Recipe: Fudgy Avocado Brownies

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....

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 >> 

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