Have you ever made brownies with an avocado? How about using cassava flour in them as well? My fudgy vegan and gluten free avocado brownies recipe is allergy friendly and tastes so ridiculously good. Serve with ice cream or decorate with melted white chocolate and sprinkles. Perfect for Valentines Day or any special occasion, this small batch recipe makes 4 mini brownie hearts.
Why I Made This Recipe
The truth is that we bought too many avocados this week so I wanted to use some in my baking, rather than leave them to go to waste. Avocados are a great natural substitute for eggs and butter and add a lovely creamy and rich texture to brownies. Trust me, if you’ve never used avocados in brownies, you are missing out. Plus with the increasing price of butter and eggs, they are a more affordable ingredient substitute.
Why You Need This Recipe
Not only are these brownies easy to make, but they are free from all major allergens and taste as good as regular brownies. They are fudgy and indulgent with a slightly firmer top layer and pair wonderfully with ice cream.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This small batch recipe uses everyday pantry items, with the exception of the gluten free cassava flour. Read on for more details. You can also check out the recipe FAQs for more commonly asked questions about this recipe.
As a precision baker, I always create my recipes by weight but have also tested this one with US cup measurements. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients for accuracy but also acknowledge that many bakers prefer to use cup measurements. Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for both methods.
Flour: let’s talk a little about cassava flour for a moment. I was gifted a bag of Otto’s Cassava Flour by a dear cookier friend in the US after we were chatting about different flour options. And I have to say that I am impressed. Made from the yuca root, cassava flour is naturally gluten free and is a finely ground flour that works perfectly in baking. I’ll be sharing more details in a full blog review soon and you can find out more about the brand that I used here. Sub with your preferred gluten free flour, almond flour or regular all purpose flour if you are not gluten intolerant.
Salt and Baking Powder: these help with the leavening of the brownies to give them a bit of a lift and also enhance the flavour.
Chocolate: I am using vegan chocolate chips but you could also cut up your favourite chocolate bar for this recipe.
Apple Sauce: brownies can sometimes feel quite dense and stodgy so the apple sauce helps to keep the brownies moist.
Cocoa Powder: I am using dutch processed but it’s not a deal breaker for this recipe.
Brown Sugar: a few years ago I started using brown sugar in my brownie recipes and it honestly makes a huge difference over white sugar. Sub with white sugar if you don’t have any but I do highly recommend making the switch. The molasses in the brown sugar helps to add moisture and creates a fudgy texture which we just adore!
Avocado: the star of this recipe is a ripe avocado. The avocado is substituting the eggs and butter that I would normally use in my brownie recipe. Ensure that your avocado is ripe (it should feel slightly soft when you squeeze it). I store my avocado in the fridge as soon as they have ripened and it prolongs their useable life for a couple of extra weeks.
How to Make Avocado Brownies
Let’s start by cutting up the avocado. Run your knife lengthways around the middle of the avocado then twist the two halves to open it. Pop the seed out and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin and place it in a mixing bowl.
Soften it up with a hand mixer then add in 50 grams of apple sauce, 106 grams of brown sugar, 24 grams of cocoa powder, 32 grams of cassava flour, half a teaspoon of baking powder, and a quarter teaspoon of salt.
Next pop 90 grams of chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl and into the microwave to melt them a little bit. I don’t fully melt the chocolate as I like to have some pieces of chocolate chips running throughout the brownie mix. Top Tip: you could either add the chocolate chips without melting them or you could melt them fully depending on your personal preference.
Brownie Batter Tips
Add the chocolate to the rest of the ingredients and stir it in with a spatula to ensure that everything is nice and combined. You could add nuts if you wanted to or even white chocolate chips as well at this stage. Here’s a close look at the consistency of the brownie batter. The little specks that you might notice are from the cassava flour but don’t worry. It doesn’t affect the consistency of the baked good.
Let’s Bake
I’m using a cute heart-shaped silicon cupcake mold for this recipe, which will make 4 mini hearts. If you wanted to double the ingredients, you could make eight brownies, you could make regular cupcakes with the recipe as well or you could even if you doubled or tripled the recipe you could make an eight-inch square brownie in a regular baking pan. Spray some baking/cooking oil into each of the 4 cavities and add the brownie batter. I’m using my ice cream scoop to fill the cavities.
Top Tip: the batter is quite firm so I recommend using a spoon or spatula to spread everything out in the cavities. Make sure those cavities are almost full with a little bit of room to rise.
Whenever you are using silicone molds, I always recommend placing them on a baking tray so that it’s a little easier for you to put them in and remove them from the oven easily once everything is baked. Once the mold is ready, pop the tray in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes.
Once the brownies are baked, remove the baking pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack. As you can see, they’ve got a really nice firm top on them like any brownies normally would and they have risen just that little bit as well. Let them cool completely before removing them from the molds.
Once cooled, simply peel back the silicone mold and pop each brownie onto a cooling rack or plate. This is the underneath of the brownie and I just love the details that the mold has added. Good enough to eat right away!
Look at the consistency inside. So fudgy and rich! The brownies have a really nice firmer layer on top and then you can see how fudgy they are inside as well. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!
Common Questions
This fudgy gluten free avocado brownies recipe makes 4 mini heart shaped brownies. Double the ingredients to make an 8 inch square brownie.
Absolutely. Sub the cassava flour with your preferred gluten free flour substitute. If you are not gluten intolerant, sub with all purpose flour (same quantity).
The brownies will last in an airtight container on the counter for about three to four days. However, this is a small batch so you might not be able to resist them for that long! You can also freeze the baked brownies. Simply wrap in plastic wrap (cling film) then place in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Decorating Brownies
I decided to decorate two of the hearts to share a quick idea if you are gifting these to someone for Valentine’s Day or maybe a birthday. I melted a couple of white chocolate chips in the microwave, drizzled some on top, and then added a few sprinkles. Aren’t they adorable?
More Chocolate Favourites
Has this fudgy gluten free avocado brownies inspired you to try some of my other chocolate recipes? Here are a few of our favourites:
- For pure chocolate indulgence, try my Chocolate Ganache Mini Tarts (Dairy and Gluten Free)
- Our kids go crazy for these Rocky Road Brownies (Vegan)
- My childhood favourite Chocolate Fudge Cake (Dairy and Gluten Free)
- Perfect for any dessert table and pretty darn cute as well – No Bake Cocoa Truffles (Vegan)
Fudgy Gluten Free Avocado Brownies
Equipment
- Silicone Mold
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 1 Avocado (well ripened)
- 50 grams Apple Sauce (1/4 Us Cup)
- 106 grams Brown Sugar (1/2 Us Cup)
- 24 grams Cocoa Powder (1/4 Us Cup)
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 32 grams Cassava Flour (1/4 Us Cup)
- 90 grams Vegan Chocolate Chips (1/2 Us Cup)
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat your oven to 350F / 175C and gather all of your supplies and ingredients. Ensure that the avocado is ripe. (You can speed up the process by placing in a bag with a banana or apple)
Making the Brownies
- Cut 1 Avocado in half and add the flesh to a mixing bowl. Add 50 grams Apple Sauce , 106 grams Brown Sugar, 24 grams Cocoa Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp Salt and 32 grams Cassava Flour and mix until fully combined.1 Avocado, 50 grams Apple Sauce, 106 grams Brown Sugar, 24 grams Cocoa Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp Salt, 32 grams Cassava Flour
- Partly melt 90 grams Vegan Chocolate Chips in the microwave then stir into the brownie batter.90 grams Vegan Chocolate Chips
- Lighty spray the mold cavities with a spray oil then add the brownie batter. Fill almost to the top. The brownies will rise a little bit when baking.
- Place the silicone mold on a baking tray then bake in the oven for 25 minutes. The brownies should feel slightly firm to the touch. Allow to cool completely before removing from the mold.
- Decorate if desired and serve with ice cream. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Yield: This gluten free avocado brownie recipe makes 4 mini heart shaped brownies. Double the ingredients to make an 8 inch square brownie.
- Flour: If you can’t find cassava flour, sub it with your preferred gluten free flour substitute. If you are not gluten intolerant, sub with all purpose flour (same quantity).
- Storage Tips: the brownies will last in an airtight container on the counter for about three to four days. However, this is a small batch so you might not be able to resist them for that long! You can also freeze the baked brownies. Simply wrap in plastic wrap (cling film) then place in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- More Chocolate Recipes:
- For pure chocolate indulgence, try my Chocolate Ganache Mini Tarts (Dairy and Gluten Free)
- Our kids go crazy for these Rocky Road Brownies (Vegan)
- My childhood favourite Chocolate Fudge Cake (Dairy and Gluten Free)
- Perfect for any dessert table and pretty darn cute as well – No Bake Cocoa Truffles (Vegan)
What would be a replacement for brown sugar for a diabetic?
Also with keto flour what is the ratio?
Hi Winora. You could try something like Swerve or Stevia as a brown sugar substitute. I’ve not tested this recipe with either but if you do, let me know how it works out. As for keto flour, I have made this recipe with almond flour several times (same ratio), which is a great keto friendly option and it works wonderfully. I hope that helps.
Will be making this for my son! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you both enjoyed them!
these are so moist and fudgy!
Happy to hear that Justine!
Obsessed with the fact that these incredible fudgy brownies are made with avocados! They were so good!
I know, right! Its a great way to get some healthy fats in to a dessert! Glad you enjoyed the brownies.
Have a friend with celiac so tried these while she was visiting. We were all really impressed with the recipe. The kids didn’t even know they were gluten free.
So happy to hear that Chris.
I am excited to bake with avacado and cassava flour to make brownies gluten free. Can’t wait to have a taste of these!
I hope you enjoy them!