Date-Sweetened Blondies Cover Photo

Date-Sweetened Blondies

A classic holiday baking recipe with a twist - these date-sweetened blondies are sweetened with natural ingredients which add some fiber, antioxidants and minerals to this adored Christmas recipe. I was quite shocked how well this one turned out myself!

Prep ~ 20m
Cook ~ 24m
Cool ~ 15m
Total ~ 59m
Christmas Holiday Recipes Baking Desserts Healthy

Ingredients

  • 250 g Medjool dates
  • 80 mL milk of choice
  • 60 mL water (optional)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 60 g whole wheat flour
  • 60 g oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 60-70 g cane sugar
  • 57 g butter (1/4 cup)
  • 57 g tahini (1/4 cup)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 225 g cream cheese

Instructions

Preparing the date base:

  1. Presoaking the pitted dates in warm water is optional, it aids the blending process. If you want your blondies to be less fudgy AND you want to soak the dates, skip the 60 mL water afterwards.

  2. Add the dates, milk, water and 1 tsp vanilla extract to a blender and blend until the paste becomes smooth and homogenous.

For the dry ingredients:

  1. Add the whole wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices to a bowl and mix.

For the wet ingredients:

  1. Add the cane sugar, melted butter, tahini, egg and 2 tbsp honey to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Honey can be substituted for agave or maple syrup, go for what you have on hand.

Add the date base to the dry ingredients, then mix in the wet ones. Pour the blondie batter into a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven (350°F or 180°C) for 22-26 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry. Let it cool before topping off with the frosting.

For the frosting, you could also use a light cream cheese version if you want to lower the fat content and energy density, but the texture might be a bit less thick. Mix the cream cheese, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla extract into a bowl and coat the baked blondie batter when it has cooled.

You can store it in the fridge for a week at most, but I doubt there will be any of it left after so long :)