These vegan chai-spiced blondies have a delicious combination of white chocolate pieces with tantalising bites of pecan nuts running through. The recipe is easy to make gluten-free and there's a fun mini egg-filled Easter version to enjoy!
Delicious vegan chai-spiced blondies should have a sweet vanilla taste and a gooey, slightly fudge-like centre not unlike a chocolate brownie. The flavour is nothing like a chocolate brownie but is enhanced with a delicately spiced chai taste. We’ve used the spices from vanilla chai tea bags, to keep the flavour consistent and the recipe faff free.
These vegan chai-spiced blondies have a combination of white chocolate pieces and tantalising bites of pecan nuts running through.
The recipe is easy to make, simple to transform into a gluten-free vegan bake and perfect for sharing at any gathering, it’s even a great alternative to birthday cake!
Do you need any special equipment to make the vegan chai-spiced blondies?
You could use an electric hand-held mixer or a food mixer, but this recipe is very simple and easy to create in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon.
Using Flaxseed as an Egg Alternative
Flaxseed is also known as linseed
We always have a jar of milled flaxseed in the fridge ready for when we have the urge to bake! We buy whole golden flaxseed and when we need it, we blend a small amount in the blender until it becomes a rough flour. You can also buy it ready milled, but this is slightly more expensive.
To replace 1 egg, we use 1 tablespoon of milled flaxseed to 3 tablespoons of water, mix and set to one side for 5 to 10 minutes until it thickens.
How to make the vegan chai-spiced blondies gluten-free
To make the vegan chai-spiced blondies gluten-free switch the flour to gluten-free plain flour we use the FREEE (Doves Farm) gluten-free plain flour blend that you can find in supermarkets down the free-from aisle.
We’ve also used a touch of xanthan gum and a tablespoon of cornflour to help with the texture.
Do you have to use white chocolate?
We like to mix the melted white chocolate into the blondie batter, and then add white chocolate chunks just before we place it in the oven to bake. Alternatively, you could use dark or vegan milk chocolate chunks.
Which vegan white chocolate to use?
We used The Vegan Kitchen white chocolate for this recipe. Sainsbury’s and Tesco all have their own free from white chocolate buttons and bars. Some Aldi stores stock Moser Roth Vegan Blonde Cocoa Bars.
There are several other brands available – Montezuma’s and iChoc are lovely but more expensive and we don’t tend to use them for baking.
Do I have to add the vanilla chai spices to the blondie?
We’d say yes – it adds a delicate blend of spices to the blondie, but feel free to leave it out if you’d prefer.
Pukka teas have a lovely blend of vanilla chai, and some supermarkets have their own brands too.
How long to bake the vegan chai-spiced blondies for?
For years we’ve found the optimum cooking time for brownies is 23 minutes. Like brownies blondies, if undercooked with be really squishy and if you cook them for too long, they will be more like cake.
Do not overbake. We feel the optimum bake time for the chai-spiced blondies is 27 minutes in the centre of the oven.
25 minutes is a very gooey blondie and 30 minutes is a little more cake-like – set the oven for 25 minutes and then keep an eye on the bake until it reaches your preferred blondie consistency. Once removed from the oven they will continue to bake a little as they cool, leaving you with a perfectly baked blondie.
Storage; How long do vegan chai-spiced blondies keep for?
Always let your chai-spiced blondies cool completely before storing them or they will release steam and create condensation.
We’ve found that the blondies don’t keep for as long as our dark chocolate brownies do. For this bake, we recommend three days at most, stored in an airtight container in a cool location.
Do vegan chai-spiced blondies freeze?
Yes, to freeze the blondies, let them cool and place them in an airtight, freezer-safe container. They will freeze for up 2 months.
How to transform the vegan chia-spiced blondies into an Easter Egg- travaganza bake?
It’s great to have recipes that are seasonally flexible. For an Easter twist, we make the chai-spiced blondies recipe in exactly the same way but instead of adding white chocolate chunks at the end, we switch them for vegan dark chocolate mini eggs.
To break up the mini eggs we place them in a food bag and smash them slightly with a heavy rolling pin, this is much easier (and safer) than trying to chop them up with a knife.
We really enjoy the Doisy & Dam Good Eggs, these can be bought from them online or in some supermarkets and Holland & Barret.
Cost to make the vegan Chai-Spiced Blondies
We’ve calculated the cost of the ingredients we’ve used to make these chai-spiced blondies – depending on the ingredients you use this price may vary slightly.
Chai-spiced blondies with;
Plain flour £6.09
Gluten-free flour £6.27
Easter version with plain flour £7.33
Easter version with gluten-free flour £7.51
Costs will vary depending on the products you use. This is how much our blondie costs to make. Based on prices as of March 2022.
These vegan chai-spiced blondies have a delicious combination of white chocolate pieces with tantalising bites of pecan nuts running through. The recipe is easy to make gluten-free.
Ingredients
Scale
130g vegan butter block, softened
200g vegan white chocolate, chopped into chunks (100g to melt + 100g for chunks)
Line the base and sides of a 20 cm square brownie tin with baking paper.
In a small bowl mix together the milled flaxseed and water. Set to one side until it thickens.
In a small saucepan over a low heat add the plant-based milk and carefully tear open the tea bags and tip the contents into the milk. Stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
Melt 100g of the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of lightly boiling water, until it melts, remove and allow to cool slightly.
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
Meanwhile in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and butter, until creamy.
Then beat in the flaxseed mix, infused chai milk and stir until combined. Note that the mixture will curdle a little.
Now add the melted white chocolate and stir into the mix.
Sift in the flour (cornflour and xanthan gum if using gluten-free flour). Gently fold into the mix. Stir in the chopped pecans and then half the white chocolate chunks.
If making the Easter version, add the mini-Easter eggs to a food bag, carefully seal and use a rolling pin to gently bash the eggs into pieces. Stir half into the blondie mix and scatter the rest over the top once spooned into the tin.
Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and gently press the remaining white chocolate chunks into the top.
Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden on top. The bake will still be quite gooey looking. Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely in the tin before slicing.
Notes
Notes on cook time; 25 minutes will be a really gooey blondie, 28 minutes we feel is perfect, 30 minutes is a denser cake result.
Store in an airtight container and eat within 3 days.
If making the Easter version of the vegan Chai spiced blondies, then you only need 100g melted white chocolate.
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