Avocado Brownies

Time to earn some Avocado Brownies points! These decadent squares are extra chocolatey and shiny topped, and they fall squarely on the fudgy side of the brownie fence. The ingredients are wholesome, they’re gluten free, and the entire recipe is made in a single bowl. Prepare to lick your spatula. We are scoring big with this healthy brownie recipe!

Using avocado for healthy desserts and baked goods has been a favorite trick of mine ever since making Avocado Chocolate Mousse, avocado Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and more recently, this Avocado Ice Cream.

Avocado is high in (good) fat and has a creamy, velvety texture. In baking, avocado can replace butter, shortening, and sometimes even eggs. It makes desserts incredibly moist and rich while contributing to their overall health benefits.

In the taste department, avocado is mild, meaning that by the time you’ve loaded up these fudgy Avocado Brownies with cocoa and chocolate chips, you’ll hardly detect it.

(And even if you are a super taster and can detect the avocado, though the combo may sound odd, avocado and chocolate make a surprisingly delicious pairing. Check out the Avocado Chocolate Mousse reviews if you don’t believe me!)

How to Make Healthy Avocado Brownies

Since I’d already elected to add avocado to a brownie, I reasoned I might as well go all the way and make them the best tasting healthy avocado brownies on the interwebs. I used a few additional healthy baking swaps to make these a better-for-you treat, without taking things so far that they lost the signature chewy texture that properly makes a brownie a brownie.

My Healthy Avocado Brownie Secrets:

• Avocado in place of *most* of the butter. We do still need some to make sure the brownies taste fab, but it’s a fraction of most classic brownie recipes.

If you’d like vegan Avocado Brownies, you can use coconut oil in place of the butter and experiment with flax eggs in place of the regular eggs (not yet tested, but this is my best guess!).

• Pure Maple Syrup + Coconut Sugar. Two of my top picks to sweeten brownies more naturally. Using entirely maple syrup made the brownies too wet. A mix of the two is just right. (Coconut sugar is available in many grocery stores and online here. You can also swap it for light brown sugar if you prefer.)

For those looking for keto avocado brownies, I believe you’ll need to play around with a different sweetener. I haven’t tested any myself, but if you do experiment, I’d love to hear how it goes.

• Almond Flour. These Avocado Brownies are gluten free, grain free, and have extra servings of healthy fats, courtesy of this wonderful product. Almond flour is made of finely ground almonds, and thus it has all of the fabulous benefits that almonds do!

IMPORTANT NOTE: You cannot swap almond flour for other flours as you please (and vice versa).

Almond flour has totally unique qualities, especially in baking. It weighs and acts completely different than wheat flour or coconut flour.

If you are looking for a healthy brownie recipe without almond flour, you can check out these Zucchini Brownies or Sweet Potato Brownies.

How to Make EASY Avocado Brownies 

Now that we’ve covered making these brownies healthy, let’s chat about keeping it easy. I don’t know about you, but when I want a brownie, I typically wanted it 10 minutes ago, so I’m all for speeding up the prep.

Are you ready?

• Put all of the ingredients into your food processor. (I’ve owned and loved this one for the last 10 years, and it still works as beautifully as the day I bought it.)
• Add more chocolate chips. We are going full-on fudge factor here.
• BOOM! Healthy double chocolate brownie batter is ready to bake!

From here, you can bake the brownies as they are or go over the top and shower them with additional chocolate chips. I think you know the route I recommend.

I served a plate of these brownies at our Super Bowl Party last weekend and not a square remained. I next have them slated for Valentine’s Day. Brownies with ice cream are a forever favorite of both Ben and myself.

How to Store and Freeze Brownies

• To Store. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
• To Freeze. Wrap tightly and freeze in a ziptop bag for up to 4 months.

Desserts like these Avocado Brownies that taste marvelous, have healthy ingredients, and keep things easy for the cook (yours truly) is a delish way to say “I love you” and “I love me” too!

If you love these avocado brownies, my Healthy Brownies are a great option too! Check out my favorite 50 Healthy Desserts for even more ideas!

Review Save Recipe SavedPrint

Avocado Brownies

4.85 from 122 votes

Easy Avocado Brownies. Healthy, extra fudgy, and gluten free! This healthy dessert recipe tastes decadent but is made of simple, wholesome ingredients.

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Prep: 25 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

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Servings: 16 brownies, 1 (8×8) pan

Review Save Recipe SavedPrint

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 large avocado peeled and pitted
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar or light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (to make the brownies dairy free, use coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional; will yield a more intense chocolate flavor but will *not* make the brownies taste like coffee
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips divided (dairy free if needed)

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Instructions

 

• Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper so that two sides overhang like handles. Lightly coat with nonstick spray.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, place the avocado, eggs, coconut sugar, maple syrup, butter, and vanilla. Process until it’s completely smooth and combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl a few times as needed so that no chunks of avocado remain.
• To the food processor, add the cocoa powder, almond flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Process until smooth. Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and pulse a few times so that the chips are roughly incorporated.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle over the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack and let the brownies cool for 30 minutes. With the parchment paper handles, lift the brownies from the pan and place them on the rack to cool completely. If time allows, refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. (I find that these taste their best and fudgiest the next day.) Slice and serve.

Video

Notes

• The almond flour can be swapped with hazelnut or cashew flour. It CANNOT be substituted with coconut flour, wheat-based flour, or any other flour.
• Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or wrap tightly and freeze in a ziptop bag for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1brownieCalories: 130kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 3gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 29mgPotassium: 160mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 118IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg

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I am sharing this post in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue to create quality content for you!