Cooking with Hass Avocados

Avocados are the secret ingredient you might have never known you needed. Making chicken salad? Use avocado. Pancakes? Use avocado. Homemade ice cream? Yep, you can use avocados there too.

You can sneak avocados into almost any dish or tasty treat. Once you realize the health benefits, you’ll be eager to try them in every recipe. Avocados are a heart-healthy fruit (yes – avocados are a fruit!) that contribute good fats to the diet, providing 5 grams of monounsaturated fat and 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat. They also provide 6% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin E and potassium and 4% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C. Include fresh Hass avocados in everyday meals as a delicious, heart-healthy, whole food source of naturally good fats.

Speaking of adding them to your regular routine – at McAlister’s you can add fresh avocado to any item on our menu (try it on the Club Wrap - you’ll thank us later), but at home you can easily incorporate them into some of your family favorites.

We spent some time in the McAlister’s Test Kitchen with Executive Chef Will Eudy to discuss the benefits of avocados and to create mouth-watering, made-from-scratch brownies using this fresh fruit! Picky eater and kid approved, these brownies are a simple way to slide in some extra vitamins and minerals while also curing that sweet tooth craving (win/win).

Give the recipe below a try & let us know what you think!

(P.S. – like any good secret, avocados can be hard to keep. So, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to take the stress out of picking and storing avocados.)

Avocado Brownies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 oz Sugar-free dark chocolate
• 1 medium Hass Avocado From Mexico
• 2 large eggs (whisked lightly)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9x9" baking pan with foil or parchment paper and grease lightly. Clip the edges of the liner to the pan with plastic clips. (This is temporary. They don't need to be oven safe.) Set aside.

   

2. Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. (Boil water in a pot, place the butter and chocolate into a heat proof bowl, and place on top of the pot. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.) Set aside to cool for a couple of minutes. (You can also do this in the microwave if you prefer. Be careful not to burn it.)

   

3. Place the avocado, eggs, and vanilla in a high-power blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Add the melted butter/chocolate mixture and puree again.

   

4. In a smaller bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the blender or food processor and stir in with a spatula. Pulse a few times until just combined, scraping down the sides as needed. (Don't overmix)

   

   

5. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. It will be thick, so the clips on the parchment or foil will help. Smooth the top with a spatula. Remove the clips.

   

6. Bake about 18-20 minutes, until brownies are barely set. The top should no longer be wet, but still be very soft. An inserted toothpick will come out with just a small amount of batter on it. Cool completely to firm up before cutting.

   

Thanks to our friends from Avocados From Mexico!