Recipe Weekend: Eggless Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Blondies

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this product, free of charge, from Nielsen-Massey, via Wilks PR, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

For all you cooks out there, I know when you saw the title, Eggless Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Blondies, you went HUH? Blondies are basically brownies and have to have at least one egg! So true my friends, BUT if you are Vegan or can't have any dairy, what do you do????? I recently went on a hunt to find out, and for future reference (in case I was out of eggs one day), and found the answer! And lo and behold, the day of the Teddy Bear Picnic, I realized I was OUT of eggs. The horror! But a solution was at hand, and one that AMUSED the kid!

SO what is the substitution?

For chewy recipes, like brownies, blondies, cakes, breads, bars and cookies: Per egg- take 1 ripe banana (if the banana peel isn't spotted black, cover the mashed banana with the juice of half a lemon for about 15 minutes to get the same gas equivalent) and mash it. Depending on the recipe, also add 2 tbsp oil per egg required. The bananas, due to their interior gas (from being overripe) hold air bubbles, like an egg does, and help the baked goods rise and remain moist (think banana bread, which is eggless too!). 

This is a great activity for the kiddos, and it will freak them out that you can substitute a fruit for an egg! This recipe is super super EASY and can be adapted to whatever needs you have (and yes, you can make it with the egg if you want), it makes up and is done within an hour, so it's perfect for when the kids have the munchies! 

Eggless Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Blondies
           (adapted from a recipe from Dear Crissy)

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted 
1 very ripe banana, mashed (as above) plus 1-2 tbsp oil (I used 1 as I had a LARGE banana, and due to the amount of butter I was using) or 1 egg, (and minus the oil) 
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey pure vanilla 
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Options: you can add cranberries, nuts, or anything else you want in place of, or in addition to the chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 9 inch pan.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder and sea salt and set aside. 

3. In small bowl, mash your banana.

4. In large bowl, beat together melted butter, sugar, banana and oil (or egg) and Nielsen-Massey vanilla, until smooth.

5. Add flour mixture gradually, to large bowl mix, until all combined.

6 Stir in chocolate chips (or other add ins).

7.  Spread mix evenly in prepared pan. 

8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. 

9. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

The result are bars that DO have a slight banana taste, sort of like Hummingbird cake, but the chocolate offsets it and they make for a great snack bar! The kids at the picnic had NO idea and scarfed them down! In fact we only had one bar left the following day (I snagged it for my lunch!). In the picture above if you look to the top left, you can see the cranberry ones I made in the same dish for Miss Grace (who can't have chocolate yet). I didn't push them down enough, hence they are on the top layer. She loved them! 

Using good quality vanilla (Nielsen-Massey) and sea salt, really helped to elevate these bars to almost cake status! If we would have had the time (and ice), I would have had the girls all make their own Vanilla Ice Cream to go on top of the bars as well!


Now, what if you want to make a pan of brownies from a boxed mix, and no egg on hand? Here is what you can do:

Instead of the ingredients on the box, use these instead:

1 box brownie mix
1 very ripe banana, mashed (as above)
2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp of vanilla

And waa-la you have supremely great tasting eggless brownies! Who knew? Now YOU do!

I haven't tried this yet with a cake mix, and am thinking of trying a spice or carrot cake first, as any banana flavor would work well with it. I'll let you know when I do, how it comes out. 

Have you tried any of these substitutions? Do you have another one you use when you are out of eggs? Let us know in the comments!

I hope these recipes have given you some ideas for quick cooking for the kiddos this Summer, and a great egg substitute- you can use it for cookies too! AND it's a great way to use up the yucky banana on the counter!