Naturally sweetened healthy 4-ingredient chocolate mousse made with avocado and pure maple syrup – you’d never know this simple recipe was dairy-free and paleo!
True story: all through his twenties, my dad was a skinny minny, and he would eat chocolate mousse and drink chocolate shakes right before bed to try to gain weight. While his strategy did not pan out (the wolvarine-like metabolism runs rampant in our DNA), he bestowed upon his offspring the unrelenting love for – you guessed it – C H O C O L A T E ! !
I remember my dad eating bowls of homemade raw chocolate chip cookie dough while he worked in his office, buying 5-pound hunks of chocolate during the holidays (for which he used a chisel, hammer, and/or screwdriver to break into pieces), and drinking chocolate milk every.single.morning. I’ll be darned if I’ve ever saw him touch a piece of fruit-infused dessert. It’s just not on his radar.
But chocolate…chocolate is front and center for my dad and I when it comes to desserts. While it wasn’t until my late teens that I tried chocolate mousse, I always loved his story about attempted mousse-induced weight-gain, and was completely blown away when I eventually did give it a go.
Now, we all know fully-leaded chocolate mousse isn’t all that great for our bodacious bods (unless butofcourse you’re an ultramarathon runner and are cycling through sugar and fat like a Tasmanian devil), but as it turns out, we can make this ish healthful.
This loose interpretation of chocolate mousse is made with all simple, all natural, all healthy ingredients. Rather than using heavy cream and going through the egg yolk tempering process, I used my spirit fruit-veggie – the avocado! It may sound strange, but avocado makes for a creamy, dreamy, thick mousse. I promise you can’t taste it past the chocolate!
How to Make Avocado Chocolate Mousse:
This recipe includes only 4 super simple ingredients (5 if you count salt): avocados, honey, non-dairy milk, and raw cacao powder).
Avocados are full of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, which are great for your brain, skin, and digestive system. The healthy fat in avocados boosts your metabolism and helps absorb the essential vitamins and minerals in your food.
Additionally, raw cacao powder is full of minerals and antioxidants. Combining these superfoods results in a dessert that spans beyond the reaches of delicious – it is also quite healthy for you!
Another MEGA bonus: all we do to prepare this recipe is throw everything in a food processor (or blender) and process until smooth!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Make this recipe Low-Carb/Keto by omitting the pure maple syrup and adding liquid stevia or 1/3 cup powdered sugar-free sweetener such as xylitol or monk fruit sweetener. Add an additional 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk to make up for the loss of liquid.
- Add 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and/or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- Add a little bourbon if you’re looking for a booze-infused dessert.
- Want to substitute the raw cacao powder for unsweetened cocoa powder? No problem!
- Want to add a small cooked beet for some extra Vitamins and antioxidants? Much encouraged! Follow this recipe for Vegan Beet Chocolate Pudding.
- Make this recipe with honey instead of pure maple syrup for a non-vegan version.
I have used this avocado chocolate mousse recipe to make Dairy-Free Fudgesicles. Simply follow the same method in this post and transfer the mousse to a popsicle mold!
That’ll do ya, folks! All’s you need is some simple ingredients, a food processor, and a hankering for something duh-licious.
And if you’d like to see a little action tutorial on how to make the chocolate mousse, check out the video below! Hint: just be sure to put the cap in your food processor so that your cacao powder doesn’t go flying when you turn it on 😉
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your all your support!
Healthy 4-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 2 large avocados peeled, pitted, and halved
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup see note*
- ½ cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor or blender. Process until completely smooth. Note: You may need to scrape the edges of the food processor to get everything to combine.
- Transfer to a sealable container and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or until ready to serve.
- Serve with grated dark chocolate and/or coconut whipped cream.
This is just as amazing as the other reviewers said! I chose to use the honey option because it tastes sweeter than maple syrup. I also followed someone’s suggestion to add a touch of vanilla. I’m serving it today to a couple of health conscious friends and I can’t wait to see their reaction! Thanks for this great recipe – and all the others I’ve tried. (I’m also serving your GF, DF cornbread.)
I’m thrilled to hear that, Belinda! I hope your friends enjoy it too! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. 🙂
This is amazing. I’ve been craving chocolate. It’s delicious as written, and then on top of the vanilla and cinnamon I added espresso powder and it’s over the top amazing! Thank you!
I’m thrilled to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing your experience 🙂 xoxo
Most paleo/dairy-free mousse recipes call for chopped up dark chocolate and I was soooooo happy to find one that just called for cocoa powder, sweetener and milk. I decided on a whim to make this for a sister-in-law’s birthday gift. I thought it was perfect as is, but I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as the rest of my family, so I decreased the milk by 2 tablespoons and replaced the amount with extra maple syrup. WOW. I wish I would’ve made extra but it’s probably best for my waistline that I didn’t ?
This is amazing, I made it a few days ago and OMG it’s delish) Great recipes and nice pics too.
I’m so happy to hear it, Katie! Thanks for the sweet note! xx
can you substitute honey with stevia? If so how much?
Hi JZ,
You can definitely substitute stevia for the raw honey. You’ll need to add some of the liquid back for the loss, so you can add just a little more almond milk or coconut milk to compensate. I would start with 2 TBL stevia and go from there…I haven’t tested the recipe yet using a zero-sugar sweetener, but I generally recommend starting small then working your way up 😉 Let me know how it turns out! 😀
Would this be weird with full fat coconut milk?
Not at all! Full-fat coconut milk would make the mousse super rich and delicious. I say go for it! 😀
Chill she said. Until ready to serve she said….Bwahahahaha Not bothering to put this is a bowl. Eating right out of the food processor! Perfect for my Chocolate attack! Thanks for the easy, healthy recipe. Now, I need to go find a facecloth, my mouth might be a bit chocolatty! 🙂
Your comment had me in stitches! Thanks for the good laugh, Michelle! I definitely ate mine straight from the food processor, too…chocoholics, unite! Now you’re inspiring me to make another batch of mousse! xo
OMG! What an amazing recipe!
I just made it, got inspired and added some gingerbread spice and cinnamon. It’s so yum! Thank you!
How much bourbon would you suggest adding to the recipe?
What happens if I use regular milk?
You can 200% use regular milk. I used almond milk to keep it non-dairy, but you can use any milk of your choosing. Hope you enjoy the mousse!
WOW! This chocolate mousse sounds amazing! I have a raw cacao based blend, called MitoXcell, that I am going to use in it! I am so excited to try this recipe!