Tea and Biscuit Blondies (Vegan GF)

Thick, cakey and fudgy blondies flavoured with English Breakfast Tea and topped with your favourite biscuits. These are the ultimate tea and biscuit combination and only take a few minutes to make. They are fully vegan, gluten-free and delicious with more tea.

Blondies are really on my radar at the moment, and I just love playing around with new flavour combinations. As well as blondies, biscuits are also on my mind after I spent a lot of time making various cookie nut butters – which I need to return to! The Cookies and Cream was a personal favourite.

So, I thought, why not combine the two? Being me, I couldn’t pick a favourite biscuit, so I went for a few different ones! While the ones shown in my Tea and Biscuit Blondies are not all gluten-free, just swap in your favourite GF biscuits where needed.

• Digestive biscuits: a classic and simple one.
• Oreos: because they are amazing and are “accidentally” vegan.
• Bourbons: again, these tend to be vegan, and I love the double chocolate.
• Biscoff: or lotus/speculoos biscuits are so delicious. I love the warming spices and they are also “accidentally” vegan.

But don’t feel like you have to stick to my biscuits here. You can also add Jammie dodgers, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate covered hobnobs… you name it. It’s really fun to play around with them and decorate the blondies as you like.

Now, let’s talk blondie batter. This is a staple recipe for me, as you can throw all of the ingredients in a blender and just blend until smooth. No stirring or whisking required. You do want to make sure you have a good blender or food processor as no one wants to find a bit of chickpea lurking in their blondie.

One thing I love about these Tea and Biscuit Blondies is that they contain chickpeas – but that no one would know it. They are so fudgy, moist and cakey thanks to the little legumes. They are also naturally protein-packed and neutral tasting so work really well in sweet bakes.

What else goes into these Tea and Biscuit Blondies?

• Chickpeas: or use another white bean like cannellini or butter beans.
• Chia seeds: these help bind the batter or you could use flaxseeds, too.
• Plant-based milk: any milk will do here like oat, almond, hazelnut or coconut.
• Cashew or almond butter: or use tahini for a nut-free option. The runnier and smoother kind is better here.
• Vanilla essence: for a little sweetness.
• Coconut sugar: my favourite sugar for baking with thanks to its caramel-like flavour and smell. You can also use caster or light brown sugar.
• Breakfast tea bags: use your favourite tea and simply cut the bags open and pour in the dried tea.
• Ground almonds: I love the nutty taste and texture they add to the blondies. For a nut-free option, use ground up seeds like sunflower or pumpkin.
• Plain or GF plain flour: either will work here so make sure you use a 1:1 baking flour blend or try with buckwheat, oat or spelt flour.
• Cinnamon: for a little warming spice and sweetness.
• Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda: for a little rise and the slight cakey-ness.
• Biscuits: as mentioned above, use your favourite biscuits and cookies and make sure they are gluten-free where needed.

Once the batter is smooth, pour into the tin, smooth over the top and arrange your biscuits before baking until slightly firm to tough but still fudgy and moist inside. Allow them to cool before slicing and enjoying with another cup of tea (or coffee). They are delicious as an afternoon tea snack or an after-dinner dessert too. Plus, they are pretty wholesome, so if you fancy a Tea and Biscuit Blondies for breakfast, go for it!

I hope you will love these blondies as much as we do at home, they look so impressive with the biscuits on top but are really so simple and quick to make. if you are looking for more blondies and biscuits, how about my:

• Jammie Dodger Blondies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Hot Cross Bun Blondies (not just for Easter)
• Chocolate Studded Cheesecake Cookies
• Banana Chocolate Chip Blondies
• Chocolate Chunk Coconut Blondies

Tea and Biscuit Blondies (Vegan GF)

• Servings: 9
• Time: 35 minutes plus cooling
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Thick, cakey and fudgy blondies flavoured with English Breakfast Tea and topped with your favourite biscuits. These are the ultimate tea and biscuit combination and only take a few minutes to make. They are fully vegan, gluten-free and delicious with more tea.

Ingredients

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained (240g drained weight)
• 4 tbsp chia seeds
• 120ml plant-based milk
• 80g cashew or almond butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 70g coconut sugar
• 2 breakfast tea bags
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g plain or GF plain flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• A selection of biscuits (7-8)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line an 8-inch square dish with parchment paper.
2. Wash the chickpeas and pat dry before adding to a blender with the chia seeds, plant-based milk, nut butter, vanilla essence and coconut sugar. Tear apart the tea bags and pour in the dried tea. Blend until really smooth and no lumps remain.
3. Now add in the ground almonds, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and blend again to a thick, sticky dough.
4. Pour into the tin and spread out, creating a smooth top surface. Press in the biscuits.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden at the edges and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes, remove and cool fully on a wire rack and then slice into 9 bars or squares. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days or freeze for 1 month.

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Tea and Biscuit Blondies so please let me know in the comments below. If you make them, please tag me, too and let me know what biscuits you go for! I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With tea and biscuit love x