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There’s nothing like a rich and delicious dessert that you also know is good for you! Since avocado is filled with healthy fats, it’s the perfect sneaky substitute for butter in these fudgy brownies.
If you are skeptical about making brownies with avocado, don’t be. I promise, you won’t even be able to tell it’s in there! These dark chocolate brownies are super-moist, ultra-rich, and totally kid-approved.
The Best Grain-Free Brownies
These paleo-friendly, gluten-free brownies use a combination of almond and arrowroot flours instead of wheat. They also contain tons of antioxidants and healthy fats from pure cacao and fresh avocados. Combined with a little raw honey, you get just the right touch of sweetness and a soft, delicious brownie bursting with dark chocolate flavor.
Best of all, these brownies are quick to mix up and so simple the kids can make them. All it takes is 20 minutes in the oven, and you’re done! It’s the perfect recipe for when you’re in a hurry, but want to spoil your family (or company) with something fabulous.
I guarantee that once you try these gooey avocado brownies, you’ll never think about box mixes again.
How to Make Avocado Brownies
This recipe uses both raw cacao powder (that’s right, cacao — not cocoa) and melted chocolate. Cacao powder comes from the same plant as cocoa powder and can be used similarly in baking. The difference is that raw cacao powder is not heated to the temperatures that cocoa powder is in processing so it is much higher in antioxidants than traditional cocoa powder. This is a great article that goes into more depth on the topic.
For the chocolate, I used my homemade chocolate, but feel free to use any other high quality dairy-free dark chocolate you have handy.
Important note: Take the brownies out of the oven when they are just very slightly underdone. This is probably the single most important rule for making fudgy brownies. I bake mine in a 9×9-inch pan for 20 minutes, but an 8×8-inch pan will work too (just bake them for about five more minutes). Do not bake them any longer to prevent them from drying out.
Want more brownie recipes? Check out with this post for a whole list of ways to create delicious grain-free brownies with real food ingredients.
Paleo Avocado Brownies Recipe
Servings
Ingredients
- 2 avocados
- 4 eggs
- 5 oz dairy-free dark chocolate
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup arrowroot powder
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup raw cacao powder (+ 3 TBSP for garnish) optional
- 3 TBSP edible flowers for garnish such as roses daisies, lavender, and chamomile (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 380°F.
- Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, use a fork to mash the avocados.
- Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light yellow and fluffy.
- Add the mashed avocado and continue to mix for 2 more minutes, until well combined.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or you will burn the chocolate.
- Add the coconut oil and stir until the chocolate and coconut oil are melted.
- Remove the chocolate/coconut oil mixture from the heat and stir in the honey.
- In a large bowl, sift together the almond and arrowroot flours.
- Add the raw cacao powder and stir to combine.
- Stir in the egg/avocado mixture and melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- When cool, decorate with edible flowers and a sprinkle of cacao powder if desired.
- Cut into 9 squares and serve.
Nutrition
Notes
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I love love love these brownies! You can kind of taste the avocado, but I don’t mind. With all the eggs and good fat, they actually are quite filling. P.S. I find that (at least in my oven) they take a good deal longer than 20 minutes to not be complete liquid in the middle!
These turned out beautiful and the texture is spot on but they did taste like avocados to us unfortunately 🙁 But still pretty good! We like our brownies gooey so maybe I needed to bake them a little longer? Thanks for all the good work you do, Katie! You help us be healthier!
These brownies don’t taste very good without salt.
These are AMAZING. I didn’t have any grain free flour so I just used whole wheat. Quick question: how long would you say these keep in the fridge?
My kids haven’t let me find out yet!
Just tried them. Flavor is amazing! But they were soggy in the middle and even cooked 5 mins over. We live in a high altitude location so maybe this is part of it. Do you suggest I just cook longer or did I maybe mess something up? Would really love to make these a regular treat in our household if we can just troubleshoot the soggy issue… My two year old gobbled up the edges!
Hi,
My daughter is allergic to almonds. What would be a good substitute for the almond flour in the brownie recipe?
Thanks for your time!
Thank you for all the information and recipes you continually provide. Do you know if the same amount of maple syrup can be substituted for the honey without significantly changing the taste/texture? I have read concerns about heating honey. Thanks so much.
Is this a picture of the actual brownies from the recipe or just a stock picture? I can’t tell how fudgy they are from the pic.
Pictures from the actual recipe 🙂
Love this!! Can’t wait to make them. My son has to be egg free, so I’m wondering gelatin eggs would work in this recipe? Thanks! ?
Is there a suitable way to replace the eggs? Would flax or chia “eggs” work?
Do you melt the coconut oil before measuring?
I want to try these! But 380 degrees? My oven doesn’t do that. Would 375 work?
Yes!
Isn’t Paleo sugar-free?
Chocolate has sugar….
Thank you for very beneficial recipe ,realy i like it
Hello. What can you use in place of arrowroot.
15 hours of prep? 20 hours of cook time. These are a serious undertaking ?. For real, how do they compare to regular brownies in taste?
That was a typo, should have said minutes! Thanks for the catch, it’s fixed now!
Would this work with gelatin eggs?
Sounds so delicious cant wait to try!