Avocados are one of my favorite foods. They go with so many dishes, are delicious to eat alone, and offer TONS of health benefits like vitamin K, lots of fiber (always needed for digestion and weight loss/maintenance), all the “good fats,” and potassium (even more than bananas!). They even protect you from eye degeneration and boost your immune system (click here for more benefits).
Sadly, they can get a bad rap because of their fat content, but just like other high-fat plant foods (walnuts and flaxseed, for example), the avocado’s unique health benefits are precisely because of its unusual fat composition. For the scientific explanation, click here, but basically, plants give us so many incredible antioxidants (phytonutrients) and if we eat the right combination of fatty acids (the ones found in avocados or avocado oil) at the same time, we absorb them a whole lot better, which means a healthier you.
Recently, a friend who hates avocados but has been trying to get them in her diet more sent me a recipe for chocolate mousse with pictures of her kids eating it up! I immediately put it on my list to make because if it was really THAT good and kid-approved (I was definitely skeptical) then it might just be the best thing ever. Chocolate + avocado = YES. PLEASE.
Well guess what? I made it, it was simple, and it was fantastic.
Introducing: The Chocolate Avocado Mousse!
Photo by Cooking a la Mel.
I started with this recipe (yields about 2 cups):
- 2 ripe avocados
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp agave
- 2 tbsp Truvia
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 2 tbsp of greek yogurt
I then added another tbsp of agave to sweeten it up a bit more for the kids and a tbsp of cocoa powder (to make it browner as I knew they wouldn’t eat it with that “ugly” greenish color). When I make this again (I know it’s going to be weekly thing), I will just add cinnamon and keep the greenish color because it cuts back on sugar and gives it a great taste. You can also melt some dark chocolate chips and mix them in if you want more chocolatey taste.
Blend it all together…
Take a taste and add anything else you think it needs…
And VOILA!
You can add cinnamon or cayenne pepper (or both) and a little sprinkle of sea salt on a single serving for finger licking goodness. Eat it alone or with banana slices, strawberries, or grated dark chocolate slivers for a decadent treat that gives you tons more health benefits (and less fat and sugar) than a bowl of ice cream or pudding snack could ever provide.
This recipe can be modified a million different ways (check out my Pinterest board for some of them), so don’t get caught up in nailing the recipe exactly, and feel free to play around. And the way you make and blend it will determine whether it’s more of a mousse or pudding consistency (but don’t we all love pudding, too?) The bottom line is that you’re taking the fat and excessive sugar out of typical chocolatey dessert and replacing it with one of nature’s superfoods. The entire batch has about 630 calories (give or take, depending on how you make it), so a 1/2 cup serving is around 160. But remember, these are healthy calories and you’re doing a body good by eating chocolate.
Have happier words ever been spoken?
Here’s to #MakingHealthyHappen!
Cara