Vegan Sweet Potato Blondies from Wandering Chickpea

Vegan Sweet Potato Blondies - made August 27, 2022 from Wandering Chickpea 

1 1/2 cups Japanese sweet potato, cooked, mashed

6 tablespoons vegan butter, softened 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup plant-based milk

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chunks (I left them out)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together Japanese sweet potato, butter, sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and milk.
3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks.
4. Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake 27-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

I'm not really a vegan baker but every once in awhile, I'll try out a vegan recipe in case I ever need to bake for someone who has a vegan way of eating. This recipe caught my eye because it uses Japanese or murasaki sweet potatoes, which is my favorite sweet potato. They're not available year round but they do start making an appearance in the late summer/early fall timeframe. Which is now.

I get them from Trader Joe's but I've heard they're also available at Asian grocery stores and Whole Foods. You'll recognize them by their purple skins and white insides. They look like a regular potato and have a firm texture but taste like a sweet potato. They're good baked, boiled, steamed and fried.

Turns out they also make good blondies. I had intended for these to go in military care packages but they turned out moist and cakey more than firm and brownie-like so I didn't send them, fearing the moisture might make them mold before they got to their destination. Hey, more for me.

This tastes like a Japanese sweet potato in cakey form. I enjoyed it and it's an easy-to-make vegan recipe. I left out the dairy-free chocolate chips in mine, partly because I'm against chocolate in blondies and partly because I didn't have dairy-free chocolate chips. Without them, this was more like a slightly sweet and slightly dense breakfast cake.