Hello Baking Friends!
I had some requests for the sharing of a recipe I made last night and took into work today for my unsuspecting coworkers.
Paleo Pumpkin-Cashew Blondies
I have recently discovered I have quite a lot of food ‘allergies/intolerances’, and the closest ‘diet’ that I can follow is the Paleo diet. Knowing that this is something a lot of people are getting into, I have been intrigued by some of the lovely blogs and resources that I have found.
So far, however, my favorite named blog, and inspiration for my Blondies, is Clean Eating With A Dirty Mind. First of all, the name is just giggle worthy. I love it. Next, the author actually responds to comments, which is sometimes rare for some of the more popularly commented on bloggers (due to time). And finally, Vanessa actually discussed some alternatives with me, and gave me her stamp of approval. So of course, I am biased towards her! 😉
So here is the Paleo Pumpkin Pie Blondie recipe from Vanessa at CEWADM. Her blog entry is worth reading.
Now, here is the recipe that I did, which yielded a deep-dish 13×9 pan of Blondie yumminess!
Paleo Pumpkin-Cashew Blondies
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup cashew butter (I used JIF)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
1 cup oat flour (homemade is easy, recipe below)
1/2Â cup coconut palm sugar (looks like brown sugar)
1 tspn each ground nutmeg, ground cloves and Saigon cinnamon
1/2 tspn each ground cardamom seed, ground ginger, vanilla bean powder and ground allspice
1/4 tspn (or a dash really) Pink Himalayan Salt
Directions:
Step 1: Mix all the wet ingredients together with a whisk until evenly blended.
Step 2: Add the pumpkin and the cashew butter to the wet mix, and whisk until thick but well mixed.
Step 3: Mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk until evenly blended.
Step 4: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture..
Step 5: Whisk until evenly blended.
Step 6: Pour batter into a 13×9 baking pan.
Step 7: Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 1 hour, but best if it sits overnight to settle.
Final Touches: Slice into 24-28 pieces, and add a dollop of cashew butter to enjoy to the utmost!
I input the caloric value, roughly, at 28 pieces per recipe, into CalorieCount.About.Com and came up with the following nutritional information (which is probably not entirely accurate, guessing on the high side):
Serving Size: 1 piece + 1/4 teaspoon cashew butter spread on top
Calories: 180
Total Fat: 14.3g
Saturated Fat: 7.8g [I am going to see if I can reduce this in a further rendition of this recipe]
Cholesterol: 6mg
Sodium: 98mg
Total Carbohydrates: 13.2g
Dietary Fiber: 0.8g
Sugars: 5.3g
Protein: 2.1g
Vitamin A: 11%Â Â Â Calcium: 2%Â Â Â Iron: 4%
As promised – if you want to make your own oat flour, all you need to do is take equal amounts (i.e. 1 cup) of raw oats, or 75% oat bran, to what you need for a recipe. Pulse in food processor until completely refined to almost a powder, about 2:00 – 2:30 minutes. I made mine a little thicker, and it came out pretty tasty in the recipe, I thought!
So all of my coworkers who tried it enjoyed it (and no, they didn’t say it just because I was standing there, many actually came and found me to tell me they enjoyed it, so neener to all you nay-sayers who may have wanted to give me some teasing crap on that one, hahaHA!). Favorite way, however, was indeed with a smidge of cashew butter on top!
So go check out Vanessa, and try one of our variations of this recipe (or both), and let me/us know what you thought of it! I look forward to hearing about it!
Craft You Later,
Beth
youbettercraftaround 
