Avocado brownies

I am hugely sceptical of recipes that claim to be delicious healthy alternative to the fun things in life. I’d rather have a proper cake every now and then and really enjoy it than spend my life eating sad substitutes. That said, I had some spare avocados on Sunday night and I thought meh, I’ll give avocado brownies a whirl.

I had almost no expectations at all, but I’m delighted to say that they were actually really nice! They’re not quite as good as a normal brownie but if you want something with much less sugar and a (theoretically) much healthier fat, these could be good in a pinch! They don’t have any flour in them – just cocoa powder – so they’re very dark and not overly sweet, but they’re quite moist and squidgy, which is nice. They’re also gluten free and dairy free (if you use a good dark chocolate that doesn’t contain any milk). This recipe is adapted from an American one I found online.

I would make them again in a heart beat.

For around 16-20 brownies, you need:

• one large avocado (or one and a half medium ones)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g good quality dark chocolate
• 125g cocoa powder
• 125g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• large pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc and grease and line an 8″ square pan with baking parchment.
2. Remove the flesh from your avocado(s) and plonk in a medium mixing bowl. Mash with a fork.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the avocado and beat using an electric hand whisk until it’s all smooth and there are no green lumps.
4. In a separate small bowl, melt the dark chocolate in 20 second bursts in the microwave until it’s completely melted.
5. Beat the chocolate into the avocado mix.
6. Add the cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt to the mix and beat it until smooth. It will be quite stiff.
7. Pop the brownie mix into the prepared baking tin and spread it out until it’s evenly distributed around the pan.
8. Bake for 25 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin before cutting up and storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy!