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Thursday 1 January 2009

The first one of 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I can't believe it's 2009 already. I trust everyone had a good NY's Eve? Mine was a bit lame but it was nice to be with my friends.

Midnight also marked my one year veganniversary! A whole year of being vegan and I've loved every second of it! I decided I needed to bake something extra awesome to celebrate - more on that in a bit though, I have a couple of food pics....

Yesterday's brekkie, pancakes with lots of cinnamon added to the batter and maple syrup.

Today's dinner. It is rare that I fancy salad but today I did. I made the country fried tofu from Hot Damn & Hell Yeah (that stuff is awesome) and a salad out of chinese leaf, mushrooms, cucumber, carrots and a simple vinaigrette.


And now the important stuff - the baking. I wanted to use some of the white chocolate I got for christmas and some peanut butter so I made blondies. I got the idea for swirling peanut butter into brownies from the Barefoot Contessa! But this is my veganified version. They are a bit more effort than regular blondies, but I don't apologise for that, cuz they are tasty as fook!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Blondies


Dry Ingredients:
1½ cups/240g plain flour
¼ cup/4 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
1 cup/250ml unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 tsp vinegar
¾ cup (packed)/135g light brown muscovado sugar
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds whisked with 6 tbsp cold water)
½ cup/125ml soya yoghurt
¼ cup/60ml sunflower or rapeseed (canola) oil
1½ tsp vanilla extract
Extras:
30g/about ¼ cup vegan white chocolate, chopped or chips
1/3 cup/6 heaped tbsp natural smooth peanut butter
1 heaped tsp cocoa powder

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.

Mix together the milk and vinegar and set aside. Whisk together flax seeds and water and set aside.

Seive together the dry ingredients and mix well. Whisk the rest of the wet ingredients into the milk mixture and then add the flax eggs and whisk thoroughly - don't combine the two just yet.

If need be, stir the oils back into the peanut butter and if it's not soft enough to drop off the spoon in blobs* then heat it very gently over a low flame, stirring until it softens a little.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well until just combined, don't overmix. Remove 1/2 a cup of the blondie batter and put into a small bowl. Mix the cocoa powder in and set aside.

Toss the chocolate chips in a tsp or so of flour and then fold them into the batter and pour into a lightly oiled 8x8 baking tin. Then drop blobs of the chocolate batter and peanut butter over the surface. Like this.....
Then take a skewer and swirl swirly swirl...


Bake until the blondies are raised and cracked on top and a skewer comes out still a bit soft. It took 25 minutes in my oven. Leave it to cool in the tin and then I used a spatula to cut the blondies into 12 and remove them from the tin to cool on a wire rack. Here they are straight out the oven....

*sorry for shit description!! hehe

Cooking to: Heroes Series 2 - I'm catching up so I can start watching S3 that I've been V+ing.

19 comments:

  1. Happy Veganniversary! And Happy New Year, too! If you keep making such awesome looking deliciousness Sal, you'll never have to worry about a vegan backslide!

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  2. Happy Veganversary Sal! Wow, quite a few veganversaries happening today!
    Dude those blondies do look tasty as 'fook' (and I don't even like peanut butter!). I'd totally eat that blondie though, peanut butter aversion be damned!
    Happy New Year! xx

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  3. happy veganversary, Sal! that's so awesome that we share one! hells yeah!

    i think dan & i need to have pancakes for breakfast this saturday. yours look fantastically stellar! and the country fried tofu on top of your salad looks mighty fine, too. i loaned my hot damn & hell yeah to a friend, but when i get it back - totally gonna make that tofu! mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

    i need to get some ground flax seeds (i think they have 'em in bulk at my natural food store) so i can make your white chocolate peanut butter swirl blondies! holy batman, those have to be the best damn blondies in the history of blondies. and my lucky ass just bought 2 packages of white chocolate chips - fuck yeah! :D thank you x 1,000,000,000 for the recipe, Sal! (thanks for the peanut butter tip, too! never would have thought to heat it up a bit if it's a little stiff.)

    happy new year to you, Sal!

    hugs & happyfaces are coming your way!

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  4. congrats on your veganniversary and happy 2009!

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  5. Happy NY, Sal! And Congrats on your veganniversary!

    Those blondies sound interesting, I am yet to try baked goods with pb in them but these might be my first atttempt!

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  6. Happy Veganversary! Those blondies look addictive! And the tofu looks awesome as well-I moved and lost my copy of Hot Damn & Hell Yeah. I despair!

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  7. Sal, those blondies look AMAZING!!! Happy New Year and Happy Veganniversary! Keep coming with those great eats - I have yet to see anything on your blog to prove the often-touted theory that vegans eat boring crap!!

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  8. ooh happy belated veganniversary, Sal!
    the brownies and their deco look stellar. teleport a huge chunk of them my way, please?

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  9. ISn't heroes amazing? I started watching last year and can't get enough.

    I adore your blondies - I am going to have to mark this recipe and get my baking party dress on tomorrow, because these look too good not to make. You rock! Thanks. And great blog.

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  10. Happy Veganversary!! Way to celebrate with all this deliciousness!

    The country fried tofu looks so good it's ridiculous. I'm serious, the stuff is making me drool!

    There are no words to describe what the blondies are doing to me though. Holy fantabulousness!!

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  11. Happy new year and veganversary!

    And by the way, those brownies look killer!

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  12. Happy veganniversary!

    Those blondies look devine, great way to celebrate!

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  13. Congratulations on your veganniversary, that's so cool. Those blondies look so fierce and incredible, my mouth is watering just looking at them!

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  14. Woohoo, congratulations on the veganniversary!

    That tofu looks so good..and the brownies, too. Wow!

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  15. WOW...HAPPY NEW YEAR & HAPPY VEGANVERSARY!

    this is the 3rd pancake post i am looking at!

    what is happening in the world of vegan blogsphere???

    soooo craving for pancakes now!!

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  16. hey sal,
    happy veganiversary--you're the second one celebrating-(so is chelsea of vegan mecca). those brownies look awesome and an A+ on your marbling abilities!

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  17. Happy New Year Sal and Happy Veganversary too!!
    WooHoo!! A whole year!!
    Those Blondies look the biz and so pretty too.
    I have to get season 2 of Heroes!!

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  18. YEAH you do have to get S2 of Heroes - if only for the abundance of shirtless Peter Pertrelli - he is looking hot!!

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  19. Yay! Those blondies look delicious!!!

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speak to me, yo!