peachy keen vegan oatmeal blondies!!

HAPPY SUMMER, EVERYONE! finally, it is officially summer time. now i have an excuse to experiment with lots of popsicle recipes, hehe. get excited for that!!

today is my little sister's middle school graduation-- that is what sparked this recipe idea. she, like my family, is not vegan, and i had no idea what to make for her that would a., be delicious, b., be something she likes, and c., not be OBVIOUSLY vegan. cookies are too simple, cupcakes are kinda gross, brownies are basic and heavy-- but BLONDIES, on the other hand... now THAT is fun, summery, and delicious!

i was inspired by Faring Well's Peachy Dirty Blondies recipe. this recipe almost perfectly follows that one, but has a few alterations to suit my taste: spelt flour is subbed for a mixture of flours that i had on hand; the 1 cup of oil cut in half since, while i enjoy gooey desserts, i do not prefer ones that are too oily; the addition of 1 Tbsp of cinnamon for some spicy depth; 1 1/4 cups of sugar cut down to something a little less sweet and a little more up my alley. i'm sure the original recipe is DELICIOUS, of course-- i just wanted to make it a little more palatable for me personally.

i almost didn't try out this recipe idea because i thought it sounded a little "out there," but i sure am glad i did. these are 1000% going to become a staple in my kitchen. i know i say this about every recipe i post, but these are SUPER customizable, forgiving, and ooey gooey delicious! the peaches bring a lot of freshness to these southern inspired sweets, and the molasses, oats, and cinnamon really bring them home as a comfort-food type of snack. these would be perfect warm with some vanilla ice cream smothered on top after a long day gardening (or whatever you people do during the day).

these can easily be made gluten-free by using gluten-free flour instead of the mix of white, wheat, and almond flour i used. if you REALLY want to, you could even replace the oat flour with GF flour, but i think they add a nuttiness and homey-ness that would really be missing without them. the oats also add a great chewiness to the bars.

i almost made these with strawberries and chocolate chips rather than peaches and molasses but i am glad i did it this way because the combination of sweet peaches and the robustness of the molasses is heavenly. if you are a fan of peach cobbler, spiced desserts, blondies, oats, or sweet-and-chewy-AND-healthy desserts, this is one for you-- trust me.

INGREDIENTS (yields 12 small-medium blondie slices)-

dry:

• 1 cup ground oats (oat flour)

• 1 cup whole rolled oats

• 1/2 cup white AP flour

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

• 1/4 cup almond flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 T cinnamon

wet:

• 2 flax eggs/neat eggs (2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds plus 6 Tbsp. water stirred together and left to sit and thicken for 5-10 minutes) MEASURED INTO AN EMPTY 1 CUP MEASURING CUP SO THAT...

• ~ 1/3-1/2 cup of liquid oil (i used avocado oil) IN ORDER TO FILL UP THE REMAINDER OF THE 1 CUP MEASURE HOLDING THE FLAX EGGS. in other words, the prepared flax eggs PLUS the amount of oil should equal 1 cup

• 1/3 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

topping:

• 1 medium peach, sliced thinly

• optional cinnamon to taste

instructions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. spray a 9" round cake pan with cooking spray.

2. using a food processor, blend 1 cup of whole oats until a very fine powder, pictured to the right. you should still re-measure this amount in your measuring cup after blending it to make sure it is truly 1 cup. put the ground oats in a medium mixing bowl. to that, remainder of dry ingredients. stir these together with a fork until combined and homogeneous.

3. create a well in the center of your dry ingredients. pour in sugar, vanilla, and flax egg/oil mixture. using the form, combine the wet into the dry starting at the center and adding more dry into the wet as it gets combined (the same way pasta dough is made). the resulting batter will be thick and somewhat semblant of cookie dough.

1. press batter into your cake pan in an even layer. it will be somewhat thick-- you want that in order to get the gooiest possible center. yummm... now slice up your peach thinly and press into the top of the dough in whatever design you want. i went for some sunburst swirly thing but be creative!

2. cook 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out completely clean. start checking for doneness at minute 18. if you want super gooey blondies, cook between 15-18 minutes. if you want something cakey and chewier, bake 18-21 minutes. mine were baked for 20 minutes and i wished that i had baked them a little less!

if you make these, let me know! i would love to hear any different flavor combinations you experiment with. happy summer!!