Chocolate Avocado Cake

A lightly sweetened and deliciously fudgy cake that you won’t believe is actually pretty healthy! Scrumptious avocados star in creating this dense snack cake and creamy frosting. It’s a super easy and quick cake that’s perfect for breakfast, a snack, and/or dessert!

“Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it. ”

— Buddha

Most days I'm like, "Damn.. I'm pretty much the luckiest person ever. I'm so grateful for everything I have; a loving husband, supportive family, dream home, adorable furbabies, a general lack of needfulness, easy access to a variety of healthy foods, freedom from illness, etc." Then other days I'm like, "Dammit! I got wayyyyy too many avocados over here! How did this happen? I'm fairly certain I started with just two. Are they procreating? What the heck am I supposed to do with all these mofos?! Argh!" It's a good day when the majority of your stress revolves around fretting what to do with an aging, prolific agglomeration of gangster avocados.

It's also a good day when chocolate cake is involved. It's even better when almost half of said avocados are used in said cake! A win-win for everyone involved. 

I want to thank you all for the flood of heartfelt comments regarding my last post. You're all so incredibly kind. It's important to keep in mind that many people are going through the same thing you're going through. We can all lend support and love to one another in times of struggle and that's why I decided to share my stories with you all. I think it really helps. Thank you for virtual hugs and words of compassion and empathy, from the deepest chambers of my emo little heart. It means the world.

Okay so, when I was making this cake, we were having a crazy springlike day. It was so sunny and warm I had to keep all the doors open! Bailey and Anouk (our new furbaby) just hung out on the deck, basking in the Alaskan sun. Check out all their adorableness on my Facebook or Instagram pages. I also went for my first run in a month since breaking my foot! It was a good day, indeed. 

This cake uses three, count 'em three avocados! In addition, it also sports super healthy flaxseed, coconut oil, almond flour, cacao powder, and for an extra boost of antioxidant power I snuck in some chipotle chili powder into the frosting (optional). Sweet and spicy! This cake is just lightly sweetened, so I don't recommend skipping the frosting on this one. I've been eating a slice for breakfast everyday. Todd thinks it's a wee bit too healthy for him (he's not a reliable source when it comes to healthy desserts...). That means lots of cake for me... cake for daaaaaays. #noshame

Chocolate Avocado Cake

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

A lightly sweetened and deliciously fudgy cake that you won’t believe is actually pretty healthy! Scrumptious avocados star in creating this dense snack cake and creamy frosting. It’s a super easy and quick cake that’s perfect for breakfast, a snack, and/or dessert! Cake adapted from Clean Green Eats by Candice Kumai.

Ingredients

• - CAKE -
• scant 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 ¾ cup gluten-free blend or all-purpose flour
• heaping ¾ cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• meat from 1 large, ripe avocado
• heaping ½ cup vegan granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups fresh water
• ⅓ cup melted, unrefined coconut oil
• splash of vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• - FROSTING -
• meat from 2 large, ripe avocados
• ½ cup cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp vegan powdered sugar
• ¼ cup agave nectar
• 1 - 1 ½ tsp chipotle chili powder (optional)
• splash of vanilla extract
• dash of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a blender or food processor, process the almonds until they become a flour (but not so much that you make almond butter). Pulse in the all-purpose flour, cacao powder, flaxseed, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Add the avocado and sugar to the empty food processor and process until smooth. Pulse in the water, oil, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda then pulse into the wet mixture until well combined. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. The batter should be quite thick.
3. Line the bottom of an 8” round cake pan with parchment paper and spray the sides with a nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the cake batter into the pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes, until set. Remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool completely (at least 40 minutes) on a wire cooling rack.
4. While the cake cools, clean out the processor. Add all the frosting ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. Frost the top and sides of the cooled cake with a spatula. Slice and serve. Store in the fridge.

Yield: 1 8" round cake

Read this story from Mother Jones on how the meat industry consumes over 4/5ths of all antibiotic use. Superbugs, anyone? It'd be funny how hypocritical we are if it wasn't so shockingly terrifying. 

Pew Charitable Trusts

Less-Sugar Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms

A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I've made these lower-sugar using erythritol, but feel free to use regular sugar if you wish. They're easy, done in a flash, and perfect for cookie exchanges!

“Animal lovin’ ain’t shovin’ ‘em in the oven.”

— Harley Johnstone aka Durianrider

Regrettably, there are a couple downsides to being vegan. They are few and far between and utterly irrelevant when compared to the unnecessary suffering of billions upon billions of our animal "friends" (oh I miss gouda cheese like no one's business but then think of veal and I'm set right), but I'll let you in on a vegan secret. We hate cookie exchanges.

Well, not vegan ones of course, but traditional ones. Why? Because we can't really participate. I know it's technically of our own doing, but it still kind of stinks. Sure, you could bring vegan cookies to the exchange but honestly unless you work at PETA or your entire extended family is vegan (who are you!?) your cookies might be the only vegan ones that make an appearance... which means you're only doing a cookie exchange with yourself. And that's not really a cookie exchange, now is it? No, you just made cookies. Lonely, vegan cookies.

So, to conclude, that's really the only time I kind of skulk in the corner; Grinch-like, wishing a holiday miracle would magically make all the cookies vegan. Or better yet, all the people... muah-haha!

Anyway, these cookies; I found it somewhat disturbing that I've been vegan for three years and still have not veganized peanut butter blossoms! They're one of my favorite holiday cookies and I fondly remember making them with my mom during the holiday season. Every Christmas morning my family would all trot down the trail about a quarter of a mile through the woods to my grandparents house for breakfast, carrying with us a huge platter of assorted homemade cookies. The peanut butter blossoms were always my favorite and of course I greedily ate as many as I could on the way down to ensure that I had my fill before they disappeared. I'm a much better sharer now... sort of... #noshame

In Alaska there's no such thing as vegan, milk chocolate kisses. Maybe in the states those exist, but not up here in the great north. So, I made do with vegan chocolate chips but if you get you're able to get your paws on some vegan chocolate kisses... by all means... send me up some! Do these exist??

I also used aquafaba in place of eggs (it's a freaking miracle that stuff), which is just the liquid from a can of chickpeas; if you've been living under a rock for the last half a year and have yet to discover this gift from the vegan gods. Erythritol lends itself to cut back on the sugar just a bit. These little guys are almost a little too sweet for my now geriatric tastebuds, so I scaled back on the cloyingness a bit as erythritol isn't quite as sweet as plain sugar... and also with none of the, well, sugar part. However, feel free to use regular ol' sugar if you like. I won't tell Santa. Enjoy!

Less-Sugar Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I've made these lower-sugar using erythritol, but feel free to use regular sugar if you wish. They're easy, done in a flash, and perfect for cookie exchanges! Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Yield: ~ 50

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter sticks, room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup vegan packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated erythritol (or 1 cup vegan granulated sugar)
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp table salt
• ~ 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, for topping

Cooking Directions

1. In a large electric mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth and whipped. Reduce the speed to low and add in the aquafaba, vanilla, and water. Increase speed to medium and beat for an additional minute. Stop to scrap down the sides as needed.
2. In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the electric mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Stir until just combined.
3. Preheat oven to 375° F and coat a cookie sheet with a nonstick cooking spray or line with a silicone baking mat. Form the dough into balls a little small than a golf ball and place on the sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes until slightly golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and depress the center with the bottom of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon. Drop into the depression about 5 chocolate chips and repeat with remaining cookies. Next, remove the cookies from the pan and allow to cool completely before storing. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.

Did you guys read this article regarding veganism on NPR yesterday? I love it! It's all about how the Israeli army is making it a whole heck of alot easier for the ever expanding mass of vegan soldiers to eat cruelty-free and lead vegan lives. "Vegan soldiers wear wool-free berets and leather-free boots, and they get an additional stipend to supplement their food, the military says." Ummm, that's freaking awesome. I mean, in an ideal world we wouldn't need soldiers but, hey...I'm just the messenger here. 

Chocolate Banana Protein Pie

This is a fantastic clean-eating dessert as well as the perfect post-workout snack! At just over 200 calories and 16 grams of protein per slice (with 3 scoops of powder), this vegan pie is a breeze to make and will definitely satisfy those chocolate cravings in a healthy and nutritious fashion. Keep slices in the freezer for whenever you need a boost! Sweetened only with dates and bananas, there’s no flour or oil in this pie either! 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I prefer to get my protein from whole foods rather than a protein powder. Adding black beans to smoothies, having lentils instead of rice, and quinoa instead of couscous are all ways I easily incorporate more protein into my diet when I need a boost. However, there are times when I do like to use a protein powder and Todd uses a powder quite regularly.

Source: Sunwarrior.com

After a particularly long run (like my two hour run today), if I'm in a hurry for a quick meal, or just trying to increase the protein value in a meal or smoothie I'll throw a scoop or two of protein powder. I've tried many different brands (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and I only use Sunwarrior now. I use the Classic Plus line. It's a vegan, organic certified, rice protein powder with the addition of pea powder, chia, quinoa, and amaranth to perfectly balance those amino acids. It's also gluten and soy-free which I know can be really important to some folks. Many vegan protein powders just aren't quite as mild tasting as whey powder and can be difficult to incorporate inconspicuously into smoothies and meals...especially if you're not big on the taste, but not this one!

Sunwarrior is the tastiest one I've found to date, though I confess it's a bit sweet for my liking. I don't often drink it alone, but I really enjoy adding it to recipes. My best one yet? This pie. It's delicious, kind of portable, stores long-term, and is the perfect calorie and protein count in one slice for a quick snack. I think you're going to really like it!

Chocolate Banana Protein Pie

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

This is a fantastic clean-eating dessert as well as the perfect post-workout snack! At just over 200 calories and 16 grams of protein per slice (with 3 scoops of powder), this vegan pie is a breeze to make and will definitely satisfy those chocolate cravings in a healthy and nutritious fashion. Keep slices in the freezer for whenever you need a boost! Sweetened only with dates and bananas, there’s no flour or oil in this pie either!

Yield: 8 slices of pie

Ingredients

• -Crust-
• ½ cup hazelnut meal (or ½ cup hazelnuts blitzed in the food processor)
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 6 medjool dates, pitted
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• -Filling-
• 5 medium bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1 cup unsweetened plain, non-dairy milk
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-3 scoops of SunWarrior Chocolate Classic Plus Protein Powder, to taste
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp xanthan gum (optional, but recommended)
• pinch of kosher salt
• 1 square of semi-sweet chocolate, for garnish (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. In a food processor, add all the crust ingredients and process for about 3 minutes. When pinched between your fingers, the mixture should stick together.
2. Transfer to a 9 inch spring-form tart pan and press into the bottom of the pan using your fingers.
3. Clean out the processor bowl and add in all of the filling ingredients. Process for about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary, until the mixture is smooth and creamy with no lumps.
4. Transfer to the pan and even out the top with a spatula. Using a vegetable peeler, scrape the side of a square of chocolate to add a sprinkling of chocolate shavings on top, if you like. Cover with plastic wrap and freezer for at least 30 minutes before slicing into 8 slices. Keep stored in the freezer; thaw about 10 minutes before serving (or however long you’d like depending on the desired texture).

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