Avocado Brownies, No-Bake

Avocado no-bake brownies

In my never-ending search for the perfect chocolate recipe, dairy-free of course, I decided to try something new.  There were two brownie recipes that I really liked.  One was baked, the other no-bake.  One used avocado, the other didn't.  Hmm.  How could I mash up the recipes?  I had recently purchased coconut flour because the store I frequent was out of flaked, which I use regularly so why oh why did they have to run out?  In any event, I had on hand avocados, coconut flour, an assortment of raw nuts, and my usual 5-pound bag of dairy-free dark chocolate.  With my I-Pad open to both recipes I mentally mashed up the ingredients and came up with this.  Viola.  It's so yummy.  

INGREDIENTS:
2 Haas Avocados
coconut flour
cacao powder (preferably organic and not cocoa powder)
espresso powder
raw honey (if you're a purist vegan, substitute Agave)
hot water
2 Majool dates
raw cashews
dairy-free dark chocolate chips

2 bowls, 4 x 4 pan, plastic wrap, food processor

First:  In the first bowl, mash or puree 2 avocados. Add one cup of coconut flour and 1/2 c cacao powder.  Stir well.  Heat 1/2 c water to very hot, not boiling.  Add 1 TBS of espresso powder.  Once dissolved, pour into bowl and stir well.  Add 1/4 c honey.

Second:  Grind 2 large Majool dates with 1 cup of raw cashews.  Put this into bowl #2.  Then, grind 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips.  

Third:  Add 1 TBs of the date/cashew mix & 1 TBS of the chocolate chips (ground) into the first bowl.

Fourth:  Add the remainder of the ground chocolate into bowl #2 then add 1/4 c honey.

Mixing crust and filling of brownies

5th:  Line your pan with plastic wrap.  Make sure you have enough to cover all sides.  

Pan for avocado brownies

Spoon bowl #2 onto the bottom of the pan and press firmly.  This is your crust.  Spoon bowl #1 on top of that.  Cover with plastic wrap and press until the mixture is flattened.  

Line with plastic

Place mixture into refrigerator for 2-3 hours or the freezer for 30 minutes.  Cut into bars.  Keep remainder covered and in refrigerator or freezer.  

Yummy Avocado Brownies

A close-up of delicious Avocado no-bake brownies

One more photo just to get your mouth watering.

Saturday's Tips and Treats

What do you do on Saturday?  I usually try to get all my 'chores' done during the week so Saturday can be Fun Day.  Today my husband and I worked in the yard, planted some new flowers in the front beds, then went to my favorite shops for nuts and honey.  Once that was done, I had nothing to do.  When I have nothing to do and I get bored (I get bored pretty easily) I do one of three things 1) walk on the treadmill while watching a movie or TV on my iPad 2) eat 3) get creative in the kitchen.  Truth be told, I usually end up doing all three.  Today, I made pineapple ice cream - (mostly)vegan and dairy-free style. Then I promptly dropped it and splattered it all over the floor!  : (  Before I give you the recipe and a pre-splatter photo I'm going to give a few tips.

Coconut milk:  A while back I was making something with coconut milk.  Only need about a quarter cup.  A week or so later, I needed another quarter cup.  The milk I had transferred to a container in the fridge was smelly and green.  Ugh!  Wasted coconut milk.  I came up with  (what I think) is a brilliant idea.  I have a silicone chocolate mold that I use for my #Runergy bars.  They hold just a touch over 1 tablespoon.  I filled the molds with coconut milk, froze, then stored the cubes in the freezer.  Now, I have pre-measured coconut milk whenever I need it!

Bananas: Do you get frustrated when you buy a bunch of bananas and a short time later before you've had time to mix them in your favorite smoothie or eaten them fresh with peanut butter they've gone too brown and you are so tired of banana bread.  I mean really, how much banana bread will fit in the freezer?  Solution?  Buy a dozen bananas.  Go ahead a whole dozen.  Not the green ones, the ripe ones that no one wants.  When you get home, peel, cut into thirds or fourths then wrap in plastic wrap (tightly).  Put the dozen wrapped bananas in a gallon sized freezer bag and store in the freezer.  Ready for a smoothie?  Pull out a frozen banana.  Making ice cream with avocados and bananas?  Open the freezer and there it is at perfect ripeness.  

Fresh fruit:  When fruit such as blueberries and strawberries, are in season, buy as many as you can haul home.  Get a clean cookie sheet or jelly roll sheet (the one with a short side so they don't fall off).  Put your berries on the sheet, no touching, then into the freezer.  Once completely frozen (for about 4-6 hours) put in a storage container and keep in the freezer.  

You've suffered through my tips so here's your reward:

Pineapple ice cream:
16 ounces of frozen pineapple (you can buy a whole fresh pineapple and pre-freeze like the tip above)
6 cubes of frozen coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c honey or agave 
shredded coconut to taste

Put all except the shreds in a food processor and puree on high until smooth.  No need to wait until the ice cream freezes, it already is!  Garnish with shredded coconut and, if daring, chocolate chips. 

Pineapple coconut ice-cream - dairyfree