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.
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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.
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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.
I had an avocado on hand and made these–I’m not a huge fan of avocado and you are right, I can’t taste it in this recipe. I think the coffee granules go a long way toward masking the avocado flavor and bringing out the chocolatey-ness. It’s funny that you used the same proportion of fat that I use when trying to slim down a recipe–I frequently tweak recipes, especially muffin recipes, to reduce the overall fat. Most of the time 1/4 cup of oil or butter per 12 servings seems to be about the right amount to me–the product doesn’t taste rubbery but is still “lighter”–and I substitute a fruit puree to make up for the rest of the fat. These are great and I don’t think anyone would know that they are “light”.
Of all recipes for you to try, had no idea these were on your radar screen but glad you tried them, enjoyed them, and that you agree about the coffee granules and that you couldn’t taste the avo AND doesn’t sound like you’re a fan so would be pretty sensitive to and aware of it! Well I am thrilled to hear you tried these! And great minds think alike with the fat reduction ratios :)
Hey Averie, I was super eager to try your recipe as I have wanted to use avocado for baking for a really long time now! I was not disappointed! I made a couple adjustments to the recipe, using 1/2 cup of white sugar instead of a full cup and also using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose! They are deliciously cocoa-y, fudge-tastically chewy, and just a bit cake-y (which is what I like in a brownie)! I chose to chill them based on your advice and I feel like that’s the best way to have them (though I am not opposed to making a second batch to see what they taste like warm haha).
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Glad they worked out great for you! These weren’t cakey at all for me but I think your using whole wheat flour and halving the sugar probably made the batter different but glad you still got the results you wanted!
These have been on my list to make for the past couple of weeks. Well, I whipped up a batch today and I am truly amazed ..I would compare it to eating chocolate silk, incredible!.
First, they are super easy to make as they mix in one bowl and the ingredients come together quickly. Second, I dare anyone to try and tell there is an avocado in there!
When I had just the avocado, butter, egg, coffee, sugar and vanilla in the bowl I ate a small spoonful. Just that part of the recipe was good too. Lol
I told all the employees I supervise to get me out early tonight because these brownies were waiting on me.
Everything thing you said about these brownies was right on point, even down to chilling them to slice them easier. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
I am so glad you loved the brownies! I agree about the chocolate silk part for sure and that the batter itself is so good! Glad you found everything I said to be right on point and thanks for trying the recipe! LMK if you make anything else!
Oh. my. goodness. I’m in need of slimming down (somehow all my clothes shrunk in the past couple of months… weird) and am looking for some health-ified dessert recipes… avocados in brownies?! Mind is blown! Thanks for the great looking recipe!
They’re SUPER good. The photos do not do them justice, at all. At all. Enjoy them!