Marbled Vegan Almond Blondies
Dense, custardy, sweet, and nutty, these marbled vegan almond blondies are perfect for any almond lover in your life. I don’t agree with them but I know there are people who don’t like chocolate, and while everyone can eat this recipe I specifically made it for the non-chocolate lover in my life. It’s complex, and has both different and the same flavors in the almond frangipane layer and in the miso blondie layer. These blondies are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up to motivate me to finish whatever work I have left for the day. You need that as well? Try these out.
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Vegan Frangipane
Frangipane is a creamy, nutty, almond-based paste that is often baked into baked goods like croissants or into tarts like the famous Bakewell tart. It’s similar to marzipan, although marzipan is a thick moldable dough and frangipane is a creamy batter. The almond part of our blondies is made with frangipane. Traditionally frangipane is made from almonds, butter, eggs, and sugar. We have of course substituted the butter for vegan butter and the eggs for applesauce. Because of that our frangipane does have a bit of an apple flavor, that personally I find quite delicious. We did also opt to use whole almonds instead of almond flour, which gives us a little bit more texture and the almond skins somewhat darkens the frangipane color. Because frangipane contains raw flour, it should be cooked (unlike marzipan which can be eaten raw).
Looking for Vegan Almond Recipes? Try one of these!
- Champagne Grape Almond Butter Swirl Bread
- Blueberry Japanese Knotweed Vegan Bakewell Tart
- Simple Vegan Lemon Cake with Coconut and Almonds
- Almond, Oat and Vegan Apple Cookies
- Watermelon Gazpacho with Savory Almond Seaweed Granola
- Crown Daisy Pasta in Spicy Almond Sauce
- Almond Shortbread Vegan Rosehip Cookies
How to Make Marbled Vegan Almond Blondies
The magic of these blondies are all in how the salty, miso layer plays with the nutty almond frangipane. You’re going to make two batters, one for the blondies, and a vegan frangipane for the almond layer, and then you’ll marble them together in a pan. You can keep the dishes a bit lower by making both of the batters in a food processor, and then combining them. The frangipane layer is made by first grinding almonds in a food processor, until it is a rough flour before combining it with the remaining frangipane ingredients. The key towards getting a nice marble in these blondies is to make the frangipane layer first, and lay it in the pan on the bottom. Because it’s lighter than the blondies, it naturally will go towards the top, and if you don’t start with it as the bottom layer you will end up with frangipane on top and blondie on the bottom instead of marbling. If you start with the frangipane on the bottom, and add dollops of blondie on top and lightly swirl them you’ll end up with a more marbled blondie.
Once the two batters are made the blondies need to bake for about 40 minutes. I let mine cool before cutting them into 16 pieces. And make sure to snag a corner piece before sharing- they’re the best.
PS- If you’re looking for a good source of almonds, check out these ones from Nuts.com!
Marbled Frangipane Blondie Tasting Notes
These blondies are sweet, with balanced salty miso flavors that hit you as you chew, focusing the sweetness. The frangipane parts feel a little like coffee cake- they are nutty, moist, and custardy. Each bite gives you a little bit of resistance with the finely ground almonds. Throughout are notes of vanilla and apple sweetness. They have a fudgy, dense texture, a little more cakey than traditional blondies.
Marbled Vegan Almond Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole almonds
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp. cornstarch
- 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 2/3 cup plant-based milk
- 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 2 tsp. light miso paste
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Instructions
- Lightly grease an 8x8 inch metal baking pan, or line with baking paper, and preheat the oven to 350F (175C).
- To make the frangipane, start by adding the almonds to a food processor and process until they are finely ground (but making sure to stop before they turn into an almond butter). Add the sugar, cornstarch, and baking powder, and pulse to combine. Add the remaining ingredients for the frangipane, and process so it's well integrated. Transfer the frangipane to the prepared baking dish.
- In the same food processor, combine the wet ingredients for the blondies and process until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and process to incorporate. Add the blondie batter to the pan in scoopfuls on top of all the frangipane, rather than in a smooth layer. Use a skewer, chopstick, or butterknife to lightly marble the two layers together- don't overmix, as you want to maintain a clear separation between the doughs.
- Bake in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the pan and slicing.
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