Fork and Beans

Making food fun for the family

Courtney’s Vegan Blondies

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One glance at these photos and you will know why I love to follow Courtney’s blog, The Fig Tree. Goodness, is this girl talented! And not only that, she is such a fantastic human being (and I mean that with all sincerity). I have had the awesome privelege of getting to know her outside of the blog and she is just an exceptional woman. Always willing to say something kind, to reach out and be supportive , and just knows how to be a good friend overall. I dare you not to fall in love as well…

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! My name is Courtney and I’m the food-lover/photographer behind The Fig Tree blog. The Fig Tree celebrates the best of both vegetarian + vegan cuisine. The blog’s focus is mainly on whole, natural, unprocessed foods. However, I like to include some delectable and sinful sweets here and there for good measure. And delectable and sinful is what I have for you today! Playing on the abundance of fresh local strawberries at this time of year, I decided to make vegan strawberry chocolate blondies. Hope you enjoy them!


Before we proceed with the recipe, I would just like to say that I am so very honoured to be doing a guest post on Fork and Beans today. Cara is a huge inspiration to me and it’s such a treat to be apart of her space today. I adore her creativity and her passion for creating delicious, unique treats. One of the things I like most about Cara is that she is a true, genuine cheerleader. She’s always rooting for you. You always feel like you have a friend on your side. She always seems to be encouraging other bloggers. Her enthusiasm is infectious and her optimism really inspiring. Even when times are tough, she seems to have the ability to make others smile and laugh. She is truly a great person to know. 🙂 But, I don’t need to tell you guys that! Looking through Cara’s blog, it’s clear that she has inspired and encouraged many bloggers – not only me!


So, without further ado….vegan chocolate strawberry blondies!
Chocolate Strawberry Blondies Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup of Earth Balance butter; melted
  • 2/3 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • equivalent of two eggs using a natural egg replacer
  • 1 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of diced strawberries
  • 1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips (or vegan white chocolate chips)

*Note: I used Orgran No Egg Natural Egg Replacer
Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350’F. Using a strip of parchment paper, line the bottom and two sides of an 8 X 8 inch baking pan. Set aside.
  2. Combine the melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the pure vanilla extract and the egg replacer. Whisk until well combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder.
  4. Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Note: the batter will be quite thick. If the mixture appears a little too thick, add another tablespoon of water.
  5. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and vegan chocolate chips. Spread batter into prepared baking pan
  6.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the blondies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a tooth pick inserted in the middle yields moist crumbs.
  7. Remove blondies from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove blondies from pan using parchment paper and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, cut blondies into squares and enjoy. Enjoy them warmed up with a scoop of coconut ice cream or at room temperature with a cup of tea.

Thank you so much for checking out my guest post today. And thank you so much to Cara for inviting me to participate in her awesome Friday Feature : People You Should Know. It’s been an honour, Cara 🙂 Keep doing what you do. Keep encouraging others and inspiring so many people. Your words are invaluable 🙂

Please feel free to check out The Fig Tree and drop me a line. I appreciate all comments so much! I look forward to getting to know + discover other awesome food bloggers out in the blogosphere!
Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend! And a very happy, adventure

About Cara

Based in Chicago with her husband and son, Cara is the creator behind the site Fork and Beans: A place where kids can have fun with their food.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alice

    Just made these for a picnic potluck! Doubled the recipe and it made 25 small squares. And I substituted about half the butter with coconut oil (ran out of butter). I cooked them in a 9×9 pan and it took about 35 mins. I served them with chocolate covered strawberries and powdered sugar. They are very rich and tasty! 🙂

  3. Genevieve

    I will have to add myself to the list of Courtney fans! So glad you featured her and her gorgeous photos on your People you Should Know posts. Love the first photo with that bowl of strawberries – they are just popping out of my screen! And I would take blondies over brownies any day!

    • courtneyraejones

      Awe, thanks Genevieve! I’m a huge fan of yours! 🙂 Love your blog too!

      I’m thinking lemon blueberry blondies next. Hmmmmm 🙂 I might be starting to agree with you. Blondies can be better than brownies 🙂

  6. Lou Dwan

    LOVE The Fig Tree…. such beautiful photos and FOOD oh the FOOD 🙂 Chocolate + strawberry is always going to be a winner for me! Thanks C + C ! xx

    • courtneyraejones

      Awe, you are so super duper sweet! Thank you!!!! *hugs* I’m so glad to hear you like The Fig Tree. Makes me so happy to hear that people like what I post! *hehe* 🙂 I agree. Chocolate and Strawberry is always an awesome combo! 🙂

  7. Kristy

    I have to say- Courtney is so sweet and I too, love her blog! So many great ideas and incredible photography! These blondies do not disappoint! What a fabulous use of strawberries!

    I hope you two wonderful ladies have a great weekend!

  9. Heather

    Two of my favorite girls within the same space – life doesn’t get any better than this (okay, maybe it does if you include these blondies in the mix!).

    Don’t you just love her white balance- Court what IS your secret to the perfect white balance EVERYTIME, please do share 🙂

    • courtneyraejones

      Awe! Thanks Heather! xoxo 🙂
      White Balance? Well, I normally shoot in auto for white balance. And then I shoot in Aperture priority and bump up my exposure compensation. Then I tweak the white balance slightly when I upload them to my computer ^_^ Usually does the trick!

    • courtneyraejones

      You definitely must try blondies. Brownies are great, but it’s fun to mix it up sometimes and make blondies – especially when you add delicious strawberries and chocolate! 🙂

  11. glutenfreehappytummy

    What a great post Courtney! i love your blog:) those strawberry blondies look so incredible! i love how they’re studded with splashes of red from the strawberries! yum! and so pretty! thanks!

    • courtneyraejones

      Thanks! ^_^ So glad to hear you like The Fig Tree. Makes me so happy! It’s so nice to connect with readers and fellow bloggers. Love your blog too! I loved the red splashes as well. Made the pictures more interesting + pretty. *hehe*

  14. Caitlin

    man, i am so in love with courtney. she is truly the sweetest and am glad to know her for sure. these photos are absolutely stunning. and the blondies look so delicious. amazing <3

  16. Kier

    Wow – these are totally okay to make for breakfast, right?!

    Adding another blog to my extensive list of amazing vegan-ish blogs!

  17. ninaherbert

    Beautiful photography, tasty looks Blondies… clearly i need to check out The Fig Tree.
    Another recipe to add to my now ridiculously long ‘Must bake’ list. 🙂
    Thanks for sharing this recipe with us Courtney.

      • Nina

        I made these yesterday, with homegrown strawberries (I found hiding in my freezer). I used flax eggs as the egg replacer (which gave the finished product a pretty flecked appearance).
        Oh, the moaning and appreciative noises from the children last night. Even our 2 year old winked at me (well, he tried to) and gave me the thumbs up. Such a hit. 🙂
        I had a slice with a non-vegan friend this morning. I don’t think she’s even had ANYTHING vegan before and she declared it was delicious too.
        So thank you, for a new staple at our place.

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