar with “blondies,” they are basically brownies without cocoa powder added in. They remind me of a deep dish cookie, with more of a buttery, brown sugar flavor. And they’re even more like a deep dish cookie when you add in some chocolate chips!
How to Make Gluten-Free Blondies
These peanut butter blondies are naturally gluten-free because they use NO flour– and you don’t even miss it! They are inspired by the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which lays out guidelines for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (also called SCD, for short).
This special diet may help to heal the intestine (including yeast overgrowth, like candida) through avoiding certain types of starches and sugars, while embracing others. Honey is one of the recommended sweeteners for the SCD, as it’s a monosaccharide, and can be used by the body very quickly without expending much digestive energy.
I’ve also included a vegan option using coconut sugar if you prefer to use that. (You can find my substitution notes directly under the printable recipe in this post.)
How to Make Them
Making these flourless peanut butter blondies couldn’t be easier. Simply stir together the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt, and baking soda, and pour it into a pan to bake.
Just 20 minutes later, it’s like a rich deep-dish cookie!
I like to add some dark chocolate chips to these for extra decadence, but that’s totally optional. (And chocolate is not SCD compliant if you follow that protocol.)
It’s important that you let these blondies cool completely before slicing and serving them. They are very tender when they are warm, and will be difficult to hold without them breaking.
I recommend placing them in the fridge to cool down faster, and I even keep mine stored in the fridge because they last longer that way.
Which Peanut Butter is Best for Blondies?
I use all-natural peanut butter when making this recipe, which has no added oil or sugar. (You can make homemade peanut butter in just 5 minutes, too!)
If you want to use a peanut butter like Jif or Skippy, that will most likely work, too, but I haven’t tested those myself. (But let me know if you try it so I can hear how it goes for you!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (preferably organic)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt , plus coarse salt if desired as a topping
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8" square pan with parchment paper. (Pro Tip: Grease the pan with a little spray oil first to help keep the parchment paper in place when you add the batter)
- In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt and baking soda and stir well, until a thick and sticky batter has formed. Fold in the dark chocolate chips, if using.
- Use a spatula to pour the batter into the prepared pan, then use it to smooth the top. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top of the batter, if desired. (I highly recommend it!)
- Bake at 350ºF until the top is a light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let the blondies cool completely, as they are very fragile when warm, then cut into squares and serve. I like to store mine in the fridge in an airtight container, for a really firm texture and longer shelf life.
Video
Nutrition
How to Make Vegan Blondies:
To make this recipe vegan, replace the egg with a chia egg, and replace the honey with 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. Check out my Almond Butter Blondies, which are naturally vegan & paleo friendly for this method.
As always, feel free to experiment with other nut butters and sweeteners. If you try something different, please leave a comment below letting me know what worked for you! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite healthy sweetener? Dates have been my other go-to sweetener lately, so be sure to try my Date-Sweetened Brownies and Date-Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies!
What a wonderful inspiring blog you have here – thx for sharing. You are very creative!
~Sheila, Denmark~
I can’t find Flax eggs at Whole Foods. Where do you buy them?
You actually make “flax eggs” using ground flax seed and water. One egg = 1 Tablespoon ground flax + 3 Tablespoons water. Mix and let gel in the fridge for 15 minutes before adding to your batter.
I JUST MADE THESE! I used cashew butter instead. The grain free cookie will be next! : )
Megan, I stumbled on your blog yesterday and I am obsessed! Made these blondes last night and found them to be a little dry. However put them in the freezer and low and behold they are DELICIOUS frozen!!!!(and a better consistency!) Thanks for your great recipes! Looking forward to trying out more this week!
Glad you found me, Lauren! I’m sorry to hear the blondies were dry. Natural peanut butters vary in oil-content and texture, so maybe another brand would work better next time?
Though, I must agree… I always enjoy them best frozen. 😀
I just made these with homemade almond butter. They are baking now, and smell fantastic! If the cookies taste half as good as the batter did, they will be delectable!
So delicious! Thank you for posting this amazing treat! I made it with the flax egg and a mixture of almond butter, tahini, and macadamia nut butter because I didn’t have enough of the almond.. I had to add 1/4 cup of water to mix everything, and also ran out of honey, so I did a mixture of the honey and stevia. They turned out super light and fluffy.. and a good combo! 🙂 double win!
I made there using the Ener-G Egg Replacer, and they came out terrific! Very gooey and yummy. Thanks much!
oh, these sound incredible!!
Worked great with the enerG egg replacer!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Hi how much egg replace did you use? Thanks!
The box tells you how much mixture would equal an egg so I just used that as a guide I think 1/4 tablespoon or something…. I can check when I get home if ur missing that part on your box!! 🙂
Just threw these in the oven! This is my type of recipe!
Aren’t they so easy?? Hope you enjoy them! 😀