It's an exciting time in my life, so why not share an exciting recipe like these chocolate cherry almond butter blondies?
I don't make many desserts anymore, instead focusing my attentions on quality cooking. Paleo baking is a lot more difficult than traditional baking, and I'm just not as good at baking as I am at cooking. Still, I've been obsessed with the chocolate/cherry combo lately (and it's not even cherry season yet!), and I was daydreaming about the fudgy denseness of a good brownie or blondie...so these happened.
And I'm super glad they did.
Before we get to the blondies, though...I hinted at some good news on Instagram, and now's the time to share it.
I'm giving my first cooking demo at the new Fargo Natural Grocers in June! I'm so excited. It feels surreal to be sought out and recognized as someone in the Fargo, ND community who knows a thing or two about great food (that both tastes good and is nourishing)! I'll be giving more details in a subsequent post. If you're in the Fargo area, make sure to mark it on your calendars and be there!
I was going to hang on to this recipe to share on a rainy day (you know, when I haven't had time for recipe testing and whatnot), but with the intense excitement washing over me about the demo, I decided to set this recipe free now. I know you'll like it!
These blondies are made with almond butter...who knew that you could just skip the flour entirely and make awesome treats with nut butters? This realization changed everything for me! The hardest part of using nut butter for baking, I discovered, is making sure you have enough. Because I tend to eat that shit by the spoonful. Because nut butter is addictive, y'all. Fun fact: I almost called this blog "Almond Butter Addict". Seriously.
By baking almond butter with just a few extra ingredients, you get these utterly decadent blondies. If that's not simple, I don't know what is! Chocolate chips and cherries just put them over the top. With summer almost here (and cherries almost in season), these blondies would make an excellent treat for a potluck or BBQ - that is, if you're willing to share!
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Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter Blondies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 blondies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
- ¾ cup cherries (fresh or frozen), chopped small
Instructions
- Prehead oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. (This is like, crucial. They are sticky!)
- In a medium-sized bowl, add almond butter, egg, vanilla, and maple syrup. Stir until combined. Next, add coconut sugar and baking soda. Mix well.
- Fold in chocolate chips and chopped cherries.
- Pour (or rather, plop, since the batter is thick) into baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before digging in. These keep for at least a week (if they last that long)!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
Grace says
Wowowowow! That is SO exciting! Congratulations. If only I lived in Fargo! I would SO be there. My bro is a student at MSUM so I'm going to try to convince him to go...but he doesn't eat paleo...or know how to cook...so it might be a lost cause haha. Way to go!! Give us an update and a recap after the demo!
Chelsea says
Thanks so much, Grace! It is one tiny perk of doing what I do in a smaller city...they don't have a lot of local bloggers to pick from! Still, it's an honor, and I'm so excited!
Zandria says
That is a really cool opportunity! Not one I'd ever do (I'm too much of an introvert and I hate speaking in front of crowds), but cool nonetheless for those who are better at such things than I. 🙂
I'm an almond butter addict, too. I just wish it didn't cost so darn much! I buy it from Amazon because it's cheaper there than in stores, but it still costs me about three times as much as peanut butter.
Chelsea says
Zandria, thank you so much for stopping by! I'm actually a pretty big introvert too! This is going to be a big challenge for me. Hopefully I'm not too awkward! Lol
It's practically a crime how expensive pre-made almond butter is. I usually make my own. I buy a big bag of almonds from Costco, throw a few cups in the blender, and blend until it's smooth and creamy. I've thought about writing a post about that.
Zandria says
I'm sure you will do great! Do you know what you're going to make?
Also, that's a great idea about grinding your own almonds. I've been eating so much almond butter, it would definitely be in my favor to make the effort and spend less money if possible. I just wasn't sure if it was noticeably cheaper. Do you know how much you pay per pound for almonds in ND?
Chelsea says
I have an idea of what I want to make! I'll be making the Thai Curry Chicken Wings from my blog (a few posts back) as the main course. But those only take 20-30 minutes and I have an hour and a half, so I'm coming up with a few recipes to compliment that.
As for the almonds, at Costco they sell big 3lb bags of almonds (about 9 cups per bag) for about $10. That makes about 7-8 cups of almond butter, which I think is a pretty awesome deal! If you shop online, I bet you could find a similar price from nuts.com or something like that. 🙂
Zandria says
Oh, wow. Yes, I have been vastly overpaying for my almond butter (I pay $8.30 for a 16-oz jar!). But the bulk almonds at the Wegmans where I shop are like $8+ per pound, so I figured I wouldn't really be saving any money. I'll check out your suggestions. 🙂
Chelsea says
Zandria, I've got to let you know - I just bought some almond today and it seems the price has gone up. I was expecting that, due to the drought in California (and a lot of US almonds are grown there). Still, I think I save a ton of money by making my own almond butter - anyway, if the price of almonds goes up, the price of almond butter will go up too! 😉
IthacaNancy says
My thought is . . . almond butter costs a lot because it is valuable and expensive to grow. Peanuts cost less because they cost less to grow and harvest. Sometimes pricing is crazy, but sometimes it helps us recognize the costs of our purchases on both the people who grow, harvest, process and transport our foods, and the cost on the environment. Almonds should be an occasional treat, rather than a beverage or primary protein source. The environmental costs (water in particular) are pretty high.
Chelsea says
I agree with you. Expensive foods (like most nuts) are a luxury for me, not staples that I have and use all the time.
Casey says
These blondies are unbelievably fabulously delicious!! I, too, am an almond butter freak, but had a surplus of fresh cherries from a friend with an orchard, so thought I'd try them. OMG, one of the best things ever!!! Thank you so much for these--am thinking when it's no longer fresh cherry season that they would still be wonderful with dried fruit instead. YUM!! Just may try to make my own almond butter too, given that I am spending a fortune on the stuff.
Chelsea says
I'm so glad you like them! I use frozen cherries when fresh can't be found. 😉