For a little while now, I have been eyeing this recipe from fellow blogger foodallergydad for Chocolate Avocado Mousse.Last night, I decided to give it a try, and boy am I glad I did! It was absolutely phenomenal!

Before I get into the nitty gritty of my experience with this recipe, I’d like to share a few thoughts on why it appealed to me in the first place.Our son’s dietician recently provided us with a list of foods that she wanted us to try to incorporate into his diet. On that list was avocado. Now here’s the thing—I love, love, love avocados in pretty much any form; my son—not so much. Up to this point, I have only ever managed to get him to eat them by sneaking them into smoothies. I’ve tried fresh avocado, and I’ve tried guacamole, but one thing I hadn’t tried was avocado in dessert form. Since (like most children) he has a penchant for sweets, I decided to try incorporating avocados into a dessert. Despite the fact that my son doesn’t typically like chocolate, I decided to give this recipe a whirl.

The recipe’s ingredients are wholesome, and simple—avocados, coconut cream, vanilla, honey, chocolate (I used Enjoy Life Semi-sweet chocolate chips), and aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas). Prep time is minimal. Depending on how quickly you work, this mousse can likely be thrown together in 15-20 minutes, maybe less. All of the ingredients in this recipe are also staples in our household’s kitchen, which only adds to it’s convenience.

As written, the recipe is free of the Top 8 allergens (excluding coconut), and can easily be made vegan by substituting agave nectar or maple syrup for the honey.

For the most part, I followed this recipe to a T, but I did make a couple of minor changes. These changes are as follows:

First, the recipe calls for the cream from a can of full fat coconut milk. I happened to have a can of coconut cream on hand, so I used roughly 3/4 of that instead. This may have resulted in slightly more or less cream in my recipe. Second, the recipe calls for two very ripe avocados. The avocados I used were perhaps not quite as ripe as they could have been, but I decided to use them anyways. After I mixed together my ingredients, I tasted my mixture and noted a slight avocado taste. I didn’t particularly mind it, but I thought my son might, so I added a little extra honey (the recipe calls for a scant 1/4 cup—I ended up using a heavy 1/4 cup), and stirred in an extra 3 oz of melted chocolate (the recipe calls for 7 ounces of chocolate, but I ended up using 10 ounces).

After these changes, my mousse tasted nothing at all like avocados. I suspect, however, that the avocado taste I previously noted was due entirely to the avocados I used being slightly under ripe. If they had been just a tad riper, the taste they imparted would likely have been milder, sweeter, and creamier.That being said, when I make this again (and I will most certainly be making it again), I will use the recommended very ripe avocados. If I do this, I am quite certain I will be able to make this recipe 100% as it is written, without making any changes whatsoever.

After the mousse is finished, it needs to chill for at least an hour. I let it sit for about an hour and a half in the fridge before dishing it out. At that point, our mousse had the consistency of a rich, chocolate pudding. I did note an apparent textural difference between my mousse and the one pictured along with the original recipe. My mousse didn’t appear to be quite as fluffy or airy as the one I was trying to replicate. I didn’t particularly mind this difference, though (especially not after I tasted it, and realized how delicious it was), and simply attributed this discrepancy in appearance to the fact that I had slightly altered the amounts of a few ingredients.

I cannot stress enough how delicious this mousse tasted. It was rich, and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness.

Upon finishing my serving, I was very tempted to devour what remained of the mousse after everyone else had had their share. I decided, however, to let the remainder chill overnight. I wanted to see if the texture would change after it was allowed to cool for a longer period of time.The following morning, I doled out a serving of the mousse for myself (yes—I had chocolate mousse for breakfast), and was pleased to see that the texture had significantly improved overnight. The mouse was substantially thicker, fluffier, and airier. Apparently, it had just needed a little extra cooling time. I suspect this is due to the fact that I increased the amount of chocolate, and my chocolate was still somewhat warm when I added it to the rest of the ingredients.

I swear it tasted even better the next morning. I may or may not have licked the bowl clean.

In case you are wondering, the mousse was a hit with everyone else that tried it as well. Even my aforementioned avocado hating child that isn’t particularly fond of chocolate, loved it. In fact, he asked if I could make it again tomorrow. My other child asked me to make it for him every single day from now on.

Overall, this avocado chocolate mousse was a huge success in our household, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.Seriously, you should try it ASAP. You won’t regret it. 😊In case you missed it above, you can find the original recipe here.Thanks again to Foodallergydad, for a wonderful recipe!

NOTE: Please check (and double check) any and all labels before you consume a new product if you (or your child) has a food allergy, and if necessary call the relevant manufacturer to confirm that the product is safe for you (or your child) to consume. Please consult your (or your child’s) Dr. before making any dietary changes. While I hope that all of you reading this will find the information I have supplied above to be helpful, this information is not intended to in any way replace, or supersede, the care and advice of your allergist, nutritionist, dietician, or other medical professional.