White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies

These White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies are a fun way to elevate the classic blondie while being gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and dairy-free friendly.

I wanted to squeeze in one late summer recipe before moving on to fall recipes so I thought these white chocolate double strawberry blondies would be the perfect finisher! 

When I was in Las Vegas last month for a personal training conference, I so happily indulged in a strawberry shortcake milkshake in between sessions! It was truly amazing! Layers of ice cream, strawberry drizzle, and garnished with an entire slice of strawberry cake and a classic strawberry shortcake ice cream bar - the inner child in me was truly content! 

So, in like fashion, I had to create a healthier version that didn’t cause a major sugar crash in the middle of the day! Lol Almost felt like a hangover! 

And I know what you might be thinking…how is a strawberry shortcake milkshake anything like a blondie? And you are totally right - there is no comparison, haha. 

I don’t think it’s practical to recreate a layered milkshake - no matter how “healthy” I can make it, it would still be pretty dense! So to slim it down - this blondie contains two types of strawberries: fresh and freeze dried with white chocolate that cuts into the tartness of the strawberries all while salivating for more as I love pairing lemon with strawberries to provide a bright note at the end. 

Bonus - Breaking freeze dried strawberries down to powder form creates the natural pink color in the blondie batter!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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These White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies are a fun way to elevate the classic blondie while being gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and dairy-free friendly.

prep time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients 

• 1 cup oat flour

• ½ cup GF baking flour

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup

• ¼ cup drippy natural peanut butter

• ¼ cup plant based or regular milk

• 1 egg

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• 2-4 Tbsp freeze dried strawberries (creates the pink color in batter)

• ½ cup white chocolate chips

• ½ cup sliced fresh strawberries

• Juice of ½ lemon + zest

Optional garnish

Additional freeze dried strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. *Tip - leave some of the paper hanging over the edges for easy removal. 

2. In a food processor, pulse 2-4+ Tbsp freeze dried strawberries until you get a powder like consistency. 

3. In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda and powder, salt, freeze dried strawberry powder). 

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients (maple syrup, peanut butter, milk, egg, vanilla extract, juice of ½ lemon and zest). 

5. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until well combined. 

6. Fold in the white chocolate chips and strawberries until everything is combined - do not overmix! I stop as soon as I no longer see flour chunks in the batter. The batter should be a thick consistency. 

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top in an even layer. 

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center is set and lightly golden. Resist the urge to overbake! *Hence, what makes a blondie a gooey blondie! 

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before slicing into squares. 

Notes

• The more freeze dried strawberry powder you use, the more your batter will be pink! Just make sure that the batter doesn’t become too dry so may have to add 1 Tbsp of milk for desired batter consistency. 

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SHOP OUR FAVORITE TOOLS + INGREDIENTS FOR THIS RECIPE!

Half Baked Chickpea Blondies + Edible Cookie Dough Dip

Edible cookie dough dip transformed into a blondie if you decide to cook the batter! Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and flour-less.

When you are stuck at home due to COVID-19, you think of creative ways to pass the time. So for this month, I’m creating recipes based on what is in my pantry. 

I assume that most people will have the same ingredients so let’s look inside our pantry to see if we have these ingredients on hand: 

can of chickpeas, almond flour, jar of peanut butter, random ⅓ bag of dark chocolate chips, maple syrup from last week's pancakes, and baking essentials like baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. 

Have all these ingredients? Alright, let’s start baking! 

Personally, I think that most baking recipes that call for chickpeas as a healthy ingredient swap are great and all, except that I get the “chickpea” taste in the dessert. So to create a neutral and creamy texture to this recipe, I followed the same technique that I used for my hummus recipes. 

Simply place chickpeas in a medium saucepan with ½ tsp baking soda. Cover the chickpeas with several inches of water, then bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for about 20 minutes or until the chickpeas look bloated, soft, and their skins are falling off. In a fine mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them. 

Now, you have the option of creating one batch of this recipe for either a small batch of blondies or to create edible cookie dough dip! 

If you are wanting to create half baked blondies, you will double the recipe and split the batter in half. In one batter, you are adding about ⅓ cup chocolate chips. The other batter, you are adding ⅓ cup chocolate chips and 3 Tbsp cocoa powder. 

To create the “marbled” effect, spoon half of the regular batter into the prepared pan, and then top it with half of the chocolate batter. Repeat this with the remaining regular batter and chocolate batter. Swirl the batters together with a knife just a few times - do not overmix! A slight swirl will create that beautiful marbled look once it’s all baked.

Both options taste amazing and would be great for a party, healthy snack, or dessert. 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Half Baked Chickpea Blondies + Edible Cookie Dough Dip - Edible cookie dough dip transformed into a blondie if you decide to cook the batter! Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and flour-less.

Ingredients

(Double this recipe if you are making half baked blondies)

• 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed) + ½ tsp baking soda

• ⅓ cup peanut butter

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup

• ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips

• ¼ cup almond flour

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder - for the brownie batter

Directions

Edible cookie dough dip

1. Place chickpeas in a medium saucepan with ½ tsp baking soda. Cover the chickpeas with several inches of water, then bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for about 20 minutes or until the chickpeas look bloated, soft, and their skins are falling off. In a fine mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them. 

2. Add the chickpeas to a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients sans chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

3. Blend until the mixture is thick and creamy, scrape down the sides as necessary.

4. If you are wanting edible chocolate chip cookie dough dip, fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips. 

5. If you are wanting edible brownie batter dip, fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips + 3 Tbsp cocoa powder.

6. Pour into a bowl and serve with various fruits, pretzels, and cinnamon sugar pita chips.

half baked blondies:

1. Double the recipe by adding two cans of chickpeas in a medium saucepan with 1 tsp baking soda. Cover the chickpeas with several inches of water, then bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for about 20 minutes or until the chickpeas look bloated, soft, and their skins are falling off. In a fine mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them.

2. While the chickpeas are boiling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line and grease an 8x8 baking pan. 

3. Add the chickpeas to a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients sans chocolate chips and cocoa powder. 

4. Blend until the mixture is thick and creamy, scrape down the sides as necessary. 

5. Split batter in half. In one batter, you are adding about ⅓ cup chocolate chips. The other batter, you are adding ⅓ cup chocolate chips and 3 Tbsp cocoa powder. 

6. To create the “marbled” effect, spoon half of the regular batter into the prepared pan, and then top it with half of the chocolate batter. Repeat this with the remaining regular batter and chocolate batter. Swirl the batters together with a knife just a few times - do not overmix! A slight swirl will create that beautiful marbled look once it’s all baked.

7. Top with additional chocolate chips and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

8. Let the pan cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Enjoy! Optional: Sprinkle sea salt flakes before serving.