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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!
Hi Megan! I tried these the other day and they were a bit too honey-ish for hubby (personal preference, I think they’re delicious!). So, next time I might try reducing the honey to 1/4 cup and adding 2 T agave. Also thinking of adding 1/4 C almond meal because they were a bit sticky for me. What do you think?
What I ended up doing with the baked batch I made was forming them into 1 inch balls and rolling them in a combination of almond flour and unsweetened coconut flakes and stuck them in the freezer for choco peanut butter truffles! Reminiscent of those chic-o-stick candies from the early years…yum. Thanks for a great recipe! I enjoyed toying around with it. 😉
Hi Megan, what about Pumpkin filling replacing peanut butter? Hmm Totally in the mood for chocolate pumpkin anything. 🙂
That sounds delicious! I’ll see what I can do. 🙂
These are absolutely delicious!!! I wish I had a picture for you, but I dont, my family and I had them all last night, and I had the last one this morning. The best combination, with the most simplest ingredients ever. I’m a Peanut Butter-Chocoholic, so this is just what I needed, and the best part is there is absolutely NO GRAINS in this. :)))
Would this work with any other types of nut butters?
Yes, it would absolutely work with other nut butters! I’ve tried it with almond butter as well. 🙂
I am now following you on Facebook and will subscribe to your blog. Wondering your thoughts on SCD now. My son has Asperger’s and candida and we have just taken him off grain. I am worried about honey due to the candida. Perhaps you mention it somewhere, but are you looking at SCD for specific health conditions? Thanks!
Hi Adrienne! I am still a big fan of the SCD diet. While I don’t follow it for any specific health condition at the moment, I was drawn to it when I was trying a candida cleanse– the idea of how monosaccharides and disaccharides digest differently in the body made me wonder if simple sugars, like fruit and raw honey, are truly yeast-feeding or not, since they digest so quickly, before reaching the intestine. Of course, since I don’t have a science lab to test this theory, it’s all speculation! And, it also depends on the extent of the candida, whether it’s systemic or not.
Regardless, I felt really great while following the general guidelines of the SCD, and think it’s a great approach. 🙂
Interesting. So – my question is – what is the difference if it is systemic. Isn’t all candidiasis systemic? Ours is bad so I am assuming it wouldn’t be a great choice for us. And I am not wrapping my mind around the digestibility issues. I need to learn more about that. Thanks!
It is my understanding that candida can either be contained in the digestive system OR it can develop into a systemic problem, where it’s spread into the blood stream, and therefore throughout the body.
I highly recommend reading this book, for a great explanation (with diagrams!) of digestion: http://amzn.to/QGwxTD
delicious! i pressed all the peanut butter/honey mixture in the dish & then pressed mini dark chocolate chunks on top.I put them in the freezer & they are delish! i think all natural peanut butter helps texture bc of the natural oils. thanks for this recipe!
ohmegoomie – L O V E!
I just love your recipes so much. It’s much easier to find a healthy dinner to serve when guests come over but I’m often stumped of health desserts besides “fruit salad”. This is so, so wonderful!!!
OMG! Megan….I am in love with you. Peanut butter and chocolate chips AND flourless…..It’s can’t taste as good as it looks…it just can’t! I haven’t tried it yet, but it is on the agenda for this week. I’ll be back to give my report!
Good grief! These are wonderful! I made these today with sunbutter (I’m allergic to PB), and they are delicious. I don’t like eating sugar… or not much of it, and I am grateful to find such a simple (almost) sugarless recipe that tastes great.
Good to know that the sunbutter worked out! And I’m glad you enjoyed them! 😀
I LOVE this recipe sooo much and have always made it with peanut butter. Now I want to cook them for a group of my son’s friends but one is allergic to peanuts and the other to tree nuts. I was wondering when you made it with sunbutter, did the blondies turn green? Please let me know. Thanks!
Just spent about 30mins looking through your amazing recipes and i can’t wait to try most if not all of them! Thank you for these great ideas! Also-very interested in SCD as i’ve been battling digestive problems for most of my life and have yet to get a definitive answer on the issue from modern doctors so if you recommend a book i’d love a suggestion. Thanks again!