Chewy & Soft Vegan Blondies (Gluten Free)
These chewy, soft, and molten vegan blondies are truly the best ever! Ready in under 25 minutes and easily gluten free with just one bowl, and only 7 ingredients, these “buttery” blondies are so easy to make and eat!
What’s the difference between a blondie and a brownie?
Have you ever had a blondie? If not, then you’re in for quite a treat!
We all know what a brownie is: super fudgy and rich, gooey and moist chocolate squares with a deliciously irresistible crinkle top.
A blondie is like the blonde cousin of a brownie! It’s filled with buttery vanilla and rich brown sugar, and typically includes chocolate chips and/or butterscotch chips. Blondies are just as gooey and moist as the classic brownie, only much like a vegan chocolate chip cookie in bar form!
These vegan blondies are some of my absolute favorite vegan bars and brownies to make (along with these vegan snickerdoodle blondies!). You’re just going to love them for a quick and easy vegan dessert recipe that’s ready in under 25 minutes.
But don’t worry; just because these are vegan blondies doesn’t mean you’re missing out on any of the taste. In fact, this blondie recipe in particular tastes identical to a classic blondie, only entirely egg free and dairy free!
Easy Gluten Free Vegan Blondies ready in 25 minutes!
You are just going to love these vegan blondies, for a few reasons.
These blondies are naturally gluten free (we’re using oat flour, but you actually have a few flour options below, including if you don’t need gluten free!) and nut free at that, making these cookie bars highly allergy friendly.
Not to mention, these blondies are so incredibly and quick to make: just one bowl, 7 ingredients, and 25 minutes. The hardest part obviously is the waiting for them to cool part 😉
In terms of tastes, these deliciously vegan blondies are:
- “Buttery” thanks to the melted vegan butter
- Super soft
- Gooey
- Rich without feeling heavy
- Chewy yet melt-in-your-mouth
Now let’s get to making these blondies!
Overview: How to make vegan blondies from scratch
As I mentioned above, you don’t need much to get started with these chocolate chip cookie bars, making this a wonderful recipe for not only beginning bakers, but beginning vegan bakers as well.
Just a reminder that the full recipe and measurements are found at the bottom of this post in the recipe card. However, we’ll go over the brief instructions here, along with any ingredient swaps!
For ingredients, you’ll need:
- Vegan butter: we’re melted the vegan butter here. This gives these eggless blondies a much richer and “buttery” taste rather than creaming the butter. You can also use coconut oil, but you won’t get that buttery taste. There are many nut-free and soy-free vegan butters on the market now, so definitely check out your local grocery store!
- Coconut sugar: this replaces the brown sugar typically found in a blondie, and keeps this recipe entirely refined sugar free. Coconut sugar tastes very similar to brown sugar, which is why it works here and in my vegan chocolate chip cookies. If you don’t need/want refined sugar free, you can still swap in brown sugar!
- Unsweetened applesauce: I use unsweetened to keep the sugar content still on the lower side. The applesauce replaces the eggs found in the classic blondie recipe, which helps these to be entirely vegan and egg free.
- Vanilla extract: you can also use vanilla bean seeds or vanilla bean paste.
- All purpose flour: I’ve tested this as a gluten free blondie recipe with both oat flour and gluten-free 1:1 baking flour as well. All three flour options work here. The only time I would recommend one over the other is a) if you don’t have a gluten allergy and prefer not to eat gluten free, you can use all-purpose flour and b) if either oat flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour is more accessible to you, use the one that’s easiest.
- Baking powder: just to help them rise a bit!
- Vegan chocolate chips: some of my favorite brands are Enjoy Life and Pascha Chocolate. For a zero sugar chocolate chip, you can use Pascha Organics 100%.
Now let’s get to baking these blondies! I’m sharing the full video Reel to Instagram, but here’s a quick overview! To start:
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a square pan with parchment paper.
- Next, you’ll make sure that the vegan butter is melted but not hot. This prevents any issue in terms of texture and flour. Even though we’re using oat flour, heat creates a gumminess to the flour, and that’s not what we want with these blondies.
- Whisk together the vegan butter and coconut sugar. Then add in the applesauce and vanilla, and keep whisking until everything is combined.
- Fold in the flour and baking powder until you reach a dough consistency.
- Then fold in the chocolate chips!
- Press the dough into the pan and bake!
That’s truly it; you don’t need a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Just a whisk, bowl, and rubber spatula or spoon!
Now for cooling, I personally prefer to eat these blondies warm, so I only give them about 10 minutes to cool in the pan. Just make sure that your pan isn’t still hot!
For storing, you can easily freeze them for up to 3 months in an airtight baggy or container. To thaw, simply heat on a baking sheet in the oven at 300F for 5 minutes!
What flour should I use for gluten-free blondies?
I’ve tried these vegan blondies with both gluten-free oat flour (store bought) and with gluten free 1:1 baking flour. These will also work with homemade oat flour, but will be a bit “oatier,” as our home food processors and blenders don’t grind everything into such a fine powder as store bought!
For oat flour and gluten free 1:1 baking flour brands, I recommend the Bob’s Red Mill brand for both, Arrowhead mills for oat flour, and King Arthur for the gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
Blondie Add-Ins
Of course, my go-to are the vegan chocolate chip blondies, but some other add-ins you might love:
- Chopped nuts: walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, etc. If you’re nut-free, you can use seeds, such as pumpkin seeds!
- Dairy free butterscotch chips
- Vegan chocolate gems: the ones I typically use are by Unreal, and they’re dark chocolate. I used them to make the noses on my vegan Reindeer cookies!
- Dairy free white chocolate chips: I recommend Pascha Organics.
- Dried fruit: raisins, craisins, and apricots are wonderful!
- Coconut chips
- Vegan candy bars: turn these into Halloween blondies by adding in your favorite leftover vegan Halloween candy!
I hope you absolutely love these super soft and gooey vegan blondies as much as I do! They’re seriously such a treat- just wait until you try!
If you liked this recipe or have any questions, be sure to leave a comment down below as well as giving the recipe a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find this recipe!
As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest so be sure to tag me there!
Happy blondie baking!
More vegan brownies and bars you’ll love
Vegan Nutella Stuffed Brownie Cookie Bars
Easy Vegan Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
The Best Ever Vegan Blondies (Gluten Free)
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These are truly the best vegan blondies I’ve ever had! Super rich and gooey, naturally gluten free, nut free, one bowl, ready in under 25 minutes, and only 7 ingredients, these “buttery” blondies are so easy to make and eat!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, coconut sugar or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (67 g) dairy free yogurt or unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cup (200 g) all-purpose flour*
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8×8″ baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter and coconut sugar.
- Add in the applesauce and vanilla extract, and mix together thoroughly.
- Add in the flour and baking powder, and use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet until it becomes a sticky dough.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the dough into the baking pan, and use a rubber spatula to press the dough to reach the edges of the pan. Sprinkle on more chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake the blondies in the oven for 20-22 minutes, or until the tops of the blondies are “set” and lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow the blondies to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Gluten-free: If you’re gluten-free, you can use oat flour, homemade oat flour, or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Measure for Measure.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 blondie
- Calories: 183
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 10.6 mg
- Fat: 9.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.2 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 15.3 mg
Keywords: vegan blondies, healthy vegan blondies, blondies recipe, gluten free blondies
Delicious and easy! Even my husband loved them and ate half a batch before they cooled! Used less sugar as I just don’t like overly sweet things. Highly recommend making these!
★★★★★
Aw thank you so much!! Too funny- my boyfriend also devoured these 🤣 Enjoy!!
Can I use flax egg instead of applesauce?
I would recommend the applesauce just so that it remains slightly “fudgy” in texture, but you can use flaxseed if you’d like! It just might not result in the desired texture! If you do, 1 flax egg would be the equivalent!
Ok I just had to tell you my story about these blondies – First time I made them was for my parents, and my dad who is not GF or vegan was VERY skeptical…and then he ended up eating seconds and thirds! This has now become the go to dessert my mom bakes because it’s finally something they both can enjoy! Also – I just made a batch for myself (yes it’s a Thursday morning, but why not!) and I subbed vanilla extract for maple syrup and put them in a cupcake tin!
★★★★★
Oh my goodness!! This is just the sweetest!! So happy to hear it thank you!!! ENJOY!!
Haha we just made them too! It was so easy for my 4yo and 2yo to help with and I bribed them to clean up their mess before we made them.
AMAZING!!! So happy to hear it 🙂
Hi Hayley, I know your message is from over a year ago, but just wondering what your baking time is in the cupcake tins.
Thanks!
Allyson
I tested some blondie recipes today to see which was best and these were the clear winner. Highly recommend these!
★★★★★
Aw so happy to hear it!! Thank you for this review!!
I was wondering if I could substitute almond flour. No particular reason, I just have that in my pantry and not getting out much these days.
Hi Martha! Unfortunately, I don’t bake much with almond flour, but I believe it would definitely need another flour to go with it! I’m so sorry about that!
These taste so good but mine crumbled it was impossible to cut. I used gf flour and maybe my applesauce was still cold or I didn’t let the coconut oil cool enough before mixing?
★★★
Hi Jess- I’m so sorry to hear that! Which GF flour did you use? I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur- every GF flour is a bit different! Did it contains xanthan gum? Also did you happen to scoop your flour or spoon and level?
These were fantastic! Good texture and taste without being too heavy. My first gluten-free baking success!
★★★★★
Love this!! So happy to hear it, thank you! Enjoy 🙂
Super easy to make and I had everything on hand. I used bobs 1:1, which always has a grainy texture, so maybe I need to try a different route, but these are gf and vegan and tasted great, so I was happy! I used a 9×9, baked a little longer to try and get crispy edges, served with some ice cream. Pazookie status 👌 thank you!
★★★★★
So happy to hear this!! And thank you for mentioning which flour you used!! That helps so much, as GF flours can really vary!! Enjoy 🙂
Made these yesterday and they were a huge hit with everyone, not just GF crowd. I used Bob’s 1-1 and 6 TBSP Miyoko’s European-Style Cultured Vegan Butter for vegan and GF version. I added a drizzle of maple syrup and a splash of molasses to the batter and used allergy free white chocolate chips. Wonderful. Will keep this recipe on hand for my GF friends in the future. Perfect last minute take along for any gathering since all the ingredients are available in my kitchen at any time. Love it!
★★★★★
Aw I love this!! Thank you so much for giving these recipe notes as well- it’s SO helpful for everyone else!! So glad everyone loved them!! 🙂 Thanks for this! Enjoy!
Hi there! Would I be able to substitute the vegan butter for coconut palm oil?
Hi Elena! You can use coconut oil here, but it might have a slight coconut taste- still delicious, but just letting you know they will have a slightly different taste than intended! 🙂
These blondies were amazing! I love finding vegan and gluten free recipes that work and taste amazing. I used coconut oil and apple sauce and they worked a treat. My housemate, who isn’t vegan or gluten free, also loved them! Took them to the office and they were gone in seconds. Will definitely be trying other recipes out 🙂
Thanks so much x
★★★★★
So happy to hear it!! Enjoy!!
I used earth balance organic whipped vegan butter. I used coconut sugar and in my high speed blender I ground up very fine my oats into oat flour and then sifted.
They taste amazing but are the exact consistency of a cake that falls apart so not great for finger food. I followed the recipe instructions exactly so not sure why the texture was not right. was going to bring for a pot luck but will give it to my neighbors for the holidays instead.
★★★★
Hi Jen! So sorry to hear about the texture! This is actually because of the whipped vegan butter- it’s not the same fat ratio as regular butter, so it will yield a drier consistency (which is why they fell apart!). I hope you give them a go again with regular vegan butter (I really love Miyoko’s for this recipe!)!