Healthy Blondies?

After a whirlwind weekend of visiting friends, finishing up finals, and moving out of my dorm room, when I finally got home this afternoon, I needed to do something to relax. Since I really enjoy cooking/baking, I thought it would be nice to make something for my parents to come home to (and for me to enjoy, as well!), so I decided on an intriguing recipe I read about online recently:

Chocolate Chip Blondies

As a part of CCK's "Hug A Vegan Dessert" Extravaganza

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I have difficulty following recipes exactly, partially because I rarely have all of the proper ingredients, and partially because I like to experiment. In these, I didn't have any chick peas, so I used cannelini beans instead, and I subbed out the brown sugar with 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup of oatmeal. I also replaced the 1/4 cup flax with oatmeal because I didn't have any flax on hand either.

I was hesitant to taste the batter, as I had just watched myself mash up a can of beans into a bowl of peanut butter, sugar, and various other dessert ingredients, and was a little weirded-out by the whole process. So when a smudge got on my finger, I took it as a sign and quickly licked it off, trying to pretend it was normal batter. I soon found out that the pretending was unnecessary, because they tasted absolutely delicious! Excited to try the finished product, I quickly spooned the mix into a mini muffin pan, and threw them in the oven to bake.

My mom came home before they were done, and since I had told her about the recipe previously, I decided not to hide the true nature of the blondies from her (plus, my mom doesn't much care for dessert, so telling her they were healthy would make it MORE likely for her to try some).

The finished product.

After they had cooled, we popped two out of the pan and dug in. I, having already approved the batter, had no trepidations and finished mine rather quickly, but my mom was a little hesitant. "I'm a little scared to eat this," she said, "knowing what it's made of." After seeing how quickly I had eaten mine, she got over her fear pretty quickly, and with just one bite she was in love, and we began brainstorming the flavor possibilities.

So my life lesson of the day is to be adventurous and push the boundaries of society, because who knows, you may just find something you really like. As for me, I plan on trying to sneak healthy things into my desserts more often, and to unleash my trickery onto unsuspecting friends and family members, starting tonight with my dad and a mini-muffin blondie.

A close-up texture shot:

Who would know that this wasn't a normal dessert?