Ok, so here’s what happened.

I just got back from a family reunion where someone brought a bounty of oranges, grapefruits and avocados from their yard… Yes, my heart fluttered! Almost immediately I grabbed a couple of oranges and squeezed them. I added the juice to the blender with a banana, some leftover pineapple from breakfast and some crushed ice.

Heaven.

So good, that I had to go back for more. Even though I had just used the last of the banana and the pineapple, it was the orange juice that was the real star. There is just something about home grown food that’s just…better. I whirred up the fresh juice with some ice and went off to work on the puzzle set out in the middle of the room. Mmmm.

When we left, we of course took home a BAG full of the avocados. Avocado lovers, you know what kind of treasure that is!

Taco salad night was made complete with an unending supply of ripe avocado to top it.

Leftover sourdough bread made the perfect base for avocado toast with freshly ground Himalayan Rock salt and Telicheri Peppercorns.

We even enjoyed a simple half of an avocado with a spoon.

Yet here I was, left with 7 RIPE AVOCADOS! If I didn’t act soon, they would all get over-ripe and I’m not sure I could get over the trajedy of that!

Yes… I’ve heard of guacamole. But having just spent the week before at the family reunion, I had already done my fair share of eating chips and guac, or chips and salsa, or chips and dip, and just last night we had Taco salad…with chips and fresh avocado…so I was a little chip/guac’d out. What else…?

Chocolate Avocado Mousse.

Yep. This could happen.

Not only was it an opportunity to make a jammin’ treat for me, which is a highly motivating reason, but it was the perfect way to add another recipe to the low sugar treats for kids I’ve been working on.

So I took a look around to see what other people’s recipes for chocolate avocado mousse looked like, and how I could ‘healthy them’ up a bit. The first culprit was the refined sugar.

When it came to sweeteners, the first one I chose is maple syrup. Its processing only consists of boiling to reduce the liquid, so it still retains its vitamins and minerals. I also thought about dates.

They add so much natural sweetness and contain all of their fiber which affects how the body metabolizes the sugar in them.

I also used a plant milk. You could use almond, hemp, coconut or whichever one you like I suppose. I chose soy because of its rich taste. But choose whichever one works for your diet.

For ease, I am using semisweet chocolate chips in this recipe. That’s what I usually have on hand. But I bet you could play around with fancier chocolate if you are so inclined!

And I can’t stress this enough… Your avocados must be ripe. Not under- or you will have a chunky mess, and you know what under-ripe avocados taste like. Yuck. Of course over ripe avocados are just as gross in my opinion. Maybe even more-so. So your success in this recipe rests on the perfection of your avocados. Such is life.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Yield: 2 ½ cups (6- ½ cup servings)

Ingredients:

8 dates, soaked in boiling water for 2 hours

¼ cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup of very ripe avocado (about 2 small avocados)

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup soymilk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

Drain the dates, reserving ¼ cup of the water. Remove the pits and add the dates to the food processor with the soaking liquid, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts, and a pinch of salt.

Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over the top of a saucepan simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is fully melted.

Add the melted chocolate to the dates and process again, scraping down the sides, until smooth. Add the avocado, cocoa and salt. Process, scraping down the sides until smooth.

While the processor is still running, drizzle in the soymilk.

You can be done right here! It’s like instant pudding… Thick, rich, creamy, perfection! Dish it up and serve it, however you like to eat your chocolate pudding.

But if you choose to chill it (3 hrs or overnight), you get a whole other dessert. Because of the chocolate in the mix, the whole thing thickens even more, becoming a rich mousse. Oh yeah.

To serve:

My favorite way to eat this is to spoon some into the bottom of a serving glass and layer it with fresh  strawberries or blueberries.

This recipe has been a hit across the board with the family. Its super decadent tasting, but is dairy free, can easily be made using gluten free chocolate chips, and because it pairs so incredibly well with fruit, its an awesome way to eat more of that too!

I can see it as the filling for some puff pastries, as the base layer in a fruit tart, or in an éclair. Definitely a must try people!