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These Avocado Brownies are moist, fudge-y, chocolatey, and secretly nutritious! They’re flourless, paleo-friendly, refined sugar-free, and take just 10 minutes to prep!
Easy and Healthy Brownie Recipe
Avocado in brownies? Heck yes!
These flourless brownies are the perfect sweet treat to end a meal or to pack in a lunch box for the kiddos (or for yourself!)
They have a not-so-secret ingredient that creates a super fudge-y texture. No one would ever guess you snuck avocado into them. Avocado brownies for the win!
Can I Use Avocado for Brownies?
Absolutely! Avocado has a super mild flavor, so it adds a boost of nutrition and creates a super moist and fudge-y texture without really changing the flavor of the brownies.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter: I use grass-fed butter, but coconut oil will work too.
- Dark Chocolate: You can use chopped dark chocolate or your favorite variety of dark chocolate chips.
- Avocado: You’ll need one extra ripe avocado.
- Eggs: Eggs bind everything together so the brownies can hold their shape.
- Sweetener: Maple sugar or coconut palm sugar are both great options.
- Cocoa Powder: Use a good quality cocoa powder for the best chocolatey flavor.
- Baking Powder: Keeps the brownies lighter and fluffier.
- Maple Syrup: A little bit of maple syrup adds another layer of sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor depth.
- Sea Salt: Cuts the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the brownies.
How to Make Avocado Brownies
This healthy brownie recipe comes together so quickly and easily…and it’s made with ingredients you might already have in your kitchen.
- Melt the chocolate: Use a double boiler to melt the butter and dark chocolate together until smooth. Alternatively, melt in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Cool slightly.
- Make the batter: In a food processor, combine avocado, eggs, maple syrup, cocoa powder, baking powder, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth, then add in the chocolate mixture. Blend again until smooth.
- Bake: Transfer the batter to a greased baking dish lined with a parchment paper sling. Bake at 350ºF until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Cool, then slice and serve.
What Does Butter Do in Brownies?
Butter serves a couple of purposes in brownies. The first, and likely most obvious, is that it adds delicious flavor depth to the batter.
Additionally, the lactic acid in butter reacts with the leavening agent (aka the baking powder) in brownies to create a lighter texture.
Tips and Notes
- Use extra ripe avocado. The best texture and flavor comes from a perfectly ripe avocado. If the avocado is hard, it won’t have that same smooth, velvety texture and buttery flavor.
- Grease and line the baking dish. This makes it so much easier to to remove the brownies from the pan once they’re done. I like to create a parchment paper sling so I can easily lift the brownies out of the pan.
- Blend the batter. Previously this recipe was made by pureeing an avocado in a blender, then transferring it to a bowl. Now, I like to just blend everything together at once. It makes for a smoother brownie and dirties fewer dishes!
- Check for doneness. To make sure that your brownies are done, insert a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, then they’re good to go!
Variations
- Add mix-ins. Add some nutty flavor and a crunchy bite with the addition of chopped walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts OR mix in your favorite chopped candy bar, M&Ms, you name it.
- Make nut butter brownies. Try swirling in your favorite peanut butter or almond butter.
- Add caramel. Use a knife to swirl in paleo and vegan caramel for a gooey flavor twist.
- Frost them. Add an extra layer of sweetness by cooling the brownies completely, then topping them with 2-ingredient paleo chocolate frosting.
How to Store
These paleo brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. They can also be wrapped tightly and stored in the freezer for up to 4 months.
When you’re ready to serve, simply thaw on the counter if frozen.
More Brownie Recipes You’ll Love
- Fudgy Paleo Brownies
- Raspberry Swirl Brownies
- Gluten-Free Funfetti Blondies
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Watch the Video Here:
Avocado Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup grass-fed butter
- 1 cup dark chocolate chopped or chips
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup maple sugar or coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- One pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare an 8″ baking dish by greasing it and lining it with a parchment paper sling.
- Melt butter and dark chocolate using a double-boiler method: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil with heatproof bowl over the top. Add the butter and chocolate to the bowl and slowly melt and stir the chocolate until all of it has melted. Remove from heat, let sit a few minutes and then whisk it all together. Alternatively you could melt them together in the microwave at 20 second intervals, whisking in between until it’s fully melted.
- Add ripe avocado to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add in eggs, maple sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture to the processor and pulse until fully combined.
- Transfer brownie batter to the prepared baking dish and smooth over the top.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool completely before slicing.
Would a cream cheese frosting with cocoa powder be good on these? I’m such a chocoholic. (sigh)
I love that you are VERY LOW CARB (no sugar, flour, or vegetable oils). Thank you for all your hard work and research for the most delicious recipes ever!!!
Can you freeze these brownies
Yes.
can regular white sugar be used in place of the maple or coconut palm sugar and have you ever doubled the recipe?
Deborah, I don’t use white sugar, so I can’t say for sure. Let us know if you try it!
I haven’t doubled it, but I don’t see why not.
No flour? I kept looking for the flour, I thought I skipped it, so the avacado is the sub. for the flour? I am going to try this, I hope it works like everyone says, they sure do look delicious, any idead about calories?
No flour!
Are the dark chocolate chunks that are melted down sweetened or unsweetened chocolate? Bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet?
I use dark chocolate, Jennifer! You can use any chocolate you like. Semi-sweet works well, too!
Hi Lexi
Can I replace butter with coconut oil and instead of baking them as brownies can this be baked as chocolate cake (say in 4 or 7 inches round pan)?
Thank you 🙂
That should be fine, but I can’t guarantee since I haven’t tried it this way! Good luck! Let us know how it goes 🙂
What size baking dish should I use?
8×8 works!
Can I use ghee instead of butter?
These are so good! and my kids loved them! Win! How should they be stored and for how long?
In the fridge for up to a week!
These look so so sooooo good. I have yet to make avocado brownies, but I have made avocado chocolate cookies. And they were DELICIOUS. This recipe looks too good not to try. I can’t wait to fill my (unborn) kid’s lunch boxes with healthy treats like this! Well, I suppose my husband would be just as excited.HA 😉
omg yum! I’ve been waiting for you to post this ever since you teased us on IG:)
Lexi! These are amazing! I put a couple of dairy free Trader Joe’s organic dark chocolate bars chopped up in place of the chocolate chunks. So rich and dreamy but I don’t feel like I need to eat the whole pan. I’m an endurance athlete looking to fuel myself with better whole nutrition and less sugar but I LOVE my chocolate. These puppies did the trick! Thank you!!
Kelley
SO happy you loved!
what size baking dish? 8×8 works?
Yes!
I want these NOW! they look amazing. Do you make your own maple sugar?? It’s SO fun!
These look delicious and super fudgey–just the type of brownie recipe I’ve been searching for. The last ones I made came out super cakey, when I was craving dense and fudgey. I’m going to have to try them!
Not to be nit-picky, but I think avocados are technically still a fruit. 🙂
Would it be possible to add some nuts? like walnuts?
TOTALLY!
These look amazing! are the chocolate chunks sweetened? could you sub the chocolate chunks for cocoa powder/butter and in what ratio?
You can leave out the chocolate chunks entirely, they are just an addition to the other chocolate!
these looks so good! I just learned that you can sub avocado 1:1 in baking…crazy right?! Bring on the goodies 🙂
Avacado substituted for what 1:1?
What do you mean?
Could you use Ghee instead of the butter?
Yes!
These look soooo addicting! I love the added health benefits of the avocado, and I bet it keeps them so nice and moist. I’m ready for 87 of these in my lunch pail! 😀