Vegan Peanut Butter Blondies

Jump To Recipe by Liz Thomson October 6, 2023 This post may contain affiliate links.

These vegan peanut butter blondies are rich and fudgy, with a deliciously sweet flavor. These healthy blondies are made with oat flour so they’re plant-based and gluten-free, but they taste just as delicious as a traditional blondie.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Chia seeds + water: Chia seeds mixed with water create a gel-like consistency, serving as an egg substitute in vegan baking. They help bind the ingredients together and add moisture. You can substitute with ground flax, if desired.
Oat flour: Oat flour acts as the main dry ingredient in these blondies. We use this instead of wheat flour so these bars are gluten-free.
Baking powder: Baking powder is a leavening agent that helps the blondies rise and become light and fluffy.
Salt: Salt enhances the flavor of the blondies and balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar: This adds sweetness, moisture, and a rich, caramel-like flavor to the blondies.
Creamy peanut butter: Peanut butter provides both flavor and healthy fat to the blondies. It also adds a subtle nutty taste. You can use almond butter or any other nut or seed butter as a substitute.
Coconut oil: Coconut oil adds moisture and a slight coconut flavor to the blondies. You can substitute it with melted vegan butter or a neutral oil like canola oil.
Almond milk: Almond milk serves as a liquid component in the recipe, adding moisture to the blondies. You can replace it with any other plant-based milk, such as soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk.
Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the blondies.
Vegan chocolate chips: Vegan chocolate chips are the sweet, melty, and chocolatey goodness in these blondies. You can use other add-ins like chopped nuts, dried fruit, or even more chocolate chunks if you prefer.

What is Oat Flour?

Oat flour is simply ground oats. You can buy oat flour in the store or even on Amazon. Bob’s Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills are two common brands. It’s often sold near the gluten-free flour. But don’t worry about making a trip to the store. You can make it at home with rolled oats, quick cooking oats, or steel cut oats.

How to Make Oat Flour

If you don’t have oat flour, don’t worry. It’s easy to make your own using rolled oats or quick-cooking oats! Simply blend the oats in a blender or food processor until it creates a coarse flour. It doesn’t need to be as fine as all-purpose flour. One cup of old-fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats weighs 100 grams, and will make just over one cup oat flour after it’s blended.

How to Make a Chia Egg

To make a chia egg, combine 2 tablespoons of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it forms a gel. If you don’t have chia seeds, this can also be done with ground flax seeds.

Mix In Ideas

I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate but feel free to get creative! Try chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds), dried fruits (cranberries, raisins), toffee bits, coconut flakes, caramel swirls, crushed cookies, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), fruit (blueberries, raspberries), nut butter swirls, marshmallows, salted pretzels, candy bar chunks, coffee or espresso, citrus zest (lemon, orange), or even a combination of these for unique flavor and texture variations. Be mindful not to overdo it with mix-ins to maintain the texture. And keep in mind that if you want to keep these vegan and gluten-free, be sure your mix-ins are are also vegan and gluten-free!