I suppose there wasn’t anything particularly magical about the way it disappears. It goes to the usual place via the usual methods, but it’s just so fast! I’ve made this twice in one week, and the second pan is almost gone already. This is why I don’t make sweets very often, people. Agh! They go straight to my hips.
I originally found the recipe at Baking Bites and adapted it slightly based on my needs, desires, and the comments on the original post. I reduced the sugar quite a bit, used white whole wheat flour, replaced the pecans with chocolate chips, and used flax gel instead of the egg. I’ve left the egg in the recipe below, though, because if you can eat eggs, then you might as well use an egg! No point in making the flax gel if you don’t have to!
I also used freshly ground spices, which I think makes a great deal of difference in the flavor of the final product. Fresh ginger, grated straight from the root, finely crushed cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg. Of course, you can use the dried equivalents, and they will still be delicious, but if you have the fresh stuff, go ahead and use it!
You can increase the sugar up to a whole cup if you want, but I found it was really not necessary. At first, my DH said they weren’t sweet enough… then he realized that he was just as addicted as I was, so they must not have been as terrible as he first imagined. I think the next time I may experiment with honey.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies
adapted from Baking Bites
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter or palm shortening
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger root
- 1/4 tsp dried cloves (crush about 1/2 tsp full of whole cloves if you have them)
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips (or nuts, or dried cranberries)
Instructions
- Beat together the butter or shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the spices, salt, egg and pumpkin and continue beating until well combined. Stir in flour just until wet. Gently stir in chocolate chips or other add-ins by hand.
- Spread mixture into greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden and middle is firm.
Bar cookies are a great QUICK treat any time of year, but especially during the busy school season. This dessert is ready to go in well under an hour, start to finish.
Very EASY, too, just like brownies or regular blondies.
Pretty CHEAP for a snack, I’d say. No special expensive ingredients, unless you count the chocolate chips, which you can simply omit if you want.
These are a relatively HEALTHY dessert (although perhaps not at the rate I eat them!), with the reduced sugar and whole grains. To make them even healthier, replace the chocolate chips with nuts (I think pecans or walnuts would be delicious) or dried cranberries. Because they are so moist to begin with, they really do very well with the white whole wheat flour! Some baked goods tend to get dry or tough with 100% whole wheat flour, but I found this recipe was just as delicious with the whole grains.
~I’m excited to announce that I’ve teamed up with a few other bloggers to bring you some delicious and creative ways to fight the flu this winter. Come back on Wednesday for the details!~
Linked to Tasty Tuesday
These sound fabulous! Quick question - what do you use to crush your cloves? I was told a coffee grinder would work… but it didn’t. ;-P
Steph (The Cheapskate Cook) recently posted..Stay Tuned
I did it differently both times. The first time my DH actually used the flat edge of a knife, but it took a while (although it was very fine). The next time, I tried the coffee grinder, and I it worked OK but there were still some larger pieces. The next time, I’ll probably try to grind more than I need in the coffee grinder to give it more to work with, and just save the extra. Or just use the flat of a knife.
Yum! Thanks for sharing with the Hearth and Soul hop!
Melynda@Moms Sunday Cafe recently posted..Wednesday’s Words