Healthy Avocado Brownies [gluten free]

Who doesn’t love brownies? For sure I don’t belong to this group of people because I love them like almost everything else that contains chocolate. I especially adore brownies that my daughters have baked for the last few years. Their brownies are moist, chocolaty and rich. They are unfortunately also full of calories and fat as there is butter and plenty of sugar in them… So whenever I have those brownies, my guilt grows proportionately to the number of pieces I eat.

That’s why when I came across a brownie recipe that uses avocado instead of butter, I quickly had to test it out. To be honest I wasn’t ecstatic about the final outcome: I used chocolate with a very high percentage of cocoa solids and the cake was on the edge of being bitter. As I really liked the concept of healthier brownies, I didn’t want to give up and adjusted the recipe to make it sweeter without adding any more sugar. So I used a different type of chocolate and added lots of nuts as well as cranberries. That strategy worked really well: the result of my second attempt was most delicious.

INGREDIENTS (for 16 pieces):

100g dark chocolate (no more than 65% cocoa),

2 medium, ripe avocados, peeled and roughly mashed,

150g sugar,

2 tsp vanilla extract,

2 eggs,

40g cocoa powder,

45g almond flour or ground almonds,

40g dried cranberries,

100g mixed nuts (cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts), roughly chopped,

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 175 Celsius degrees (or 150 for fan ovens).
2. Line a small (e.g. 14cm x 24cm) baking tray with a parchment paper.
3. Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water.
4. Put to a food processor the avocados, sugar and vanilla extract; process them till smooth.
5. Stir in the melted chocolate then add the eggs and process again till everything is combined.
6. Add the cocoa powder and almond flour, mix well until combined.
7. Stir in the dried cranberries and nuts; transfer to the baking tray and smooth the top.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Based on a Half Baked Harvest's recipe  

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Healthy Chocolate Mousse with Chia Seeds [vegan]

I have heard many times about a chocolate mousse made with avocado and was really intrigued by the idea. Even though I often find avocados very uncooperative - they can be too hard for days and then suddenly one day they are already overripe: brown and not looking appetizing at all - I still like them a lot. But to use them in a chocolate mousse?! The only way that I could convince myself this whole idea would work, was to make such a mousse myself.

When I made it for the first time, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure about the result. But other family members who tried it, liked it a lot. So I gave the mousse a second chance. I adjusted the amounts of ingredients, I also decided to make it even healthier by adding chia seeds. This time I absolutely loved it: nice, chocolatey and creamy. Even though the portion seems to be small, it is quite filling. And another advantage of this mousse is that you can have it either as a healthy dessert or healthy breakfast. And who could say no to a guilt-free but super-healthy chocolate mousse for breakfast?

INGREDIENTS (for 1 portion):

1 tbsp chia seeds,

75ml coconut milk,

0.5 avocado,

1 banana,

3 Medjool dates (or 6 normal dates, soaked beforehand in hot water for 10 minutes),

2 tsp cocoa powder,

Raspberries (fresh or frozen) or other berries to serve.

METHOD:

1. In the evening put the chia seeds and the coconut milk to a cup, stir and put to a fridge for the night.
2. In the morning place the avocado, banana, dates and cocoa powder in a food processor or blender and process till smooth.
3. In a small glass/bowl put half of the chocolate mousse on the bottom, cover it with majority of the chia and coconut mixture, then place the other half of the mousse and the rest of chia seeds.
4. Decorate with raspberries.

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Mexican Salad with Avocado, Tomato and Red Beans [vegan]

I called this salad Mexican but in truth it could also be called Guacamole Salad because it uses more or less the same ingredients as the ones that are required to make this well-known dip. However – to make it more filling so it can be a proper, nutritious lunch option - I also added red beans.

Even though I know that eating salads are more associated with spring and summer, this one is still a good option for autumn or even winter, since the addition of red chilies (the amount of which you can always adjust) will surely warm you up ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 big tomatoes, cut into cubes,

2 avocados, cut into cubes,

1 can of red beans,

1 small red onion, thinly chopped,

chopped coriander,

red chili, thinly chopped (the amount used depends on you but it is better to start with less at the beginning and then slowly add),

Dressing:

2 tbsp lime juice,

3 tbsp olive oil,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Put all the salad ingredients to a bowl.
2. Make the dressing by mixing the ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, season and stir.

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