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| Dense Chocolate Avocado Brownies |
Yes, you read right. Dense chocolate avocado brownies! As with my previous avocado baking endeavours (vegan chocolate avocado cake with chocolate avocado icing; avocado chocolate marble pound cake), these brownies followed my usual path: I couldn't keep up with my avocado subscription, and was forced (forced, I tell you!) to bake something chocolatey with them!
I adapted this recipe from the chocolate-walnut avocado brownies on The Iron You, a health and fitness blog written by a "triathlete, yogi, health enthusiast and food lover", whose motto is "Eat Well. Exercise More." I can totally get down with that!
The main change I made to his recipe was to replace the suggested coconut sugar with light muscovado sugar. Although I love coconut sugar on yogurt or in coffees, I'm not a big fan of it in baking, finding its distinctive flavour a bit overpowering. Muscovado sugar, on the other hand, has a rich toffee flavour that is perfect for so many different types of baking, and gives a squidgy moist grainy texture to brownies. Heaven.
I had all of the ingredients on hand...
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| Ingredients |
... and these brownies were super easy to put together!
Gah, avocados are sooooo delicious.
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| Hass avocados |
I whizzed them up in a mini food processor to get a really smooth texture.
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| Beautiful green avocado flesh |
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| Pureed avocado |
It looks so cool when you pour the melted chocolate and coconut oil into the avocado!
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| Green and choc swirls |
The mixture turned a bit grainy when I added the sugar, but became smooth again when I whisked the eggs in. (Does this mean eggs are an emulsifier?)
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| Silky smooth batter |
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| Ready for the oven |
And here they are, baked!
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| Dense Chocolate Avocado Brownies |
These are seriously rich brownies. Apart from the two whole avocados and three tablespoons of coconut oil, there is a whole cup of rich brown sugar and a whopping two hundred and twenty grams of dark chocolate in these babies, with only a small amount of almond meal to provide stability and heft. Come to think of it, these brownies happen to be gluten-free - a good option for coeliacs then! (And I should note here that even though the original version of this recipe was on a health-focused blog, and even though these contain nutrient-rich avocado, these dense fudgy brownies certainly aren't "health" food, but a very indulgent, delicious treat!)
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| Dense Chocolate Avocado Brownies |
Avocado certainly isn't the dominant taste here - these brownies are all about the chocolate. It's quite a dark taste (in addition to the dark chocolate, these contain unsweetened cocoa, for an even more pronounced, intense, chocolate hit) - definitely for grown ups. Due to the high chocolate content, these are quite squidgy when they're fresh out of the oven, so I'd suggest waiting for them to cool completely and firm up before you slice them. (If you can wait that long!!!)
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| Dense Chocolate Avocado Brownie |
Dense Chocolate Avocado Brownies
Recipe adapted from The Iron You
Ingredients
220 grams dark chocolate (I used a mix of 70% and 85% cocoa)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 very ripe avocados
1 cup light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel, or other fine sea salt
1/2 cups chopped walnuts, plus 12 whole ones for decorating
Method
Preheat oven to 175C.
Line a 20 centimetre squared baking tin with baking paper.
Melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil, either in the microwave on medium, or in a double boiler, stirring occasionally until completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Mash the avocado flesh until completely smooth.
Add the chocolate and coconut oil mixture to the avocado.
Whisk in the sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract.
Sift in the cocoa powder and baking powder.
Add the almond meal and salt, stirring gently to combine.
Finally, fold in the walnuts.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing the top. Press the whole walnuts evenly into the batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the brownie is set. A cake tester will still come out with damp crumbs clinging to it.
Allow to cool completely before cutting into 12 squares.
Makes 12 large brownies
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4 comments
Arggh...they look so moist (urgh, I hate the sound of that word), rich and seriously sinful. I wish you didn't put in that line about it being an occasional indulgent treat though, because I could honestly convince myself that it's a 'healthy' treat because it has avocado in it!
ReplyDeleteOoh you can really see how rich and dense they are from just looking at the slice! :D
ReplyDeleteThese look AMAZING - assume they are very healthy with all that avo?!
ReplyDeleteSo lush. Will have to give this recipe a whirl! And egg yolks are definitely an emulsifier - that's how mayonnaise works!
ReplyDelete