Peanut Butter Banana Blondies with Peanut Maple Glaze

(No pictures...they all got eaten before I had a chance. I know, I know...but they were pretty, I swear...)

I Frankenstein-ed these bad boys at about 7 am Sunday on a morning. Far too early to be thinking about dessert, but with lots of healthy (okay, healthier--it's all relative, folks) substitutions for the standard ingredients, I only felt a teensy weensy bit guilty taste-testing one with my coffee. Full disclosure, though: these are not "healthy". What they do have going for them: seriously slashed fat and refined carbs and a big boost of protein. Here's how to get them in your very own belly (which is where you want them, trust me).

The blondies...
~4 tbs unsalted butter
~1 medium banana, mashed (*instead of the other 6 tbs of butter called for in the original recipe)
~1 c dark brown sugar
~1 c maple syrup (*instead of a second cup of brown sugar)
~1 c peanut butter (I used crunchy, but do your thang here)
~2 eggs
~2 tsp bourbon vanilla extract
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 c whole wheat flour
~1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
~1 c vanilla protein powder (*original recipe called for 2 c all purpose flour, I broke it into wheat/all-purpose/protein. You could also try different combinations of alternate flours--almond or oat, for example)
~1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9X13 baking dish.

Melt the butter and allow to cool. Then whisk together the butter, banana, sugar, syrup, and peanut butter; then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet by hand until just combined. Pour into baking dish and bake for ~25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

For the glaze...
~1 1/2 c Splenda (*FYI, powdered sugar will give you a more frosting-y finished product than Splenda will)
~2 tsp vanilla extract
~1/2 c maple syrup
~1/2 c heavy cream
~1/2 c peanut butter
~(2 tbs cornstarch)

Combine Splenda, vanilla, and maple syrup in a mixer and beat at med/high speed (starting on low and working up so you don't splatter). Turn speed back to low and slowly add in the heavy cream and peanut butter until combined, then whip at med/high speed until it begins to thicken. You may want to add in the cornstarch slowly at this point to make it a bit thicker; it's up to you. Set aside until blondies have fully cooled.

Once the blondies have cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to poke holes into them (try to keep it fairly uniform). Pour the glaze evenly over the blondies, and allow to set for about 15 minutes so the glaze can soak in.