February is Heart Awareness month. With that in mind, and also knowing the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and a women’s is through chocolate) I’ve put together a little sweet treat that’s a bit healthier than your standard brownie. The fat comes from Avocado and the sugar is mostly from maple syrup. It’s choc full of nuts (almonds and peanuts) and has a few sexy seeds thrown in for good measure. Most of all though, they taste absolutely fantastic. They are a treat, but one you shouldn’t feel too guilty about as the high protein content from the nuts and seeds will keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado 60g smooth peanut butter
75g dark brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence
30g cocoa 1 large egg
30g Raw cacao 50g Dried Cherries (or goji berries or cranberries)
150 g ground almonds A handful of whatever seeds you fancy (I’ve used
100 ml of maple syrup pumpkin seeds and flax seeds in this one)
Preheat oven to 180C/160c Fan/Gas 4. Line a 20cm/20cm tin with grease proof paper
Scoop out the flesh of the avocado into a bowl and mash it up (discard the stone and skin)
Now this is the tricky bit….throw everything else in the bowl and mix. How simple is that? If it seems too thick add a few tablespoons of water and mix again until you have an even consistency (with dried fruit and seeds in).
Spoon into the lined tin and try to level the top off as best you can – mine always looks a bit lumpy, but I’m OK with that.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cut into squares and enjoy x
Happiness, Health and Hypnosis 