Macadamia Nut Blondies With Caramel-Maple Topping

This recipe comes out of Vegan with a Vengeance, and let me tell you, Isa Chandra Moscowitz does her desserts right!! Finally, someone who understands that some vegans get tired of being so healthy all the time. Sometimes you still want guilt-inducing delicious treats. Well this recipe fits the bill. Smells like caramel corn & toasted nuts, tastes like the most decadent coffee cake.... I'm in love.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 16-20
• Yields: 16 blondies

Ingredients

• FOR THE BLONDIES

• 2 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 6  ounces firm silken tofu (half a package of the vacuum-packed kind)
• 1⁄4 cup rice or 1⁄4 cup soymilk
• 1⁄3 cup canola oil
• 2  cups sugar (very strict vegans will want to mind your sugar)
• 2  tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 1⁄4 cups  macadamias, partially chopped & partially ground (a few pulses in a food processor for chopped, remove some for this & below, then a few more for grou)

• FOR THE TOPPING

• 1⁄4 cup  nonhydrogenated margarine (no whey, mind you)
• 2  tablespoons turbinado sugar or 2  tablespoons  other brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1  cup  raw  macadamias, coarsely chopped (either from first round in the food processor or chopped by hand on a cutting board with a large kni)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2. To prepare the dough:
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a blender, whiz the tofu with rice milk until smooth.
5. Add the oil, sugar, and vanilla, and blend again.
6. Pour the tofu mixture into the flour mixture and use a firm wooden spoon to combine everything well.
7. Fold in the macadamias. The batter will be thick and have a cookie dough consistency.
8. Spread in the baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the topping.
9. To prepare the topping:
10. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the margarine, turbinado sugar, and maple syrup, and heat until the sugar dissolves.
11. Increase the heat to bring to a boil for 1 minute.
12. Stir in the nuts. Remove from heat.
13. Finally:
14. Remove the blondies from the oven and pour the topping over them.
15. Return to oven, and let bake for 10 more minutes.
16. Let cool completely before serving. The topping should harden to a caramel-like consistency.
17. The cookbook says to cut them into 16 squares or triangles. I got 20 out of the recipe. ENJOY!