Fudgy Avocado Cookies. All the moist chocolaty goodness of a brownie, wrapped in a light, crisp cookie shell. Pure chocolate decadence, all plant-based, no gluten, no refined sugars, no avocado flavor!
In my Creamy Avocado Fudge post, I tell the story of having my beloved avocado torn away from me for years and the joyful reunion that resulted in the Fudge recipe. My Creamy Avocado Fudgeย has been one of my most popular recipes because of what it is and what it isn’t. It is just like traditional fudge in both taste and texture. It isn’t filled with gluten, refined sugars, unhealthy fats or dairy (it’s entirely plant-based). I love avocado — love, love, love it! Flavor, texture, packed with nutrients — it has it all.
Baking with Avocados
But as much as I adore the creamy goodness it can add to so many recipes, I’m not always a fan of the resulting combination of flavors. I have tried adding avocado to smoothies. While this results in a heavenly, milkshake texture I was less than thrilled with the earthy flavor. Likewise, I love the buttery richness that avocado brings to dessert recipes, but I prefer its earthiness to be imperceptible. My Fudgy Avocado Cookies are exactly that, a perfect combination of delicious velvety texture with a sumptuous chocolaty flavor that is not compromised!
Fudgy Avocado Cookies – Creamed Avocado and Coconut Sugar
Just when you might be thinking these cookies could not get any better, they do! They are soooo simple and easy to make! Everything mixes in one bowl or your food processor bowl (plus a bowl to stir in the chocolate chunks). You will have a plate of these delectable nibblers sitting in front of you in under 20 minutes — start to finish! And you can easily change the presentation style of the cookies from rustic to smooth as you like (see pics below)!
Fudgy Avocado Cookies – Dough Ready for Chocolate Chunks
Fudgy Avocado Cookies – Forming Cookies
Fudgy Avocado Cookies
They are so easy that in the short time since I developed this recipe I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made them. We actually had to increase the number of avocados in our ripening queue to keep up with the household demand. Speaking of which . . . It would probably be the responsible thing to warn you that you should introduce them to your household at your own risk. I’m not pointing any fingers — ahem, honey — but things can become a little uncomfortable when you have two people standing on opposing sides of a plate with only one cookie remaining! These cookies offer so many nutrients they would make a great grab-n-go breakfast. Now that’s what I call incentive to get up in the morning!
Fudgy Avocado Cookies – Rustic Finish
Fudgy Avocado Cookies – Smooth Finish
Tips for Making Avocado Cookies
Selecting avocados: When possible, I encourage using Hass avocados to make my Fudgy Avocado Cookies and Creamy Avocado Fudge, which results in a richer and more substantial outcome.
Size and appearance of cookies: This recipe is extremely flexible. These cookies can be made in a batch of 12 that are 2 inches in diameter (cooking time 9 minutes) or a batch of 6 that are 3 inches in diameter with the cooking time increased to 11 minutes. The cookie finish will have soft, rustic-looking peaks when baked immediately or can be smoothed by using your finger tip after dipping it in cold water, before baking.
Fudgy Avocado Cookies. All the moist chocolaty goodness of a brownie, wrapped in a light, crisp cookie shell. All chocolate decadence -- all plant-based -- no gluten, no refined sugars, no avocado flavor!
Ingredients
- 1/2 ripe avocado (preferrably Hass)
- 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder rounded (I use AH!Laska brand)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (finely ground)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup almond meal flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips (I chopped both block chocolate and Enjoy Life Mega Chunk)
Instructions
- 1) Peel avocado, cut into chunks and place in bowl or food processor. Add coconut palm sugar and blend until smooth. If using food processor, scrape after one minute to assure that all avocado chunks have been blended (about 2 minutes total, see picture in post).
- 2) Add cocoa powder, vanilla, sea salt, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar to avocado and sugar mixture and blend until smooth (about 1 minute).
- 3) Add almond meal flour, arrowroot, and gf oat flour to mixture and blend until smooth (about 1 minute). See picture in post.
- 4) Place dough in bowl (if using a food processor) and add in chocolate chunks. Gently stir together with a spoon. Using either spoons or a scoop, place balls of dough on parchment lined baking sheet (see picture in post). Flatten cookie dough to approximately 2 inches in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick. If a more rustic looking cookie is desired, bake dough with the small peaks. If a smooth cookie is desired, dip finger tip in cold water and smooth top of cookie before baking. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to sit on tray for 2 additional minutes. Place cookies on cooling rack to continue cooling. Batch yield is about 12 cookies. Six large 3 inch cookies can be made alternatively by increasing baking time to 11 minutes.
Notes
Selecting avocados When possible, I would encourage using Hass avocados to make my Fudgy Avocado Cookies and Creamy Avocado Fudge. They seem to result in a richer and more substantial outcome.
Size and appearance of cookies This recipe is extremely flexible. These cookies can be made in a batch of 12 that are 2 inches in diameter (cooking time 9 minutes) or a batch of 6 that are 3 inches in diameter with the cooking time increased to 11 minutes. The texture will have soft, rustic-looking peaks when baked immediately or can be smoothed by using your finger tip after dipping it in cold water.
Hi Jana,
Thank you for the exciting recipe. Do we store the brownies in the fridge and how long do you think they will happily survive ? 1 or 2 weeks maybe?
HI Crystal, These cookies get devoured and have never made it past the one week mark in my house. I can safely say they do well up to one week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They could possibly go longer but I can’t say for certain. I hope this helps! ๐
Is there something I can sub, for the oats? My daughter is allergic. We also can’t have gluten, dairy, or rice; so any sub containing any of those would be out. Thank you
Hi Brandi, I have not tried this substitution yet, but I think you could probably substitute 1/4 cup sorghum flour for the 1/4 cup gf oat flour. I hope this helps! Please let me know how it goes if you decide to try it ๐
Has anone tried making this into a cake?
They sound lovely ๐
I haven’t tried making this into a cake yet but I’ll definitely let you know if I do! ๐
Any substitute for arrowhead?
Hi Diana, you could substitute an equal amount of tapioca starch/flour or potato starch or possibly cornstarch for the arrowroot. Hope this helps! ๐
What are your thoughts about changing the almond flour to white wheat flour? I don’t use almond flour/meal and I’m not gluten free. And can I use just coconut sugar? Is coconut palm sugar the same as coconut sugar? Thanks so much!!!
Hi CheyAnne, I haven’t tried to sub for the almond flour in this recipe, I like the protein that it offers in a cookie (usually not much protein in those). But, if you don’t use almond flour/meal I think you could try subbing an equal amount of white wheat flour. Your cookies might not be as thick because the almond flour adds a small amount of bulk (it’s ground up nuts). Yes, coconut palm sugar and coconut sugar are the same thing ๐ Again, please let me know if you give it a try and like it since I can’t try it myself because of the gluten. It would be nice to recommend it to others who don’t use almond flour or are not concerned about gluten. ๐
Just made these this afternoon and they were absolutely delicious – and I don`t like avocados !!!
Hi Jacqueline, That is wonderful! I am so glad you liked them!! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We love them too! Once I developed this recipe our avocado consumption literally doubled. ๐