I share a lot of dessert recipes on my website. When I first started food blogging, I would get the most positive feedback on my desserts, especially the ones that contained chocolate! For a while, desserts were the only thing I really did. Then I slowly and painfully transitioned my stuff into hormone content and I started to feel weird about sharing so many desserts. This is because sugar isn’t great for hormones and it’s especially not great for blood sugar balance, which is a root cause of hormone imbalance. The truth is that I love making desserts! They are a way for me to express some creativity, and also, healthy vegan desserts genuinely were a huge part of me improving my diet and regaining my health. Healthy desserts introduced me to nuts and seeds, which in my opinion are probably the top foods for hormone balance. At least, they made the biggest difference for me in boosting my low hormones. I firmly believe that desserts can be a beneficial ally for hormone balance but there must be knowledge about how to eat desserts so that they are supportive of health.
When I was a dental hygienist I used to tell people all the time, it’s not about the amount of sugar you eat, but the frequency of sugar consumption. Eating only a small amount of sugar in total but doing it by grazing throughout the day or choosing sugary snacks is much worse than eating a larger amount of sugar with a meal. This goes for dental decay as well as blood sugar. It’s ok to eat sweet treats as dessert (not snacks) after a main meal. Better yet if the dessert is balanced with protein, fat and fibre it’s much less likely to upset blood sugar balance.
Here is a really yummy cashew white chocolate blondie that’s also balanced with protein, healthy fats and fibre. The batter is very dense and a little difficult to work with, add more milk if needed. Also, be careful not to overbake as the blondies can become quite dry. This is one of the first recipes I have uploaded that uses protein powder. I have stayed away from protein powder for many years because, just like any other isolated supplement, my body hates it and I react no matter what. I have since discovered hemp protein powder. Initially, I thought it was a protein powder that isolated the protein from hemp seeds but actually, all it is is ground-up hemp seeds! Hemp seeds are extremely high in protein but are also high in a huge array of other nutrients and are a whole food. My body can easily handle this and actually thrives on it. Hemp protein powder has no added flavouring and just tastes like the seed itself. It has a mild taste that can easily be added to anything, but it is not sweet. If you use another protein powder that is sweetened or flavoured, make sure to account for the added sweetness so that recipe doesn’t become too sweet.
The recipe is vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free.
Vegan Cashew White Chocolate Blondies | Print |
- 2 cups buckwheat flour or brown rice flour or flour of choice
- ¼ cup protein powder (optional, sub with more flour, I used hemp)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup cashew butter
- 1½ cups plant milk of choice (I used soy)
- ½ cup pitted dates
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegan white chocolate chips plus extra on the top
- In a bowl combine the flour, protein powder and baking powder.
- In a blender blend together cashew butter, dates, milk, maple syrup and vanilla.
- Pour the blended ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
- Fold in white chocolate chips, transfer batter to a lined 20cm square baking tin press down evenly, sprinkle with more white choc chips, and bake at 180 C for 25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.