NomEatNom - Dark Chocolate Avocado Pancakes

Okay, I am seriously so, SO excited about this post!!!

As you may recall, I recently fell in love with the delectable combination of avocado and chocolate.

I’ve been wanting to experiment again with this combo — but this time in baking. Lucky for us, avocados were on sale this week!

Score!

Not only was this recipe fun to make, but it was also equally entertaining to present! I told the hubs that there was a special, secret ingredient in these nommy pancakes, and I wanted him to try to guess what it was.

“Cinnamon?” he asked.

“Well, of course there’s cinnamon! It’s sprinkled all over them!”

“Hmmmm…OH! That amazing raw honey!” he tried again.

“Nope. Although that stuff is amazing. It’s more unexpected than that. You’re never going to guess!”

“Meatloaf?!?”

Sigh.

“Noooo…AVOCADO!”

Even after the hubby knew avocado was in the pancakes, he still couldn’t taste even a hint of it. And neither could I. We also could not get over how unbelievably moist and delicious they were!

That makes this the perfect recipe for those who want the incredible health benefits of avocado, but aren’t really keen on the taste. Don’t worry — I used to be one of you, so there is no judgment here! 😉

It also makes it the perfect recipe to with which to entertain — and surprise! — your guests.

Enjoy! 🙂

Dark Chocolate Avocado Pancakes
(Yields 12 4-inch pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup pure cocoa powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
3 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1 cup yogurt whey (or you can substitute with buttermilk or milk)
1 egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup date sugar
1 ripe avocado, mashed
1/4 cup raw cacao nibs, plus extra for sprinkling (or dark chocolate chips, if you prefer)
Yogurt Cheese, Greek Yogurt, or even Healthy Yogurt Cheese Frosting! (optional)
Pure, Grade B Maple Syrup (optional)

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, spices, and baking powder in a large bowl, and stir to mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt whey, egg, vanilla extract, and date sugar.

Pour the whey mixture and mashed avocado into the flour mixture, and stir until the dry ingredients are moist. Fold in the cacao nibs.

Your batter is now ready!

Prepare the pancakes according to your liking. We have a pancake maker that we adore — mainly because it’s so stinkin’ easy to use, and the pancakes always come out so pretty. 🙂 That being said, you could certainly use a griddle with a bit of coconut oil, too!

Serve hot, topped with pure, Grade B maple syrup or raw honey. Sprinkle with extra cacao nibs and cinnamon, if desired.

DEVOUR! 🙂