When I want a brownie, I want thick, rich, fudgy, dense, and decadent.
I don’t want healthy. Unless it’s accidentally healthy, and I’d never know it from the taste.
And that’s exactly what these are. They don’t taste healthy, and they don’t taste like avocado.
You truly cannot tell there’s avocado in them and you cannot taste it.
And in person, they don’t come off as blue as they’re translating on the screen. They’re just incredibly dark.
I think avocado is quite flavor-neutral and takes on the flavors of what it’s seasoned or mixed with.
In the brownies, it serves to add moisture, density, and richness, without imparting flavor.
They’re healthier than most brownies because they’re nearly butter-free. I replaced all but 1/4 cup butter with avocado.
Two tablespoons of butter has 200 calories, 23 grams of total fat, with 15 grams of saturated fat.
Compared to 2 tablespoons of avocado which has 50 calories, 4.5 grams of total fat, and only .5 gram of saturated fat.
Talk about a fat and calorie savings, which translates into having 2 or 3 of these brownies compared to 1 traditional.
If you’re a stats person, I entered the significant ingredients here using the closest comparable ingredients the site lists as options.
The brownies are gluten-free. I replaced all but 1/4 cup flour with dark cocoa powder, which is full of iron and fiber and ounce for ounce, has less than half the calories of flour. You can use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder, but I like using the Hershey’s Special Dark for the ultra-dark color and taste.
For the small amount of flour, to keep them gluten-free use your favorite gluten-free blend, or regular all-purpose if gluten isn’t a concern.
There’s a splash of coffee and some espresso granules included; both are optional and don’t make the brownies taste like coffee, but enhance the chocolate intensity.
Making brownies healthier so that I can have seconds – and thirds – is only a good idea if the taste is amazing. I’d rather have nothing than have something that tastes like health food masquerading as a dessert.
And these deliver. If you want to be a sneaky chef and trick people, or trick yourself, you definitely can with this recipe. Just make sure to mash the avocado very, very well so no stray little green blobs give you away.
The batter comes together in one bowl with a whisk, no mixer needed. They’re as easy as boxed brownies, but taste so much more amazing.
They’ll likely be some of the fudgiest, gooeyest, moistest brownies you’ve ever had. No cakeiness whatsoever. All fudge.
Even transferring the batter from the mixing bowl to the baking pan, is a dense, fudgy, spatula-clinging experience.
They’re sweet enough, but not too sweet. They’re the type of brownie you’ll need to wash down with a glass of milk. Or with a Creamy Boozy Iced Coffee or some Homemade Baileys Irish Cream.
I served them to my family without saying a word about the ingredients to see if they noticed anything usual. Nope.
When I say you cannot taste the avocado and it only serves to make the brownies moister, denser, and fudgier, I mean it.
It makes me wonder why I haven’t always been making brownies this way.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Healthy Dark Fudgy Avocado Brownies
Ingredients
- flesh from 1 average-sized ripe to very ripe Hass avocado, very well mashed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, half of one stick, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons coffee or water, coffee leftover from the morning brew is fine
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder or unsweetened natural cocoa powder or (I used Hershey’s Special Dark
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules, make sure it’s instant so it dissolves, optional but recommended
- ¼ cup gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the avocado and mash very well with a fork. Really break it up and the riper the avocado is, the easier it’ll be to smooth it out.
- Add the melted butter, egg, sugars, coffee, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Continue to whisk out any green streaks or lumps.
- Add the cocoa powder, instant espresso, and whisk until incorporated and free from lumps; it could take a few minutes if your cocoa powder is lumpy.
- Add the flour and stir until it’s just incorporated; don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until top has just set, isn’t jiggly in the center, and the edges have firmed up and are set. A toothpick inserted in the center will not come out clean and there will be very moist and fudgy crumbs clinging to it, but no wet batter. They’re meant to be gooey and fudgy; don’t overbake. Allow brownies to cool completely in pan on top of wire rack.
- After brownies have cooled for at least 1 hour, lift out with foil overhang and slice. Brownie crumbs will cling heavily to your knife; wipe it with a paper towel in between slices. However, I prefer the brownies chilled and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours, or overnight, before slicing. Brownies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or for up to 6 months in the freezer. I highly recommend storing them in the refrigerator because having a slight chill to brownies this rich and fudgy is almost imperative, and it will make slicing easier.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Related Recipes:
Homemade Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies (Copycat Recipe)
Fudgy Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Ultimate Fudgy Caramel Brownies
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache – The best, fastest, and easiest chocolate cake
Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies
Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse (GF) – Made with avocado and so rich, decadent, and fudgy
Vanilla Avocado Banana Ice Cream (vegan, GF) – Creamy, rich, and satisfying
What’s your favorite way to use avocado? Favorite brownie recipe?
I also have lots of avocado recipes, including savory options, linked in this post.
These super dark brownies are a thing of beauty! I love avocados too and I love the idea of using them in such a delicious treat!!!
Thanks, Robyn! And thanks for being such a great pinner and always pinning so much of my stuff – just wanted to thank you :)
I am always amazed by your pictures! Every single post you do is beautiful..it really is art! These brownies look delicious! Love that you used avocados!
Well thanks and I really appreciate it because these photos aren’t really my best work – the camera sees dark colors like black brownies as any color other than what they are – but glad you like the photos :)
Avocado and chocolate are made for each other! Especially when you use dark dark chocolate like this. I can not believe how fudgey they look
Dear God yes.
I cannot get over how moist these look!! I love using avocado in just about anything, so I know I’d love these. Beautiful!
I love substituting avocado for butter in chocolate recipes- it’s hardly noticeable and is so much healthier. I love how much cocoa powder there is in these brownies too! These look so dark, rich, and fudgy.
That’s awesome you already swap avo for butter in chocolate recipes. I need to do it more!
Those are SO dark. Wow!! I made avocado cake balls a while back (horrible pictures) and they were so moist and delicious and just so good. These look better!! Insane Averie. I love everything is this dark, dark brownie!
They are so dark in person and all the camera sees is black with a blue cast and I have already gotten some comments on pinterest about blue brownies. Lord save me. Lol. But you know how good and moist avo is in recipes and I bet your little cake balls were so good. Glad you’re loving these. I was loving them more til I read some of the comments on Pinterest. Whatever :)
this is SO clever!
I might have to make these for my daughter to sneak more avocado into her diet. She loved the avocado “ice cream” (mousse) that you posted in 2009, so I’m sure she’d adore these as well!
That’s awesome that you made that recipe. I am glad to hear the oldies but goodies still see the light of day :)
Ahhhh yummm!! Great minds must think alike ;) I made avocado brownies a few days ago: https://ototheno.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/schools-out/
Cept I used all whole wheat flour (honestly couldn’t tell the difference from white) and olive oil instead of avocado. they turned out really fudge-y too and nobody was the wiser =P the addition of espresso granules in yours though looks like it would be a fantastic idea :)
Love when you can sneak in a super food to something decadent!
these look stellar! my hubby would love these! he is passionate about a dark fudgy brownie!
I love avocado in salads, spread on toast, and definitely as guacamole. But I’ve tried it in desserts, too! I have a similar recipe for cookies using avocado and it’s shocking what it does to the dough. Super moist with no avocado flavour at all. I’d love to try this super fudgy, brownie version!
Exactly: it’s shocking what it does to the dough. Super moist with no avocado flavour at all = agreed!
I made up my own batch of avocado brownies about 6 mos ago when I had half an avocado left over. It was one of my famous bread pan sized batches. I was trying to keep them as fudgy and dense as possible, so I used just an egg yolk and a spoonful of flour. It was one of my make it up as I go along experiments and it worked well. I don’t remember using brown sugar in mine so I’d love to try yours (and the coffee is the perfect finishing touch). I think avocado is great for baking (bread and brownies), and I LOVE the look of these. When it comes to brownies, I’m all about dark and fudgy!
I know you would love these, Paula! That’s so cool that you tinkered around with a yolk + half of an avo and came up with a breadsize small batch! You should be a food blogger :)
They’re blue! (Or they look blue to me haha) but these brownies sound amazing! I would have never thought you could use avocados for brownies. I want to try these some day and hopefully I can before I don’t have an oven anymore. I love chocolatey brownies :)
They’re just super dark! In person they’re just very, very dark. Hope you get to try them!
Gooey, fudgy, chocolatey…sign me up and feed me now!
I’d love to – we have way too much food around here :)