Avocado | pixiedustkitchen

Yes, you read that title correctly. Healthy chocolate cookies- and they really are healthy! Let me tell you why… there is no butter. No white sugar, and only 1/2 C of brown sugar. They contain a mixture of white and whole wheat flour.

And you’ll never guess what the secret ingredients making these cookies healthy are.

Drumroll, please…

Avocados and honey!

I really like this up-and-coming trend of using avocados in desserts, and the other day while browsing Trader Joe’s I saw that avocados were being advertised as “natures butter.” Immediately I got the idea to substitute avocados for butter in cookies. I love cookies, and I tend to go through more butter than Paula Dean on an average week, so I’m constantly looking for ways to cut back on butter and make healthier desserts.

I chose to make chocolate cookies because I’m not a huge fan of avocados, and I wanted to mask the flavor a little bit. I don’t want the avocado flavor to be big and in your face. I also added a hefty teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of milk. These also contain no eggs! With the honey, the batter was soft and thin enough, and by using cornstarch and whole wheat flour, we don’t need anything else to add chewiness. I used a combination of white and whole wheat flour. The first time I made these, I used all whole wheat flour, and the cookies were just a bit too dense and chewy. With the combination, the protein content is cut down, making the cookies softer.

A few notes on texture: Because there are no eggs nor white sugar in this recipe, there is no spreading. To prevent these cookies from being tall mounds of cookies, you do need to flaten these cookies a bit after you roll them. Example here:

With 3/4 C chocolate, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 Tbs milk, you can hardly tell that these are anything but your average chocolate cookie full of butter and sugar. They’re sneakily healthy… which is honestly the best kind of healthy dessert. But because these cookies are so fudgy and dense, chilling the dough is MANDATORY. Chill for at least two hours before baking.

This is a fudgy, dense, cookie, perfect with a tall glass of milk.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

1 small avocado
3/4 C honey
1/2 C Brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c flour (1 C whole wheat; 1 C white)
3/4 C chocolate powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbs milk
1 and 1/2 C chocolate chips

Slice and pit the avocado. Place into the bowl of a stand mixer with honey, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
In a medium bowl, sift together flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and cornstarch. slowly mix into the wet ingredients.
Add the chocolate chips.
Let chill for 2-36 hours.
roll into heaping tablespoon mounds. flatten slightly and press chocolate chips in top. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake at 350˚F for 8-10 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Want more cookies to bake?

Try my tried and true recipe for chocolate chip cookies…