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Who doesn’t love pumpkin spice and blondies? Who doesn’t love them together? After making the low carb vegan pumpkin spice doughnuts the other day, I still had a good portion of a can of pumpkin in the refrigerator that required a recipe. I thought about making pancakes or waffles, but those just didn’t really seem to hit the spot. Finally, it hit me – pumpkin spice blondies. Not just any blondies, of course, but vegan keto pumpkin spice blondies.
Because I’ll be enjoying these, I made them vegan and nut free. By default, they’re sugar free, egg free and dairy free, but these bad boys just so happen to be paleo as well. I’m not sure if cavemen had granulated sweeteners and coconut flour, but it’s not my place to say…
Anywho! These low carb pumpkin spice blondies are dense and fudgey, and really hit the spot. Because these are made with tahini, they’ve got a richness and a savory depth not normally found in blondies, that I’m really digging! I paired them with some instant coffee, because I didn’t feel like making a whole french press’ worth, but I think these would go nicely with rich, dark hot chocolate as well. Or cashew milk!
Notes on baking Vegan Keto Pumpkin Spice Blondies (paleo, gluten free, nut free):
- The granulated sweetener I’ve been using for the past few years is from Lakanto. It is far and away my favorite out of all the granulated sweeteners I’ve tried, both for the taste and the fact that it doesn’t upset my stomach! Big win. If you order directly from their site, you can save 15% with the code MEATFREEKETO.
- If you don’t have pumpkin spice on hand, you could easily sub for a tablespoon of cinnamon.
- What holds these bad boys together is tahini, which is essentially ground sesame seeds. It’s the peanut butter of sesame seeds, more or less. Tahini is delicious, and really provides a richness to this recipe.
- Be sure to let these cool completely before removing them from the pan, or they will crumble!
- It’s important to note that if you use different brands or products, you may have a different nutritional profile. I use the Once Again tahini (with the raccoon on front) that is listed as 1g of net carbs per 2 tbsp, but I have seen much higher counts on other varieties of tahini.
- When tracking macros, make sure to subtract the grams of sugar alcohols from the total to get net carbs. Often, programs do not take sugar alcohols into account!
- While I strive to provide accurate nutrition information, there are variations across brands and types of ingredients. So, if you’re using other brands than those mentioned, your macros may be different. All nutrition info is calculated from the USDA values for each ingredient, unless a brand is specifically mentioned (or no generic listing is available), and are for information purposes only!
Vegan Keto Pumpkin Spice Blondies (paleo, gluten free, nut free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (240ml)
- 1/2 cup tahini (120ml)
- 1/4 cup coconut flour (28g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sweetener (48g)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line an 8" x 8" pan (20cm x 20cm) with parchment paper.
- Mix together pumpkin, tahini, sweetener, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. Life pro tip: measure sticky and liquidy things with one of those push-up measuring cups (shown above). They're a total life-saver!
- In a separate dish, mix together coconut flour, spices, and baking powder. Make sure everything is evenly distributed.
- Stir dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir for a minute or so, to be sure that everything is evenly mixed. You really can't overmix this recipe.
- Plop into the brownie pan, and spread evenly. You'll want to smooth the top, so there are no peaks or valleys or otherwise rough spots.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
- Remove from the oven and cool before serving!
I liked these so much I made them twice in a week! One batch I used powdered swerve and for the other I used truvia, and I found little difference in the texture. One batch I subbed half the tahini with peanut butter after my tahini ran low, and still got the nice flavor of the original recipe. A+
I’m so excited you like these so much!! The peanut butter is an awesome idea!
I haven’t used Truvia for baking – how did it compare to the Swerve?
If I used canned yams instead of pumpkin would these still be keto? I can’t find canned pumpkin puree in Hawai’i!
Hi Rachel! This is a great question. Canned yams are considerably higher in sugar than canned pumpkin, and would be too high in sugar for the blondies to be keto-friendly. Is there any other canned squash you could find?
Girll I love how you label everything nut free! I have a nut allergy and you are saving my life with your interesting recipes. <3
I’m so glad it’s helpful to you! I have an almond allergy, and noticed that almost every keto recipe (especially ones without meat) have a TON of almonds. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one with this issue!
Could these be done with almond flour instead?
Absolutely! You would definitely need to increase the amount, though. I’d guess around 3/4 cup for this recipe. Coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture, so a lot less is needed!
Do you know what the total net carbs for these? I’m Type 1 diabetic, so I have to bolus insulin for the net carbs. Thanks.
Nevermind…now i see that it’s posted at the top 😉
🙂 Glad you found it!
Sorry Liz, but I really did not care for these. Had to throw them out. They taste exactly like the sum of its parts. Nothing to do with the fact that they’re vegan, but the bitterness of the tahini can’t be covered up. Thanks for your efforts though! Maybe I’ll try a savory recipe sometime.
Hi Stephen! So sorry you’re not a fan of this recipe! I’ll be sure to put a note in that you must be a fan of tahini to enjoy this. If you don’t like tahini, you could also use sunflower seed butter, almond butter, walnut butter or coconut butter in its place. 🙂
Hi! If I use a cupcake tin instead of a tray/dish, would tht change the cooking time? It’s the only thing I’ve got for baking besides completely flat trays
Hi Sara, good question! I think you could use a cupcake tray! I would just recommend checking on them a bit more frequently to make sure they don’t overcook! Start around ten minutes less than the recipe calls for and check from there. 🙂
Could coconut sugar be used as the sweetener?