Chocolate covered cherries may be a favorite Valentine's treat for some of you, and if so, you will love these. You don't have to like chocolate covered cherries to like these blondies! Blondies, what the heck is that really? Basically they are brownies without the cocoa. According to wikipedia:
A blondie (also known as a "blond[e] brownie" or "blondie bar") is a rich, sweet dessert bar. It is made fromflour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and may also contain walnuts or pecans Chocolate chip blondies may contain white or dark chocolate chips. A blondie may have a taste reminiscent of butterscotch.
Blondies resemble the traditional chocolate brownie, but are based on brown sugar instead of cocoa; they are sometimes referred to as blonde brownies. They are baked in a pan in the oven similar to how traditional brownies are baked, then cut into rectangular shapes for serving.
Like brownies, blondies may include chocolate chips. They may also contain coconut, nuts, toffee, or any other chunky candy for added texture. Blondies aren't usually frosted; the brown sugar flavor tends to be sweet enough.
Technically I think these could be called Chocolate Cherry Cookie Bars as well, but I like blondie for this recipe. Since brown sugar is an ingredient in blondies, I had to come up with an alternative. I chose to add a bit of coconut palm sugar to give it that caramel, molasses taste. Another option would be to add a bit of molasses to granulated sugar since that's basically what brown sugar is. I used Swerve for my sweetener to keep these low sugar and added just a bit of coconut palm sugar. They turned out perfect, moist but with a crisp crackly top!
Chocolate Cherry Blondies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Honeyville Almond Flour
- 5 tbsp grass-fed butter or coconut oil, softened
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup granulated sweetener (I used almost 3/4 cupSwerve*and 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar)
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (use Enjoy Life Choclate Chips orEnjoy Life Chocolate Chunks
to make dairy free) - 1/2 – 3/4 cup cherries (cut into fourths)**
Instructions
- Place the softened butter/oil and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream with a hand mixer or in a stand up mixer until fluffy
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue to blend
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt
- Slowly add the flour mixture as you continue to beat until well combined
- Fold in the chocolate chips and lastly, fold in the cherries
- Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes until slightly brown
- Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting into them (I prefer these out of the refrigerator cold)
Quick notes
*If you want to order Swerve, they have given my readers an extra 10% off your online order with code KATE10.
**It is almost impossible to find fresh cherries this time of year, so frozen is what you will use. They tend to be very dark in color and that is why this looks like a blueberry blondie. It is best to keep them frozen until you have added the chocolate chips so they do not melt and bleed into the dough.
As Wikipedia says above, any nut or candy can be used in blondie recipes. Use this as a base and add what ever nuts, fruits, chocolates you would like!
If you want to try Swerve or need to order more, use coupon code KATE10 for a 10% discount. Swerve is my favorite sugar replacement. It is the only sugar alcohol that will not cause tummy troubles and it does not raise blood glucose levels.
If you are an Amazon shopper, would you be so kind to use my affiliate link to make your purchases. It is at no cost to you, it does provide a tiny kickback to Kate’s Healthy Cupboard. This allows me to continue making and testing recipes for free. Thanks so much!!
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