Another vegan recipe?! I’m sorry but yes, experimenting with vegan baking is highly enjoyable and quite tasty, I must say…most of the times

Among the various fruit & chocolate combinations I love, pear and chocolate is a winner! And if you never had pear chocolate cake…well you should seriously consider running to the kitchen and making one now!

…right after you make this recipe, of course . Too much self-promotion?

Anyways, I’d been wanting to make Chocolate Covered Katie’s chocolate chip blondies because I really love them, but didn’t really have any time. So the other day I thought I might combine two awesome desserts and see what would come out. Would it be a mess…would it be edible? Would it actually be good?

Luckily for me, it turned out as good as it had sounded in my mind.

Chocolate-Pear Blondies

adapted by Chocolate Covered Katie

3 cups cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/4 cup peanut butter*

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 soy milk ( any kind of milk is ok)

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2-3 medium-large pears, peeled and diced (I used 2 because that was all I had, but I wish I’d had 3)

*note: my older sister thought the peanut butter was too strong and covered the taste of the pear, while I disagreed; but you can easily substitute P.B. with more oil or applesauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and oil a 8 x 12 baking pan. In a food processor or blender, blend everything, except chocolate chips and diced peas, until smooth. Add the chips and the pear, mix well and place in the baking pan and cook for 40 minutes.

The result is a moist cake, but be sure to let it cool down properly before cutting it, otherwise it will easily crumble.

I hope you guys are all having a great weekend! I was supposed to visit my boyfriend but then decided against it: I have an exam on Tuesday and have a lot to study. This actually turned out to be a good decision: Mattia lives in between Milan and Genova, so the trains I usually take to go to him are directed towards Genova, which is heavily flooded and travelling might not be possible.

The pictures of the city are quite scary, and it’s hard to believe it all happened within 15 minutes. I hope things will get better now.