Healthy Gingerbread Blondies with Cream Cheese Frosting (Paleo + Dairy Free) — The perfect gluten-free Christmas dessert that’s secretly healthy (made with sweet potato!)

Guyyssss I leave for NYC in TWO DAYS. Holy crapppp. I am so excited.

The only downside is that I have to leave Hudson here… and that is so depressing to me. I want nothing more than to take that sweet furbaby angle home with me for the holidays. He would love the snow and the cozy New England family time that I’m headed for after NYC. Hopefully, it will only be a few more months and we’ll be able to move that way so I can spend more time with my family and not feel like death every summer out here in this desert wasteland.

But anyway, I’ve been dreaming all year of this NYC trip and I just can not wait. I have to do a fair bit of work while I’m there… and it’s going to be cold…. but it’s also going to be the best week of my life. I just know it. New York just feels like home to me, and being away from it for so long feels like a piece of me is missing. I’m especially excited to wander around the West Village–my absolute favorite place in the world. And I can’t wait to go back to Hu Kitchen, and all of my favorite coffee shops. I’m thankful for all the healthy food options here in Arizona, but nothing comes close to the food scene in NYC.

And then there’s the art and design scene…. even just the architecture and city design… I swoon every time.

Are you sick of hearing about my love of NYC? I’m sorry. But I did make you some delicious Gingerbread Blondies, so hopefully, that can help make up for it.

This was my first time attempting to make Paleo Cream Cheese Frosting, and it was a success! Definitely going to be using that one repeat.

Oh, and don’t get weirded out by the sweet potato in these. Sweet potato is my Paleo baking secret weapon. It makes everything dense, delicious, moist, without being mushy. I use it in a lot of my brownies, bars, and muffins because it’s just so good–and who doesn’t want to have a healthy excuse to eat brownies for breakfast? I’m so down.

I have an older version of this recipe on the blog that doesn’t have any flour in it, and I love that recipe, but I wanted to try to create something with a bit of a lighter texture by adding some almond flour and switching up some ratios. Mission accomplished.

Tips for making Healthy Paleo Gingerbread Blondies:

• Make sure to use almond flour–not almond meal. Almond meal won’t hold together well in these.
• You can use one big sweet potato or roughly a medium one and a small one to get enough for this recipe.

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Healthy Gingerbread Blondies with Cream Cheese Frosting (Paleo + Dairy Free)

Healthy Gingerbread Blondies with Cream Cheese Frosting (Paleo + Dairy Free) -- The perfect gluten-free Christmas dessert that's secretly healthy (made with sweet potato!)

COURSE Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword blondies, cream cheese, gingerbread,, paleo

PREP TIME 10 minutes

COOK TIME 35 minutes

SERVINGS 16

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1 1/4 cups sweet potato puree
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

For frosting:

• 1 cup cashews soaked for at least 4 hours
• 1/4 cup coconut cream from a can of full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together almond butter, sugar, sweet potato, and egg until well combined.
3. Add in coconut oil and molasses and stir to combine.
4. Next stir in almond and coconut flour and mix well.
5. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and baking soda. Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
6. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until cooked throughout. The blondies will be fudgy, but a knife should come out clean. Allow the blondies to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

For frosting:

1. In a food processor, blend cashews on high until a cashew butter starts to form.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high for 3-4 minutes until smooth
3. Spread over blondies, or keep in the fridge for up to 5 days until ready to use.