One-Bowl Peanut Butter Carrot Blondies (vegan + gf)
These One-Bowl Peanut Butter Carrot Blondies are rich, super fudgy, and seriously delicious! Made with just 8 real food ingredients and in one bowl, too boot! Egg free, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, but a total crowd pleasing treat for all eating styles!
Guys, I dreamed up this recipe about a little over a week ago….and have already made it 7 times.
And 7 times…these blondies disappeared in record time before I could properly document them for you.
Why? Because they are awesome. Seriously sweet tooth-satisfying, melt-in-your-mouth awesomely delicious. My family inhaled them. One of my best friends harassed me for the recipe after I brought a few over for her crew to taste. And all of you guys who fall me on Instagram are filling up my DM box with requests for when it will be out.
So here they are, loves! Your’s for the baking. For the loving. For the devouring. And for the veggie-loading.
People sometimes think it’s strange that I veggie-loaded my desserts, but to those people I say
pppppfffffffttttttttttttt.
Veggies are not just for the dinner table. And they are not something to be endured or suffered through. Veggies are awesome and add so much to any meal. Nutrient wise but also flavor wise.
Like these blondies! The carrots in these suckers give the perfect amount of moisture to make them melt in your mouth but also give the blondies a really great texture that I couldn’t get enough of. The carrots don’t overpower the blondies, but they enhance them in so many special ways that I just don’t know why you wouldn’t add them into the mix!
And these veggie-loaded beauties are so easy to make! And I can promise that almost everyone will go crazy for them!
Since the carrots give a little extra moisture umph to these blondies, a chia “egg” is all that is needed to keep them together….making them the perfect egg-free and gluten free treat to serve up to a crowd with different dietary needs or eating styles!
Suggested adaptations
- Make them with an egg! If egg-free isn’t needed and/or you don’t hav chia seeds in the house, you can totally make these with an egg instead of the chia + water mixture.
- Make them Paleo! Sub the peanut butter with almond butter and BAM, you have a vegan and Paleo treat that the crowd will go nuts over.
- Reduce the chocolate chips…if that’s your thing. I am a chocolate girl, so the more the better in my book. But feel free to reduce the chocolate chips in this recipe if you want. We can still be friends.
Wondering how to store your carrots so they stay fresh as long as possible? Check out my post on How to Keep Cut Carrots Fresh and get the most out of your produce buck!
Other recipes you are going to love
- Flourless Peanut Butter Carrot Zucchini Cookies
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Carrot Balls
- One-Bowl Paleo Carrot Chocolate Chip Muffins
One-Bowl Peanut Butter Carrot Blondies (vegan + gluten free)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 3 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup honey/maple syrup
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt , (if using salted peanut butter, leave out)
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips , + extra for sprinkling on top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the water and chia seeds. Mix and let stand to “gel” for about 5 minutes.
- Once the “chia egg” has gelled, add peanut butter, honey/maple syrup, vanilla, baking soda and salt (if using) to the bowl. Stir until very smooth and everything is well combined.
- Fold in shredded carrots.
- Finally, fold in chocolate chips.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle on extra chocolate chips (if using)
- Bake for 25 minutes. When the blondies are done baking, they will still seem soft. This is normal and they will firm up as the cool.
- As hard as it may be, allow the blondies to cool COMPLETELY before slicing into them. They will taste amazing regardless, but will hold together much better when chilled a bit.
- Once totally cool, slice into 16 blondies and enjoy. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer to enjoy whenever your sweet tooth calls your name.
Omgosh yum! I just about have everything to make these on any given day too. If we just have almind butter and its not completly "spoon dripping" do you think adding some liquid if some sorts would help? Coconut oil or milk perhaps? Any thought here would be helpful 🙂 and cant wait to try these!
I made her PB and sweet potato muffins last week and realized my PB wasn’t as drippy as it once was…so I did add a little melted coconut oil in it and it worked GREAT! 🙂
So good! Meets our dairy/egg/gluten free needs and they taste amazing!
I made this with peanut butter and carrot and it was great. Then I tried sweet potato and almond butter with dark chocolate … oh my gosh … what a combo!!! They taste just like brownies. Next up I’m going to try cashew butter and parsnips. Thanks for this inspiring recipe!
Soooo good. They were gone in one day!
Sooooo yummy! My husband protested to my adding carrots. An hour later they are all gone!!!
OMG! I’m obsessed with this recipe! I’ve made it at least 7 times. So easy and so good!
Lol! I love that you love it!
I am a mother and this helped me!
You saved me so much time greatful I found your page.
My husband has been most skeptical of all the veggie loaded muffins and cookies I have been trying from this site but these he could not resist and basically ate the entire pan to himself. But that’s ok! I can make more because they are so easy and don’t take many ingredients!!! Thank you!
Wow! Now thats quite the compliment!
So easy and so so delicious!! I am having a hard time not eating the whole pan!
You saved me so much time glad I found your page.
I’m so glad I can help!
Amazing blog thanks!
I haven’t taken these out of the oven yet but the batter was SO good. Thank you for taking the time to come up with recipes that make dessert special but also better for our kids!
I’m so happy I can share my kitchen creations! I hope you and the family enjoy these as much as we do!
These are soo good! I have made them so many times and I usually end up eating the whole thing is 2 days lol. I also add zucchini to this for extra veggies and I reduce the syrup to about 1/8 of a cup. I’m so grateful for all of your veggie loaded recipes!
And I am so grateful to readers like YOU! I love this one as much as you…and hide them for myself sometimes because they never last long!
Hi, was wondering if we can make these with sunflower seed butter? My daughter can’t have eggs or nuts so it’s often hard to find good recipes for her.
Yes, BUT….they might be green once baked. Sunflower seed butter + baking soda turns green when baked. A fun little science experiment for sure and totally edible, still taste great…but people are often quite surprised by the color change and some find the color off-putting.
these are so good! and easy to make with ingredients you most likely have on hand. Yum!
I love that about this recipe too! I am glad it was a success!
I tried this twice already (in 3 days) and it is SUPER good. My only issue is that it is breaking apart and is still soft even after cooling. Any suggestion on how I can make them firmer?
Thank you for this amazing recipe.
They are a soft blondie. However, I find the nut butter can determine how firm or soft they are. Some nut butters are runnier/oilier than others and can make for these blondies super soft. I have found the Costco brand to does pretty well. Also, keeping them chilled helps them to firm up a bit more
Have you tried putting these in the freezer to get them to really set up? I’ve made them many times and love them, curious to try freezing them.
Hi Taesha, would you say these blondies are still sweet and tasty enough without the chocolate chips? I’m a chocolate girl too, but can’t have chocolate currently due to being on a anti acid reflux diet 🙁 🙁
I’d throw in chopped walnuts for a little crunch.
Hi Eva! I think they would be mildly sweet without the chocolate chips. I’d totally eat them that way, but I think it depends on an individual’s preferred level of sweetness. If I was making them for the blog without the chocolate, I might throw in a couple tablespoons of coconut or regular sugar to make sure they aren’t too bland. Love the ideas of the nuts added!