Chocolate Pecan Fudgy Cookies (secret ingredient)

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. No, Dorothy, these are not your Auntie Em’s cookies. These are serious chocolate cookies – and not for the faint of heart.

These are smack-you-in-the-face, rich, fudgy cookies. And they happen to be dairy-free, grain-free, and totally paleo. Aaaand they’re super-nutritious thanks to a secret ingredient.

Want to know what it is?

Any guesses?

It’s AVOCADO!

Avocado goes great with chocolate.

We put avocado in our chocolate collagen smoothies.

It goes into our Mexican chocolate pudding.

And, it’s amazing in these cookies!

You don’t actually taste any avocado. But it does act to provide healthy monounsaturated fat (very anti-inflammatory) which helps keep this cookie moist and tender.

Are you in? Have we convinced you that avocado belongs in a cookie recipe?

Let’s do this!

Before we share this delicious recipe, we’re going to talk about…

Ingredient Substitutions and Add-Ons

tahini: you can sub your favorite raw nut or seed butter (should be drippy and the only ingredients should be the nut/seed and maybe some salt). TRY: Artisana Organics Raw Tahini Sesame Seed Butter.

maple syrup: raw honey (if it’s thick, it may need to be gently heated to liquefy it)

pecans: walnuts (if you are allergic to tree nuts, you can leave them out)

cacao powder: we prefer raw cacao powder but you can use a dark cocoa powder. TRY: Navitas Organics Cacao Powder

chocolate: OBVIOUSLY this is not an optional ingredient, but you do have choices when it comes to the chocolate you use. We prefer to use dairy-free chocolate, such as Enjoy Life, Eating Evolved, and Hu. We opt for dark chocolate, but you can use any % you like.

ADD-ONs: add some cayenne pepper (just a pinch) and double the cinnamon to make this a Mexican chocolate fudge cookie

cookie size: does size matter? You can use a small (1 Tbsp.) ice cream scoop for bite-sized cookies, but we prefer using a standard ice cream scoop for big cookies. Plus, you can use the big ones to make ice cream sandwiches (fill with cinnamon or coffee ice cream… no words for how delicious this tastes).