Okay…I do not like food trends. I don’t like gadgets, I don’t like trending recipes, I don’t like shortcuts or dietary substitutions…unless of course they are absolutely necessary for health reasons. BUT…these avocado brownies are TO DIE FOR! They are so good. This is another recipe from my favourite recipe developer and blogger, Kathleen Ashmore. The avocado replaces what usually would be oil or fat in a brownie recipe. My whole family loves these, they are the perfect way to use up ripe avocados, they don’t have refined sugar AND warmed up and paired with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce they make a better dessert than most restaurants offer.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Dutch cocoa)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I use regular flour)
- 1 large, ripe avocado (I’ve used 2 small and that has worked as well)
- 1/3 cup creamy almond butter (I mostly use peanut butter)
- 1/4 cup brewed coffee, cold
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, divided
Method
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Best to use a metal pan rather than ceramic or glass for this.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and flour.
- To a blender, add the avocado, almond butter, coffee, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed – you do not want chunks of avocado.
- Add the avocado mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until there are no more traces of flour. Fold 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the batter and then transfer to your pan.
- Top the batter with the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. My oven usually takes about 23 minutes. You want a tester to come out a bit damp so the brownies remain fudgy.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cut into 9 (or 12 pieces if you really want smaller brownies) and store in the refrigerator for up to a week or the freezer for 3 months.
TIP – get eggs to room temperature quickly by placing in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
TIP – dip your knife in hot water between brownie cuts helps keep the lines clean.