In the comments section of my last post, Trixie Pin of Almonds Are Mecurial mentioned an Avocado Ice Cream recipe found at Oatmeal with a Fork. I’ve always heard of ice cream made out of avocado and I’ve been wanting to try it for some time. I ended up basing my recipe on this Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip recipe at Detoxinista, which is actually very similar to the Oatmeal with a Fork one. All three sites have fantastic healthy recipes and beautiful photography, so check them out! (I’m definitely going to try the Mint and Chip one soon — love that it’s green naturally!)
I only had 1/2 an avocado to work with and I didn’t want to wait until my other two ripened before I made the Chocolate Coconut Avocado Ice Cream. I was woman obsessed. The other 1/2 of avocado I had used to make a half portion of my Creamy Avocado Dip, which I was also craving because I had some homemade pita chips on hand….! You see, I have both a sweet AND savory tooth!
First off, this is how I ripen my avocados — I throw them in a brown paper bag with bananas or plantains and fold the bag closed. In a few days, they are perfect.
An unripened avocado and a ripe one, with an unripened plantain cozying up to them. The ripened bananas were cut up and frozen.
Avocados are amazing fruit. They are full of more than 25 essential nutrients, fiber, protein, good fat, and beneficial antioxidants! Read more about the benefits here, if you are curious. I am so glad I like to eat them now. As a kid, I hated them. I’m happy Jamie loves guacamole. My mom eats avocados only one way: Mashed with brown sugar and spread on her morning toast. I guess it’s a Hawaiian thing…. This is a savory breakfast that sounds good, that I will try soon — an egg baked in half an avocado!
Recently, I heard on a podcast about a study done which showed that eating avocados tripled a woman’s chance of getting pregnant through IVF. I’m not trying to get pregnant but found it intriguing. There are several lists of fruits and vegetables that look like the human organs they are good for floating around the internet–not surprisingly avocados look like a woman’s womb!
For the Chocolate Coconut Avocado Ice Cream I made, I threw into my Vitamix: 1/2 avocado, 2 tablespoons lite coconut milk from a can (you can use the extra in curry, or freeze in an ice cube tray like this for future smoothies), 2 tablespoons of agave syrup, 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of raw cacao powder (my new love), and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. If you have a whole avocado or two, just double or quadruple the amounts. After blending to a creamy smooth consistency, I poured it into my ice cream maker and let it roll. It only took about 5 minutes due to the small quantity — basically the time it took to clean the dishes! You could also pour your mixture into ramekins and chill and eat as pudding. It is SOOO good!
So creamy! I garnished with some dried coconut and toasted almonds
This ice cream is so creamy and rich. I only eat one scoop at a time (not three) because it is very filling! Out of curiosity I plugged in the nutritional values for the ingredients and came up with this for 1 oz. of Chocolate Avocado Ice Cream: 78 calories, 6g fat, 1.7 g sat. fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 mg sodium, 8.6 g carbs, 2.1 g fiber, 5.6 g sugar, and .8 g protein. Happily, my vegan and gluten free friends can enjoy it as well! :)
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In other news, I just want to give a shout out to people in the New Jersey area! This Saturday (September 20), I will be at the 2014 Princeton Children’s Book Festival signing books with my husband, Denis (and author of Hush Little Monster), and Anne Rockwell (author of numerous books, including Truck Stop). We are so fortunate to be included in such an amazing gathering of authors and illustrators. Favorites, such as Brian Floca (2014 Caldecott Winner), Brian Lies, David Kirk, Sophie Blackall, Fiona Robinson, Peter Brown, Pseudonymous Bosch (one of Jamie’s favorites), Jon Scieska, Mary Rose Wood, and a whole boatload of others will be there. Check out the list here. If you do make it out, be sure to stop by our table and say “hello”!
Chocolate Coconut Avocado Ice Cream
1 ripe avocado, halved, pit removed
1/4 cup lite coconut milk from a can
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil (in liquid form)
1/4 cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree until completely smooth and creamy.
2. Pour into an ice cream make and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Alternatively, pour into a metal bowl and put in freezer and stir every 15 minutes until thick and creamy.
