A week ago, I went on a trip to East London and, after a lot of walking around, ended up by London Fields. We headed over to E5 Bakehouse for a schnack! I bought a super sticky banana pecan blondie.
It was to. die. for. I didn’t even take a picture of it as I was far too hungry.
I got a craving for it again (of course :/ ) but E5 is a quite a long trip away so I made up my own banana blondie of sorts – it’s less sweet than the E5 one and I also added a sprinkle of coconut and some chocolate chips for fun!!
It was also only after making it that I realised I could have easily made this in a large, cast-iron skillet instead so do that instead if ya want and call it a skillet blondie. Either way, it’s fab eaten straight up with a spoon – although for some reason I feel like that’s more acceptable if it’s in a skillet.
Notes
– You can make this in a large cast iron skillet – just melt the butter in the skillet on the stove top instead of in the oven and continue the recipe as per usual.
– To make it vegan (I have tested this and it works just as well): use coconut oil instead of butter, sub 1 tbsp of ground flax w/ 3 tbsp of water for the egg, use unrefined sugar instead of granulated, and vegan chocolate chips.
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup , , agave syrup or golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mashed , , ripe banana
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup pecan halves , , roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Place the butter into an 8-inch pie tin or brownie tin and put it into the oven for 5 minutes - just so the butter melts. Swirl the melted butter around in the tin to grease it and then pour the butter into a medium bowl.
- To the bowl of melted butter, add the sugar, syrup, salt, egg, vanilla and banana. Beat the ingredients together and add the baking soda, flour, coconut and pecans. Fold in until evenly combined.
- Pour the mixture into the greased tin and spread out in an even layer. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before slicing/scooping and serving.
me want to smash this in my face now. I have been wanting a cast iron skillet, you just convinced me.
hahah well it’ll make it easier for you to get away with the eating-straight-from-the-pan thing if you do get one! 😉
This looks AMAZING! I would eat it out of this too, even if it’s not a skillet. Then I would need to run like 10 miles!! LOL! Beautiful work, pinning for later.
thanks sophia! haha yeah I ate too much straight from the pan, I had to give it away to stop me from eating loads more
I want to eat this entire thing like it’s one big blondie, for funsies.
(I kinda did that…shhh)
Your adventure looks lovely! It’s so much better to get out of your comfort zone and smash new things into your face, love! Also, thanks for the vegan modification, you go gurllll.
thanks Abby! definitely true 🙂
no problemo, lady!
I want this in my tummy.
who DOESN’T!? hah
You are reading my craving mind. I am smitten with bananas and chocolate right now. i will cooking this up soon. you city sounds amazing! I would love to go walking no matter how far.
such a good combo. Seriously I used to not like banana and chocolate together and now I’m like GIVE ME IT ALL THE TIME.
London is the best!
Yummy.. that looks delicous.
thanks Evelyn!
Man that Ron’s Eel and Shell Fish sign was how I knew I was almost almost almost back home from a run along the canal. I used to live off Southgate Road and then just off Essex Road so for a few years the canal towards Victoria Park was my running route – mainly by myself in the winter and zigzagging around drunken hipsters in the summer 😉 Love that area of London and am all for long walks while ideally getting lost (best way to discover hidden treasures, right?). Aside from that this blondie sounds and looks all kinds of wonderful! And the photos … the photos. Stunning!
Its such a cool sign! I’ve never walked along the canal there before so I was just like ummmm this is awesome.
There are so many little side streets with pretty shops around there – deffo the best place for exploration.
Thanks Sophia!
This looks so delicious. I love wandering around London getting inspired by the bakeries!
YES that is like no. 1 thing I love to do anywhere I go
Oh my lord the shot of the spoon in that skillet blondie makes me want to just bury my FACE in it. (Nevermind eating it out of the skillet, I’m skipping straight to eating it with my face … out of the skillet.) This sounds out-of-this-world divine, Izy! What a perfect flavor combo.
I gave up with the spoon at one point as was just eating blondie with my hands. I’m pretty sure my camera suffered a little from my chocolate covered hands :/
Thanks Cynthia!
These are gorgeous! Love the pecan-banana combo in there 🙂
thanks Katrina!
I love exploring London – Shoreditch was a recent discovery (for me!) as well. These look amazing – I’ve never tried all those different flavours in one cake before but I reckon that’s about too change!
Shoreditch is so good for walking around. I literally wasn’t even going to buy anything and managed to spend the whole day there!
WOW. These sound all kinds of amazing, and it is my firm belief that any cake with fruit/ vegetables in it is healthy and you are therefore allowed to eat ALL of it from the tin with a spoon. Fact. xx
thanks Alice! yep I agree, banana = this cake is good for you 😉
This looks so delicious and I would definitely want to try making & eating it in a skillet. I’ve had my skillet for a few months now but still haven’t tried any baked goods with it. Your day with your brother sounds like a lot of fun, I love exploring new places in my city!
making things in skillets just makes them MORE fun. It’s science 🙂
YEAH! being a tourist in your own city is so nice
Haha, it’s funny you mention that because me & Jerm made brownies this past weekend and totally ate them all directly from the pan. You know you’ve got someone special when they don’t give you the side eye for pan-eating. Really, it’s the best way to eat sweet bars. Also, HOLY CRAP these photos are so gorgeous. I am seriously blown away, I don’t think I’ve ever seen melted chocolate chips look so good before. AMAZED.
awww! that’s so awesome 🙂 I think my dog was judging me cos he was the only one around when I was eating it haha
Thanks so much, Eva!! You’re so sweet 😀
Scones loaded with goodies are the only way I bake.
Just like ice cream, because honestly what’s the point with all that flour and butter when there is no goodies inside?
you know?
Exactly! hahah just literally keep adding more flavours. That’s how I do everything!
That looks incredible!
And I totally love eating out of a skillet as well.
{Teffy’s Perks} X
thanks Teffy 🙂
Omg this sounds incredible! Might need to make it this weekend. And that’s awesome you saw Millie and Pro Green!
do ittttt!
It was so surreal. I was just like wait a second….whatttt???
I totally know what you mean about london and especially about the canals (and this is coming from someone who lived overlooking the canal for 7 years). I still feel like there’s so much of london out there for me to explore and a whole lot of cake to be eaten in the process. Of course, no side of london will ever be as good as west london though.
I was taking the bus home today from Kensal Rise and I was just like ‘man I’ve been to probably 5% of London’ There’s just SO many places! and yes! all the cake. I can’t imagine how many potential cakes there are out there..
West london is A++ 😉
This blondie looks absolutely amazing! I’ve been following you on Instagram for a while and finally I had the time to visit your blog. It’s wonderful! 🙂 Love the pictures you take too.
I will try the vegan version of this recipe to test out my new skillet.
xoxo
G.
glad you visited the blog! 🙂 Thanks Gemma
Looks great for a rainy afternoon!
heck yeah! I think it was actually raining when I made it hah, good old UK weather
Looks so tasty! So all the butter goes into the pan to melt, none in the actual mix? And when does the banana go in? I didn’t see it in the steps. Thanks!
you melt it in the pan then pour it into a bowl where you mix in the rest of the ingredients! So ALL of it goes into the mix 🙂 save the little bit which will be left behind in the pan.
Whoops sorry forgot to add it to the method – it just goes in with the other wet ingredients. I’ve amended it now!
Great! Thanks so much! 🙂
I loved the way you described the trip..This made me wanna visit London as soon as possible..And lots of thanks for the delicious recipe!
Yo, seriously get over to London and just walk around. It’s so great! There are endless places to go here 🙂
Excellent! Craving was so strong I immediately pulled out the cast iron. Ran out of eggs so went the flax method. More cakey than cookie like. Just finished piece #2. Thanks!
haha yeah that’s why I had the flax version in there as well, cos I’d run out of eggs the second time I made it! It’s the banana that makes it slightly cakey, I think! Glad you liked it
I want to go to London now. For the blondies.
Get on over here, girl!!
Us blondies have blondies on the brain – I just made a batch too! I love the idea of baking them in a cast iron skillet…simply because skillet desserts seem so much more fun, and you’re totes right about the non-judge-y eating straight out of the pan.
blondies are so so good but I always forget about them! your ones look ridonc good – brown butter is life.
I got soo lost when I was in london! But it was such an awesome city! And these blondies/ skillet amazingness look absolutely incredible. I think I could eat the whole thing with a spoon.
haha it’s so easy to get lost here! Luckily there are like bajillions of tube stations so as long as you can find one, it’s all okay. Thanks Lilli (I almost did that..!)
That is comfort food if ever I saw it! Pretty sure it’s mandatory to eat at least half in one sitting.
Don’t doubt that I literally did eat 1/4 of it while shooting it
Heh, the geography of London is bonkers–I’m an English lit major and while I know nada about the city, I had to track the boundaries and demographics of London for a Wilde project and…….jeepers, you guys have a LOT going on over there. That is all I will say. I ended up spending a lot of unnecessary time traveling the city via Google maps street view, hehe. But I’d sooner travel there for a bite of blondie–guess this recipe will satisfy me until then!
It’s crazy. It’s so disorganised with weird, bendy streets everywhere! hah, yes, I always get super absorbed in street view, really good for procrastination!
yum – that looks so awesome & sounds delicious 🙂
thanks Vickie!
Gorgeous and no judgement for scooping it all out with a spoon 🙂
haha thanks Gintare!
I love me a good blondie. And your photos are absolutely gorgeous!
thanks so much Chris!
Beautiful! It’s always appropriate to eat directly from the pan in my book.
haha that’s a good book then! 🙂 thanks Laura
Dang I was in London last weekend wish I had of had this.
Will just have to come back again.
Deirdre@
http://thekitschcook.blogspot.ie/
you’ll deffo have to come back!
Isn’t getting lost in London the best though? I would take that any day, especially if I found treats like this along the way. Look delicious!
so much fun 🙂 thanks Chrissy
Wow, have just come across your lovely blog (via JulietOscarYankee.com). I’m super impressed!!!!
IF you’re West London, you should have a peak at my pop ups I do as they’re just near Chiswick roundabout, and if you love good food then I think you’d have a great time at one of my pop ups!!
Rosie xx
thanks so much Rosie! I AM in west London (Fulham), that would be great! Although my free-ness depends on how much homework my teachers decide to give me each week, HAH – not fun!
Everything about this is amazing, including your hilariousness. I particularly like the use of the word, “funsies.” This blondie looks…….ridiculous. Like, not sure what to do with myself now that I’ve seen this post. The only thing left to do is make this.
thanks, friend!! Funsies is a brill word 😉 heheh sounds like it!
Great story. Blondies look incredible, love the ingredient list.
thanks Cheri! It’s like all of my fave ingredients in one dish.
this sounds insaaaanley good! 🙂
best combo. ever.
thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Daisy and the Fox
thanks Bec! it is such a good combo!!!!
whoaaa!!!! that is one blondie I want to eat in its entirety! I don’t own a cast iron skillet and your post is tempting me to get out of my house, like RIGHT NOW {In my hideous PJs} and buy one for myself so I can make this JUST FOR ME and feed my forever hungry stomach!
I almost did!! I had to give it away because I knew I’d just keep eating MOARR!
Goodness I just love your blog! Us teen bakers are the best. Stay awesome, my friend!
thanks Quinn! Heck yeah we are 🙂 you too girlie!
Hi Izy! Congrats on the book 🙂 just a quick one… I don’t like coconut. Is the flavour / texture really obvious? or could I remove the coconut without ruining the rest of it?
Thanks 🙂
Thanks Jen!
You can totally leave the coconut out if you want, it’ll be fine
Hello!
I love your blog! Your photography skills are out of this world! You’re a very talented young lady. 🙂
I want to do this recipe in a couple of weeks when my boyfriend and I receive his friends over for supper, but I wasn’t sure about which pan to use. I want to keep the whole pie-shape look but I only have a 9-in glass pie plate. Would that work? I also have a 9-in non-stick cake pan, but presentation-wise, I think the glass plate would look prettier.
Let me know what you think!!
Thanks Victoria! I think it’ll be just fine in the glass pie plate – just watch the cooking time cos it could take more/less time to cook due to the thickness of the glass
My thoughts exactly! I’ll keep an eye on it when there’s 5 minutes left on the clock.
Thanks!
This is my kind of blondie recipe. Goodness!
At first thought the dark spots in the blondie were cherries but then realized they were melty dark chocolate chips. In love 🙂
These blondies sound amazing. I recently discovered the Regent’s Canal when I had to figure out how to cycle from north to east London. It is an amazing sanctuary in the middle of a big city.
These are so delicious!! So easy to make and they came out perfectly. My boyfriend said this is his favorite dessert I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a ton). I used whole wheat flour and cut out a little sugar, and we loved it because it tasted healthy with the banana and whole wheat, and it wasn’t too sugary–but still soo yummy.
I had these bookmarked for awhile and finally made them for my co-op. Everyone loved them! They were so soft and chewy, thanks for the recipe:)
we don’t have shredded coconut here ): should i use desiccated or flaked instead?
Desiccated will be perfect 🙂
how long it will stay if i put them in the fridge? 🙂
Probably a week!