Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies (Gluten Free, Paleo + Vegan)
These Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies are a super chewy blondie, flavored with fresh bananas and studded with crunchy walnuts and dark chocolate chunks. You’d never guess that they’re gluten-free, paleo and vegan.
I think I’m a blondie-a-holic. Each time one of my blondie recipes disappears from the fridge, I start brainstorming a new blondie recipe that I can start testing to replenish the stash 😏
So after the last of my recent paleo + vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Blondies got eaten, I started dreaming up a something new to replace them in the fridge. One of my more popular recipes is these Paleo Banana Nut Muffins, and I started thinking that banana nut blondies would be even better.
Oh man, I was definitely right. The banana helps these blondies get extra chewy, which contrasts deliciously with the crunchy toasted walnuts, and the melted dark chocolate chunks add a deliciously gooey element. Swoooon.
These are one of those treats I know no one would suspect of being gluten-free, paleo, and vegan – they’re just too rich, decadent, and flavorful. The mashed ripe banana takes the place of the egg in this recipe, helping to make them vegan, and it adds a fruity flavor and some moist chewiness.
Nut butter helps provide richness, structure, and flavor in this recipe. I opted for almond butter, because it’s pretty neutral with the almond flour, but you could use peanut butter for a delicious twist, or cashew butter to make it ultra-rich and add a little extra creamy sweetness.
It’s sweetened with coconut sugar – I found 1/2 cup to be just sweet enough, but if you have a big sweet tooth, you could go to 2/3, or if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth or if you banana is super ripe, you can reduce it down to 1/3. For the flour, I used almond and coconut. There’s only a few tablespoons of coconut flour, but they help absorb some extra moisture and make these banana nut blondies extra chewy.
I added a touch of cinnamon for warmth, because I love the way it pairs with the banana nut flavor combination, along with some vanilla. For the mix-ins, I was originally planned on sticking with just toasted walnuts…but I couldn’t resist tossing in some dark chocolate chunks as well.
And chocolate chunks are always a good idea, so of course it turned out delicious! These Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies are rich and chewy, with subtle banana flavor, crunch from the toasted walnuts, and gooeyness from the melted chocolate. Bet you won’t be able to have just one ;) enjoy!
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Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 blondies 1x
- Category: Dessert
Description
These Chocolate Chunk Banana Nut Blondies are a super chewy blondie, flavored with fresh bananas and studded with crunchy walnuts and dark chocolate chunks. You’d never guess that they’re gluten-free, paleo and vegan.
Ingredients
- ½ cup creamy almond butter, or other smooth nut butter of choice
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted, use refined for no coconut flavor
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup mashed banana
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (72g) almond flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, banana, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined. Stir in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chunks.
- Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Cool completely, and then cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Would I be able to sub applesauce for the banana successfully? Thanks
Hi Patricia, yup that would work fine!
Hi Rachel!
I’m all out of coconut flour, do you know what I could substitute? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try this recipe!!! I have been dying to do it while on my whole 30 and now I finally can!
You can use 1 cup of almond flour instead. Hope you love them, and congrats on finishing your Whole30 Kristen!
love love love these made them 4 times each time getting better and better!!! mmmmmm mmmmmmm
★★★★★
That makes me so happy to hear!!! Thanks Kayla.
Hi Rachel!
I made these as per the recipe some time ago and they were delicious! I was wondering if I could sub the coconut sugar for honey or maple syrup?
★★★★★
Hi Alison, you could but it would mess with the liquid ratio so they might take longer to bake or turn out kind of mushy. I haven’t tried this way so not sure how it would work out – try at your own risk!!
I made your recipe without deviation, but found they don’t hold together like a brownie. They sort of fell apart. Any suggestions where I might have gone wrong? They tasted great.
★★★★★
Hi Traci, glad you’re enjoying them but sorry they’re falling apart on you! Are you sure they were cooked all the way through? I also find it helps to keep them chilled before cutting to make them firmest/easiest to cut. Try seeing if they firm up in the fridge – sometimes in hot weather treats made with coconut oil can get softer at room temp! Hope this helps :)
Hello! Could this be done only with coconut flour and if so how much?
Hi Ness, I haven’t tested it that way so no guarantees, but I’d guess about 1/2 cup would probably work. Enjoy :)
Do you use unsweetened chocolate?
Hi Ginny, no I used coconut sugar sweetened dark chocolate – either a chopped up bar or chips from Santa Barbara Chocolate. If you want to place an order with them, you can use the code BAKERITA for $10 off.
Hi,
I’ve just tried making a double batch of these but the mixture came out really dry with nothing binding it together. I followed the recipe to a tee just doubling everything so I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong and why the mixture won’t bind. I’m hoping they come out the oven ok but can’t see them being gooey like the one I had in a cafe earlier! Any help welcome!
Hi Richard, if you used very thick almond butter that didn’t have a lot of oil or if your bananas weren’t very ripe, that could’ve been why it seemed dry. The batter is definitely thicker more than runny, but they should bake up okay! It’s hard for me to know without being in the kitchen with you or having any details.
Even better warmed up!
★★★★
So glad you’re loving them, Jessica!!
Turned out perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it!
THANK YOU for this recipe Rachel! I love how moist and gooey these are – I bake them for less to make sure they’re gooey and melt in your mouth. I’m a huge chocolate person but I didn’t even feel these needed chocolate as there was already so much flavour from the banana and peanut butter (which I used instead of almond butter).
I make it a bit lower carb by using a sugar free sweetener (stevia erythritol blend) instead of the coconut sugar – I reduced the amount to about 1/3 cup the first time I made it and 1/4 cup the second time and the batter was still sweet. The second time I made it I almost finished the whole pan in one day – very dangerous to have around!
★★★★★
Sounds fabulous, Sara!! I’m so so happy you’re enjoying these bars, and I appreciate your feedback about using different sweeteners too. Super helpful to other folks who may be wondering how that would work :)