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Grain-Free Sweet Potato Blondies

July 20, 2017 · Natalie 86 Comments

The fudgy texture of a brownie and the sweet vanilla flavor of cake combine into the perfect cinnamon-spiced nut-sprinkled Sweet Potato Blondie squares!

The sweet potato that tastes like cake turned into cake that tastes like sweet potato.

Okay fine, blondie that tastes like sweet potato…but close enough.

If you’ve ever eaten a Japanese sweet potato, you’ve probably noticed how much they kind of sort of exactly taste like cake in a “Whoa did this thing really grow underground?” kinda way. It’s mind blowing. And will ruin you for all orange sweet potatoes going forward. But it’s worth the taste experience if you can find them. We’ll find some other yummy use for the orange ones.

Just so we’re clear Japanese sweet potatoes are the purple skin + white flesh ones. That always seems to spark some confusion. The white skin + white flesh ones are good too – somewhere in-between classic orange and Japanese on the sweet potato spectrum. Those would be my next-best recommendation for this recipe if you can’t find the Japanese variety, but I highly recommend you traverse all the grocery stores in the (10-15 mile radius of your house) land because these potatoes are worth a little extra effort.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with the why-blondies-in-the-peak-of-ice-cream-season? part.

Besides the obvious blondie sundae = AMAZING answer, it all started with this pic I share on Instagram a week or so ago. Late night baking turned into next day bloob-topped sweet square sharing, and many of you seemed to want a piece too. I didn’t know exactly how much of anything went into that blender, but I did know that it had to be recreated ASAP. Because it tasted like vanilla + cinnamon + joy in blondie form, and who doesn’t want that in their life?

The key components of this blondie recipe are…

Japanese sweet potato. Other varieties will work as well, but you cannot beat the naturally cake-like flavor of these guys. One large sweet potato will yield enough for a single batch (1 1/2 cups). You can bake it in the oven or microwave, and then mash before measuring.

Cashew butter. Any nut or seed butter will work, but I personally love the flavor of cashew butter in baking. I tried testing a lower fat option as well, but the texture was awful without the nut butter. If you are really craving a low fat sweet potato blondie, I will nudge you in the direction of this brownie recipe – replace cacao with more flour and add cinnamon and vanilla.

Cinnamon + vanilla. Do I really need to explain?

After some trial and error, I found the other essentials to be…

Coconut flour. These blondies are grain-free and mostly made of sweet potato, but a little bit of coconut flour balances the moisture and makes the texture more cake-like.

Baking powder. Even thought blondies are meant to be dense and chewy, a little leavening is still a must.

Maple syrup. But it’s optional. They are quite sweet with just the natural potato flavor, especially if you are using Japanese sweet potatoes. But if you do choose to skip it, you will need extra non-dairy milk to make up for the decreased liquid.

Pinch of salt. The magical little pinch that makes sweet stuff SO much better.

Non-dairy milk. Just enough to get the batter to blend, probably 3-4 tablespoons depending on the consistency of your nut butter and whether or not you use the maple syrup.

Chopped nuts. Very very optional. And switch-out-able. I’ve made a batch with cacao nibs + coconut on top, a batch with chocolate chips on top, a batch with nothing on top – there is no wrong way to go. But personally I prefer a crunchy contrast of some sort.

I’ve made and tweaked and tasted my way through 3 batches in the past week and I’m still not tired of them. However I am out of sweet potatoes. I do hope you try this seemingly-simple-but-actually-spectacular sweet potato recipe and become just as blondie obsessed as I am!

Grain-Free Sweet Potato Blondies

★★★★★ 4.9 from 16 reviews

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 squares 1x

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Description

The fudgy texture of a brownie and the sweet vanilla flavor of cake combine into the perfect cinnamon-spiced nut-sprinkled Sweet Potato Blondie squares!

Ingredients

Scale

1 1/2 cup baked and mashed sweet potato ((Japanese sweet potato taste the best!))
1/2 cup nut or seed butter ((I used cashew butter))
2 tbsp maple syrup ((optional))
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
3–4 tbsp non-dairy milk

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Combine everything except the non-dairy milk in a blender or food processor (or mix by hand).
Blend, adding the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until combined into a very thick batter. It should be almost crumbly but not quite, don’t add too much milk or they will turn out mushy.
Press into an 8×5″ baking pan (or a standard loaf pan works too) lined with parchment paper.
Sprinkle on chopped nuts and press them in lightly.
Bake for 35 minutes at 350F.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and eating. Keep leftovers in the fridge.

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Copycat Pressed Juicery Greens Freeze

July 17, 2017 · Natalie 30 Comments

This homemade Pressed Juicery Freeze recipe recreates the trendy ice cream treat with nothing but fruits, veggies, and a blender—just add toppings!

It’s basically salad ice cream. Your childhood dreams have finally come true.

If you’ve ever been on a little thing called Instagram, you’ve probably seen the Pressed Juicery F R E E Z E. Subway tile background, hand holding up a black and white cup, creamy soft-serve swirl, berries nestled around the edges – you know what I’m talking about. Given my serious love for all things cold + creamy + healthy, I have to admit I’ve been a little jealous of all the CA peeps who can get their hands on this fruity froyo-like treat.

If by chance you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s basically soft-serve that’s the equivalent of drinking a green juice. Soft-serve made of nothing but fruits, veggies, and nuts. To which I say–sign me up! For breakfast. And dessert. And maybe every other meal too if it’s a really hot day.

The jealousy didn’t last for long, because about 3 seconds later I remembered I have fruits and coconut and a blender. ~~I have swirling skill.~~ I have toppings like coconut and berries and even almond butter for drizzling. No it’s not as easy as walking up to a counter and handing over cash for a cold creamy cup of the stuff. But if you are like me and live in one of the 45 states without access to a Pressed Juicery location or another country entirely, the effort is absolutely worth it. Because this green goodness-packed blender copycat is blowing my mind!

Creamier than I had imagined. Sweeter than I had expected. Easier than driving to California. Because not even the greenest fancy froyo can justify the cross country excursion just for a cupful. Although if I went every day while I was there so it wasn’t just one cup…

Lucky for me Pressed Juicery is all about simple minimal ingredients, so DIY-ing it wasn’t too tricky. They offer six different flavors, but I created this recipe based off the Greens version which is made of green juice, coconut meat, and Medjool dates.

Green juice. I don’t own a juicer, and with how easy it is to make juice in the Vitamix I don’t plan to change that anytime soon. Also, for the sake of fiber preservation, I drink smoothies most of the time anyways. But in classic Greens Freeze fashion, this recipe starts with making green juice.

The juice that Pressed Juicery uses for this Freeze flavor is a blend of cucumber, romaine, kale, spinach, apple, and lemon. Now I don’t know the exact ratios they use, so we get to make that part up.

I used approximately…
1 cucumber
1 pink lady apple
1/2 a lemon (seeds and peel removed)
5 large romaine leaves
3 curly kale leaves
1 large handful of spinach

This list made for a fairly sweet green juice, which I love, but you could green it up a little more if you wanted to.

Be sure to add your most liquid-y ingredients (cucumber, lemon, apple) to the blender first otherwise all the foliage will get stuck. After blending, you will have a pulpy but very pretty green mixture. The best option for straining out the pulp is to use a nut milk bag, but a sieve and spoon works too.

Depending on how thoroughly you strain/squeeze, you will probably get 2-3 cups of juice. For the sake of consistency, the recipe uses just 2 cups, so happy green sipping with the extra.

If you own a juicer feel free to use that instead. Or for a really easy option, just buy a bottle of cold-pressed green juice. But check the ingredients first. Personally I recommend avoiding anything with chlorella or spirulina added unless you want soft-serve that tastes like the ocean. And I don’t mean in the good tropical vacay kinda way.

Coconut. If you can find frozen coconut meat, then lucky you. If you want to crack open a young coconut and scoop that stuff out, you and your large sharp object have (careful) fun. But personally I’m just going to use the cream from a can of full-fat coconut milk because it’s easier, cheaper, and safer for all involved.

After chilling in the fridge for a day or two, all the thick coconut cream will separate and you can scoop it right off the top. One can of milk makes for about one cup of cream, which I used all of in this recipe.

The 2:1 ratio of juice to cream made for a super lush creamy texture. You could probably use a little less if you wanted to keep it lower in fat. As is though it’s still lower in fat than a lot of vegan coconut milk ice cream recipes that are pretty much made entirely of coconut milk. And just think of all that good-for-you leafy green nutrition you are consuming with every heavenly bite.

Medjool dates. Are they absolutely necessary? No. Does that pain me a little bit to say about one of my fave fruits? Yes.

Keeping this copycat recipe as true to the original as possible, I added them. But really it’s quite sweet even without. They do probably add a little extra thickness to the texture too, but not essential. So add a few or not – it’s up to you.

No churn. While a froyo machine does make for more pristine swirls than me and my piping bag, you don’t need one. Or even an ice cream maker for that matter. This entire recipe only requires a blender, ice cube tray, and freezer.

After straining the green juice, add it back to the blender with all the other ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Then pour that mixture into an ice cube tray (or a muffin pan works too!) and freeze overnight.

The next day pop those green cubes back into the blender and blend until as creamy as can be. A high speed blender works best, but a food processor will work too. Don’t add any liquid – just keep blending, scraping down the sides, and blending some more.

Swirl with a piping bag or spoon into a cup. Then raid the kitchen for any and all…

Toppings! Raspberries. Blueberries. Fruit of all kinds. Chia seeds. Shredded coconut. Caramel sauce. Nut butter. Granola. Chocolate chips. Sea salt. Chocolate sauce. Sliced almonds. You get the idea.

It may not come in the iconic black and white cup shaped with the kind of swirl precision only a froyo machine can pull off, but none of that matters because this stuff tastes green juice genius!