CARAMEL BLONDIES!!!

CARAMEL BLONDIES

The secret to these healthy but decadent treats are the WHITE sweet potatoes which are very sweet and starchy and have a subtle vanilla flavor and taste like cake. For the best flavor, roast the sweet potatoes rather tan steaming or microwaving them. This caramelizes them and brings out the best flavor. Chocolate brownies have nothing on these beauties!

INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces pitted dates
8 ounces unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla powder ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WHDC2Z4?...)
2 cups WHITE* sweet potato flesh
1½ cups rolled oats
½ cup millet**, ground into a flour
2 teaspoons vanilla powder (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WHDC2Z4?...)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups mashed banana (approximately 3)

PREPARATION:
To create the date paste, soak the dates in the plant milk for several hours or overnight until they are very soft. Place dates and soaking liquid into a food processor fitted with the “S” blade, add the vanilla powder and process until smooth. Remove ¾ cup of the date paste, this will be your frosting. Place the remaining ingredients of the recipe into the same food processor with the residual date paste and process until smooth. Pour batter into a 9-inch square silicone baking pan, frost with the date paste and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. If your oven is properly calibrated, 30 minutes will produce a moister Blondie. Turn the oven off and allow the pan to cool in the oven. If you like, sprinkle with reduced fat coconut. Chill and cut into 16 bars.

If you prefer, you can chill the 3/4 cup of date paste and frost after the blondies have cooled.

CHEF’S NOTE:

*WHITE sweet potatoes are also called Hannah or Jersey yams. They can be found at most natural food grocery stores and ethnic markets. You could also substitute Japanese or Murasaki sweet potatoes which have a purple skin but also have a white flesh. I do not recommend the orange or purple ones for this recipe.

**Millet helps mitigate the gummy texture of oats. If you don’t mind the texture you can use all oats in this recipe.

This is the silicone baking pan I used: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00428M7E8?...