The Hedgehog Knows: avocado

avocado

Showing posts with label avocado. Show all posts

The husband knew I was having "itchy" bakers' fingers one day when I called home to check on certain ingredients in the fridge.

True enough, my head was swirling with different ideas of making those yummy decadent chocolate cookies healthier. Because butter can be substituted by avocadoes, I decided to experiment using this healthier option. As I also had a large pack of almond flour sitting in the kitchen, I decided to play with these too - so I made these cookies gluten-free!

Result? These Avocado Chocolate Almond Cookies have a really nice fudgey, chewy and almost cakey texture. For sure, this is one of my simplest (only 3 steps before you get to sink your teeth in them) and definitely healthiest cookie recipes because no butter or oil was used. Incorporating the use of avocados also means that those good fats help to improve cholesterol levels.

Airfryer and oven temperature and timings have been included below. Key tip: Always use your kitchen "sixth sense" when replacing ingredients... and have fun! :)

Avocado Chocolate Almond Cookies

Yield: 30 bite-sized cookies

Ingredients

2 avocados
80g unsweetened cocoa powder
80g almond flour
100g caster/ fine sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Handful of almond bits for toppings

Directions

1) Combine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients (except the almond bits) together. In particular, mash the avocado well so that the cookie dough becomes a smooth paste.

Before:

After:

2) Lay Out.

Roll the dough into balls (half tbsp per ball). Lay out onto the baking sheet and lightly press down using the back of a spoon. Decorate with some almond toppings.

Tips: Space the dough balls out well, as the cookies will spread.

3) Bake.

Bake in airfryer at 160 degrees C for 8 min. The cookies are now ready!

(If using oven, bake at 180 degrees C for 8-10 min.)

4) Cool.

Cool well before storing.

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Nowadays, our weekends are usually filled with DVD-watching at home (much cheaper option than going to the cinema!) While we used to snack along with some unhealthy chips and chocolates, we recently decided to get healthier with ready-made baked chips (available from supermarkets) or BoxGreen snacks.

If you can’t get your hands on those, you can try another of our favourite healthy homemade option: Guacamole dip with crackers! We especially love this with Meiji Plain crackers or Olive Oil & Rosemary Crackers from Phoon Huat (S$2, 250g pack, 8 individually-wrapped packs).

Whilst there are various variants of guacamole dip, this one that I usually make is super simple. Feel free to adapt this recipe with whatever you find in your kitchen. Enjoy!

Guacamole Dip with Greek Yogurt and Onion

Serves 3 to 4 (over 1 movie session)

Ingredients

(A)

2 ripe avocados, deseeded

1 purple onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

A dash of pepper & salt

(B)

100g Greek yogurt

Directions

1) Blend the ingredients in (A).

2) When almost mashed up, add the Greek yogurt into the mixture. Combine until smooth.

3) Chill slightly. Serve with crackers. Enjoy!

P.S.: In caseyou were wondering, I used my Tefal manual handheld chopper to help blend all the ingredients together in Step #1 .

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The husband and I love avocados for its creamy texture. Of course, it has great nutritional benefits too - in particular, being high in monosaturated fats which helps to lower high cholesterol.

Last week, we had quite some avocados at home. Feeling adventurous, I decided to make some chocolate avocado truffles. Imagine chocolate truffles without any cream but full of healthy avocado goodness! I rationalised that the goodness of the avocados will help to negate any unhealthy benefits of the sugar in chocolates (you agree with me right?), so... I just went ahead!

Below is my super-easy recipe. You don't need any mixer or airfryer. Just 2 bowls, a spatula (for mixing) and a fork (for mashing). Enjoy and have fun!

Chocolate Avocado Truffles

Yield: 16 truffles, each about 1 tbs large

Ingredients

170g semi-sweet chocolate chips (use the ones for baking)

a pinch of salt

2-third ripe* avocado

half tsp vanilla extract

for coating - cocoa powder, crushed almonds, chocolate rice, etc

*An avocado is ripe when it is brownish-black and soft to touch.

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate chips and pinch of salt. I put the mixture into a stainless steel mixing bowl A. Fill another larger bowl B 3-quarter full with hot water, so that the hot water can touch the base of the mixing bowl. Make sure that you don't fully fill it up, as the hot water may spill out when you put the mixing bowl A in.

You can also use the microwave (medium-high, 1.5 min) or use a double-boiler (medium-low heat, 10 min).

Fill container B until it's 3-quarter full

Put mixing bowl A over B and ensure that some hot water in B touches the base of bowl A.

2. Stir with spatula constantly until it is fully melted and smooth.

3. Put the avocado into another bowl and add the vanilla extract. Mash the mixture with the back of a spoon and fork until all soft and there are no more lumps. You can also use a food processor and blend till smooth.

4. Pour the avocado mixture into the melted chocolate and fully combine until they become smooth. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, for 2 to 3 hours.

5. Fill the tablespoon with chocolate. Roll evenly into balls on a parchment paper. When round, roll it over your coating (cocoa powder, crushed almonds, chocolate rice, etc)

Tips: It can get messy at this stage, so use plastic gloves and just have fun! If the chocolate gets too soft/ melted for rolling (yes, Singapore's weather is just too warm!), put it back in the fridge for a while.