Peanut Butter Oat Blondies with Peanut Butter Drizzle (Vegan and Gluten-Free)
These peanut butter oat blondies are dense, peanut buttery, gooey, and almost fudgy. They're (optionally) topped with a thick, fudge-like peanut butter drizzle. And by "drizzle," I mean "turn your bowl upside down and let that glorious peanut butter mixture rain down." The blondies come together in a flash and require just 8 ingredients (salt included). And those 8 ingredients are completely nonsense-free -- no refined sugars, processed flours, or other funny business, which means there's more room for the good stuff.
Servings: 16 blondies
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Oat Blondies
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened natural peanut butter (stirred well before measuring)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups oat flour
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
Peanut Butter Drizzle (optional)
- ¼ cup (1.2 ounces) chopped cacao butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Instructions
For the Peanut Butter Oat Blondies
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8-inch square pan with parchment paper (check your pan size, because 9x9-inch won’t work for this recipe).
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the coconut sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla on medium-high for 1 minute using a stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, rolled oats, baking powder, and sea salt.
- With the mixer off, add the oat flour mixture. Then, pour the almond milk over the oat mixture and begin beating on low. Increase speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds or until just incorporated. The dough should pull together into large, moist mounds as it moves around the mixing bowl. If the dough is dry and broken into small crumbles, add more almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until it pulls together until large moist mounds.
- Transfer the dough to the lined pan and use your fingers to press evenly into the bottom and outwards until it’s nearly touching the sides of the pan.
- Bake for 22 to 26 minutes or until the edges are golden and crackled and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a bit of moist crumb at the tip. Don’t overbake.
- Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Peanut Butter Drizzle (Optional)
- Prepare the Peanut Butter Drizzle while the cookie bar cools. Add the cacao butter, peanut butter, maple syrup, sea salt, and vanilla to a medium saucepan. Heat over low and whisk constantly until about two-thirds of the cacao butter is melted. Then, remove from heat and continue whisking until the cacao butter melts completely and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Be careful not to overheat or scorch as it will cause the cacao butter to become gritty. Let cool for 10 minutes (at room temperature) to thicken slightly.
To Assemble
- Once the peanut butter blondie is completely cool, use a spoon to splatter the peanut butter drizzle (if using) across the surface. Transfer the pan to the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the peanut butter drizzle is completely set. It will lose its glossy sheen and take on a matte finish when set.
- Grasp the edges of the parchment to gently remove the bar from the pan. Slice into 16 square bars. Store the bars in the refrigerator to maintain a dense, chewy texture and keep the PB drizzle well set.