Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosted Blondies

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosted Blondies

Do I really even need to write anything to go with this recipe? The pictures kind of speak for themselves

Waiting for a Bite

(Almost Raw) Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosted Blondies

Blondie

3/4 c walnuts

1/4 c almonds

1 c raisins

1 tsp vanilla

Processes nuts, raisins and vanilla until mixture forms a large, sticky ball. Press blondie mix into a small, rectangular dish (or a mini-muffin tin or mini-silicone molds – or go all out and make full-sized brownies or cupcakes).

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

1/4 c peanut butter

1/4 c vanilla soy creamer (or vanilla almond milk)

2 TBSP maple syrup

3-4 TBSP water (depending upon desired consistency of frosting)

2-4 TBSP chocolate chips/chunks

Optional: Additional sweetener (blondies are sweet enough for me), 2 TBSP Cashews - either blended into the frosting for extra richness, chopped and mixed into frosting, or crushed and sprinkled on top

Place all ingredients except chips and nuts (if using) in blender/food processor and blend until creamy. Add water until desired consistency is reached. Stir in chocolate chips/chunks and/or nuts. Spread frosting evenly on top of blondies and sprinkle with crushed nuts (if using). Cover with plastic wrap and freeze to set frosting.

Cut into 16 small pieces and store in freezer or refrigerator.

The peanut butter flavor in the frosting is very subtle. If you’re looking for a more peanutty flavor, add additional peanut butter, but you’ll also have to add additional liquid. Also, the frosting is bitter-sweet, especially if you use home-made chocolate chips (equal parts cocoa powder, melted coconut oil, and liquid sweetener – or 10+ drops of liquid stevia). I find the sweetness of the blondies carries over nicely, so if the frosting was any sweeter, the whole thing would be too much for me. But feel free to sweeten it up!

I’m submitting this to Wellness Weekends and the Valentine’s Day Bake Off. Check out Ricki and Cara’s sites if you haven’t already; they’re both awesome!

Recipe Review: Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Brownies

I really need to remember to take pictures of my food. I’m a bad food blogger. By now, photography my treats should be second nature. But it’s not. So I apologize.

Over the weekend, I went on a bit of a baking spree, and although I didn’t get  to make everything I wanted, I did have a chance to try another recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie, and, as usual, it was awesome!

Click here for the original Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Brownie recipe.

I made a few changes, including subbing the wheat flour for oat (home-made with gluten-free oats, so the recipe was gluten-free), reducing the sugar to 1/2 cup, adding 4 pkts of stevia, and replacing the oil with equal parts pumpkin (so the total pumpkin amount was 7 TBSP, or just shy of a cup). I also used a heaping 1/4 c coca and French vanilla soy creamer for the non-dairy milk. (And I may have added a few more chocolate chips, but who’s counting?!) I baked my brownies in a pretty small pan, so they were kind of thick, and they took about 10 minutes extra to cook (probably due more to the oat flour than the size of my pan). I was able to hold out for the suggested hour and a half, and it was worth the wait. They were awesome! VERY rich and gooey – perfect brownie, in my opinion. If you like a more dense, chewy brownie, you might want to try Angela’s recipe (but be prepared for the full fat/full sugar nutrition numbers – which are well worth it!).

I cut my brownies into about 22 one inch square pieces, and they came out to be about 50 calories each. Click here for nutrition information.

I took the rest of the brownies to work the next day, and they were a huge hit. I think they were gone before lunch!

I also tried making avocado chocolate pudding/frosting, and it didn’t turn out very well. I didn’t really follow a recipe; I just looked online for some ideas and kind of winged it. I think I should have picked a recipe and followed it.