In some parts of the world, avocados are called butterfruit. The good thing about this name is that it provides a sneaky way to name your cookies without people realizing that there’s avocado in them until after they’ve eaten one and fallen in love with it.
Because let’s get real: some people are grossed out by the idea of sweet avocados. They love their guacamole and avocado toast but HEAVEN FORBID their avocado appear in any form other than savory.
The thing is, though, that avocados are really just nature’s butter . So when I read that you could substitute avocado for butter when you bake, I was all up on it. (A word to the wise: it doesn’t melt quite like butter, so if you want to do a 1:1 swap, you’ll need to mess around with the recipe a little more).
This recipe from Heather Homemade seemed like the perfect dry run for avocado cookies. Everyone already knows that avocado and lime are delicious together and using avocado in the icing gives it a natural green tint. And if you’re wondering: yes, the cookies are also slightly green on the first day. After a night in a tupperwear container, the avocado had oxidized and the cookies had faded to a normal brown color. The icing – I’m happy to report – stayed nice and green. The acid in the lime juice prevents avocados from oxidizing as quickly.
Margarita Butterfruit Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch, if you like)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup avocado, mashed
- 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp of almond extract
Icing
- 1 Tbsp avocado, mashed
- 1 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- Zest of 1 lime
Directions
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and salt. In a separate, larger bowl, cream the avocado, butter, and sugar. “Cream” is a fancy work for “beat it for 3 to 4 minutes until it’s nice and airy.” Now add the egg, egg white, and extracts to the sugar/fats mixture. Beat them until they’re well combined. About half a cup at a time, add the flour mixture. The resulting dough should be fairly wet. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
In the meantime, make the icing! Cream together the avocado and cream cheese before adding the powdered sugar, lime juice, and zest. This ensures that you don’t end up with a really avocado-y bite of icing followed by a really cream-cheesy bite.
After the dough has refrigerated, you can either roll it out and use cookie cutters or roll little balls and flatten them before putting them in the oven. This dough won’t spread like chocolate chip cookie dough, so expect the cookies to pretty much hold their shape while they cook.
Bake at 375ºF for 7-9 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool to room temperate before icing them. The icing should go on pretty wet, but it’ll dry in twenty minutes or so. You can either use the thumbprint method (dip your thumb in the icing and smear it on the cookie) or ice them properly.
Ever since I told my gf that in some places avocados are used in desserts, we’ve made it our goal to make/bake something sweet using avocados. This may be the perfect dish!
Yes! I’ve discovered you can add avocado to pretty much anything that usually needs butter or cheese. You might want to try this too: http://www.autostraddle.com/get-baked-avocado-pie-135179/
if you have access to an ice cream maker, I’ve had some pretty amazing homemade avocado ice cream before. it was suuuuper rich. or on the simple side, every now and then with breakfast I’ll slice up some strawberries and avocado and toss those in a bowl with some blueberries and a tiny bit of sugar. tastes nice.
I’m super intrigued by these cookies though. def have to try them.
This sounds delicious! I need an ice cream maker in my life.
i’ve heard a common dessert in south america is to toss an avocado and some sweetened condensed milk into a blender and zap it into a pudding-like treat –
has anyone else heard about this? have been meaning to try it for ages…
ha! just checked out the pie recipe & it’s basically this in a crust… well, there you go!
I developed an allergy to avocados at 21. I feel like there has to be a customer service agent somewhere I can speak to regarding it.
Excited that I will be able to make these soon/when the cookie sheet I bought comes in the mail!
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I just made these and am waiting for the icing to dry. I think it is pretty promising!
Flattening the cookies was a little tough for me, as the dough kept sticking to my hands and I made a mess of the top of them. By the time I got to my last three, I found that if I wet my fingertips a bit, I could press down on the cookies without them sticking to me.
You already made them?! You win Wednesday!
And I totally dig your hack. I should’ve mentioned that I make little balls and them smash them down with my fingers (if I’m feeling brave) or a spatula right after they come out of the oven.
I hope you love the cookies.
There has to be a way of making these (or similar avocado baked goods) totally gluten free and vegan too right? I haven’t baked much since I found out that I can’t have the two most common ingredients to all baked goods but this makes me want to experiment.