Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies

by chef Gaby Dalkin 

[A thanks to K.K. for sharing this recipe with me! It was the first I ever heard of this and I was most curious. ]

1 Hass avocado (4 1⁄2 ounces) [side note: a Costco avocado usually has more than 4.5oz]
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1⁄2 cups dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1⁄2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cut the avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin and place the avocado flesh in a large bowl along with the butter and brown sugar. Cream together the avocado, butter, and sugar for 3 minutes, until fluffy. I merely used a bowl and my arm power. I'm not sure what fluffy means...

Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder and slowly combine, making sure not to overmix the batter. Okay, I ended up using a hand immersion blender to get rid of some of the avocado chunks. I'm pretty sure I overmixed....

The rest of the flour mixture added into the batter.

Add the oats and chocolate chips and combine. Refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, scoop the batter onto a clean surface and, using wet hands, roll the dough into 12 balls. Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand to create 2-1⁄2-inch disks. Arrange the 12 disks on the baking sheet. I don't have a cookie scooper so I used two spoons and guesstimated the amount. I didn't bother rolling the dough into balls as it seemed too sticky. Besides, why get your entire hands dirty when it's not necessary. :) I also managed to squeeze in 18 cookies per cookie sheet. heeheehee. 

Transfer the sheet to the top rack of the oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are slightly golden brown on the edges but still soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for at least 3 minutes before transferring the cookies to cooling racks. Repeat the process for remaining dough. You will bake 3 baking sheets total. I only had 2 baking sheets. 

Serve the cookies immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 weeks. I've had them in the refrigerator for two weeks and they taste fine. I'm not a fan of cold cookies which is why I think it's taking longer than usual for them to disappear.

These cookies are doughy and chewy and does taste like regular ol' chocolate chip cookies. The only giveaway it has avocados in them are the green specks here and there. 

Curry Salmon

Curry salmon was made by first stir-frying salmon skin in a non-stick pan with a pat of butter. It was seasoned with kosher salt, ground pepper and curry powder. Remove the salmon to a bowl. With the remains in the pan, pour a lil bit of white wine and heavy cream to make a little bit of sauce. Add more curry powder and stir well. When it thickens, pour over your salmon. And then drizzled on some lemon juice. Serve with sliced avocados and a dollop of cream cheese for a deliciously savory meal.

We used McCormick's curry powder bought from amazon.com, but I'm guessing any curry powder works. FYI: McCormick's curry powder is mild. I'm guessing regular curry powder is spicy.
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Cucumber Roll

I was inspired to make this while searching for something to do with cucumbers since we bought 10 of them on sale... which turned out to be 8 too many -_- But this turned out super yummy!!

I simply laid out a roasted seaweed sheet, placed regular ole brown rice on the bottom half (I don't like too much rice so I really spread the rice out), used imitation crab meat, julienne cucumbers and sliced avocados. Then I rolled them right up. I guess you could also say this is the lazy version as I didn't make sushi rice and I decided to keep it as a roll rather than slice'em up sushi style... hehe

They were super tasty and super easy to make!

Here's the original recipe: Cucumber and Avocado Sushi

Mango Guacamole

This guacamole is has a light sweetness to its creamy goodness. It's super flavorful! Just mash up 3 decent sized avocados and mix with the juice of 1 lime, 1 chopped roma tomato, 1/3 chopped brown onion, 1 chopped mango, about a 1/4tsp chili pepper, 1/8 tsp cumin powder, 1/8 tsp black pepper, and 1/8 tsp and a generous pinch of salt. Mix well and enjoy!

Guacamole

The last time we had guacamole was at my friend's bbq on the fourth of july. Ever since, me and the hubby has been wanting more! To make this creamy goodness, we used about 3 decent sized avocados, chopped a roma tomato, seeds removed, chopped about a 1/3 of a brown or white onion, a couple dashes of cumin and black pepper, a generous dash of salt and chili pepper, and about 1-2 tablespoons of lime. Super creamy and super tasty goodness in our mouths!