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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Recipe: Fudgy Avocado Brownies

Healthy Avocado Fudge Brownies - gluten free, flourless, low fat, lower sugar, healthy brownie recipe

Sometimes I keep secrets from my husband.... but I promise, they're for his own good. Like when Jesse wants to help me in the kitchen, I will only make recipes with "normal" ingredients - but when he's too busy playing his games? Well, that's when I get to play in the kitchen. 

A couple of weeks ago I told Jesse I was going to make up a batch of brownies. He was too busy playing games and we had some seriously ripe avocadoes in our fridge wanting to be used up - so I knew what I had to make... 

Avocado Brownies. 

And I almost completely got away with it.... until Jesse walked into the kitchen and saw me with a food processor filled with "green stuff" and chocolate....

Healthy Avocado Fudge Brownies - gluten free, flourless, low fat, lower sugar, healthy brownie recipe, paleo

Jesse, gesturing to my concoctions: "I thought you were making brownies?"
Me, looking as innocent as possible: "I am - see, I'm melting chocolate!" 
Jesse with an 'I'm not buying it' face: "Umm.. what are you putting in these brownies?"
Me, with false enthusiasm because I know I've probably lost all hope: "Avocado! You know... to make really fudgy brownies?! They'll be good! Just wait!" 
Jesse still with an 'I'm not buying it' face: "Well now I've seen it all!" 

So Jesse returned to his games and I finished up my batch of brownies - but as they were baking in the oven, the skeptic started to stir.... 

Jesse, from his man cave:  "Well..... they smell really good.... how long til I can try one?"
Me, mentally high fiving myself"You've got to wait til they chill - they're really fudgy. Fudgy brownies need to go in the fridge"
Jesse, hinting:  "They could taste good straight out of the oven, you know?" 

I'd got him. Hook, line and sinker. 

And what did my husband say when he took that very first chilled bite? "Wow"

Wow, indeed. He took back his skepticism and decided these were some of the best fudgy brownies he'd had. You can't taste the avocado at all. We've made this recipe a couple of different times now and my number one tip is to use good cocoa powder (not expensive, it just has to taste really good) as that's the whole base of your brownie - there's no flour so your cocoa powder is super important. 

Now they could possibly be considered paleo but I'm not too knowledgeable on the whole paleo diet so I'm sticking to flourless.

But let me give you the recipe >> 
Grain Free Avocado Fudge Brownie Recipe - healthy, gluten free, flourless, paleo, low fat, lower sugar recipe

Healthy Fudgy Avocado Brownies - makes 9 brownies 
gluten free, low fat, lower sugar, flourless, grain free

1 large ripe avocado (about 200g avocado/just under 1 cup mashed) 
2 eggs 
2 tsp vanilla 
1 tbsp water 
1x 100g/3.5 oz bar of dark chocolate 
1 cup + 1 tbsp (85g) cocoa powder 
1/4-1/2 cup sugar* see notes
1/2 tsp baking soda 
Pinch of salt 
  • Preheat your oven to 180°C/355°F.
  • Grease and/or line an 8" square cake pan or brownie pan 
  • In a food processor, puree your avocado with your eggs, vanilla and water until smooth.
  • Melt your chocolate and mix through your avocado mix in the food processor. 
  • Add in your cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined.
  • If your mixture is too thick, add another 1 tbsp or so of water to combine.
  • Scoop your mixture out of your food processor into your prepared pan, smoothing out the top and making sure you spread out the mix to all of the edges. 
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and a skewer inserted removes clean. 
  • Leave to cool before taking out of the pan and chilling in the fridge. 
  • Slice and serve chilled. 
  • These brownies will last in the fridge for a few days (and are even better after they've been left for a day or two) or will keep in the freezer for months. 
Notes
*We used 1/4 cup of sugar, however, we don't like things extra sweet. If you have a sweet tooth or like things on the sweeter side use 1/2 cup :) 

But tell me, what secrets do you keep from your partner? 
And how do you like your brownies? 
The only secrets I keep from Jesse are food secrets - but I always tell him later. Like the ah-maze-ing un-fried chicken strips I made last night for dinner - I left out that the coating used oats (recipe coming soon) until he was raving about them ;P

10 comments:

  1. These sound so fudgy and decadent! Yummy :)
    The only secrets I keep from Chris are usually about food, and then I'll quickly tell him as soon as he's acknowledged how delicious whatever it is tastes. I made sweet potato brownies and he would never have guessed except I made him try. He loved them :)

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  2. Kristy @ Southern In-LawApril 27, 2014 at 8:06 AM

    It's for their own good! ;) I did the same with sweet potato brownies haha

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  3. I have these in the oven right now! Unfortunately, I think there was waaaaay too much cocoa powder. I think next time I'll try 1/3 cup and go from there.

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  4. Kristy @ Southern In-LawMay 2, 2014 at 10:05 AM

    Oh really? Is that just personal preference or didn't they mix right?


    We've made these multiple times now and the amount is perfect.

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  5. Made these a couple of days ago and am about to make them again now, they are so good! I didn't have any dark chocolate in the house, so I substituted 1tbsp of cocoa mixed with 1tbsp of coconut oil for every oz of chocolate, and they still turned out really nice and so fudgy!

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  6. Kristy @ Southern In-LawMay 22, 2014 at 7:36 AM

    Awesome! I am so glad you loved them - and glad to hear they worked out replacing the chocolate with cocoa and coconut oil!

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  7. Hey, anything I can use to replace sugar, maybe with stevia? And how much and what kind?

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  8. Kristy @ Southern In-LawMay 24, 2014 at 6:50 AM

    Hi Linda,
    If you're looking for a more natural alternative you can use coconut sugar, honey or maple syrup in the same amounts.


    I don't use or eat any artificial sugars (including stevia) as I have really bad reactions to them and don't trust their safety so I have no idea how they work in baking.

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  9. hello! I LOVE THI RECIPE U R AMAZING! issit possible for you to post the nutritional content up tho? :)

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  10. Thanks Lex! We don't add the nutritional information for our recipes as it differs depending on which choices you use - you can use programs such as My Fitness Pal to work out the nutritional information using exactly what ingredients you choose :)

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