Avocado Brownies Recipe: Substituting Avocado for Butter
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Feb 16, 2024 • 2 min read
Avocado brownies are a chocolaty, fudgy, and dairy-free dessert perfect for any celebration or casual get-together. Read on for a recipe for avocado brownies.
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What are Avocado Brownies?
Avocado brownies are chocolate brownies that use ripe avocados instead of butter. Typical avocado brownie recipes also call for sugar substitutes and gluten-free flour, such as almond flour, coconut flour, or oat flour. Avocado brownies that use alternative sweeteners and flours often work well for those adhering to a gluten-free diet.
4 Sweeteners to Use in Avocado Brownies
To add sweetness to avocado brownies, try one or more of these ingredients:
- 1. Brown sugar: To achieve a chewy texture (rather than a cakey texture) similar to traditional brownies, use brown sugar for sweetness. The molasses in the brown sugar adds to the dessert’s chew as well as a smoky, deep flavor that granulated sugar lacks.
- 2. Coconut sugar: Similar in taste and appearance in comparison to brown sugar, coconut sugar also behaves similarly to both brown sugar and granulated sugar in recipes. The only real difference is that coconut sugar contains fructose, whereas granulated sugar contains sucrose.
- 3. Maple syrup: A liquid sweetener, maple syrup is smoky and sweet. It’s similar to brown sugar in flavor but provides a different texture in the final product. Maple syrup incorporates with other ingredients differently than granulated sugar does, especially in the absence of butter.
- 4. Monk fruit: A zero-calorie sugar substitute, monk fruit is much sweeter than other sweeteners, sometimes up to 200 times sweeter than granulated sugar. When baking with monk fruit, use a recipe that specifically uses monk fruit to avoid the guesswork involved in determining the conversion from granulated sugar.
Avocado Brownies Recipe
makes
9 browniesprep time
15 mintotal time
40 mincook time
25 minIngredients
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2
Grease an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish with cooking spray or coconut oil.
- 3
Line the baking dish with parchment paper, leaving the extra parchment paper as handles to lift the brownies out of the pan.
- 4
In a food processor, purée the ripe avocado, brown sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder.
- 5
Add the eggs one at a time, puréeing between each addition.
- 6
Mix in the vanilla extract.
- 7
Add the all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- 8
Pulse the food processor until the flour is incorporated.
- 9
Transfer the brownie batter to a large bowl.
- 10
Stir in the chocolate chips.
- 11
Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
- 12
Bake the brownies until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
- 13
Sprinkle the sea salt on the brownies while they’re still warm.
- 14
Cool the brownies to room temperature.
- 15
Cut the brownies into equal pieces.
- 16
Store leftover brownies in an airtight container at room temperature.
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