This delicious vegan dairy-free Dark Chocolate Avocado Frosting recipe takes just minutes to prepare and you’d never guess it’s made with avocados! Jump to recipe →
I just wish I had known about this recipe a few months ago.
I have a confession. I failed as a parent for my daughter’s fifteenth birthday. All she really wanted was a cupcake with thick gooey frosting. Sounds easy, right? Well, it’s a little tricky because she’s allergic to wheat and dairy.
Had I been prepared I could have pulled it off. But I was busy. I asked my husband to get store-bought gluten-free cupcakes. I was imagining the cupcakes we’d gotten in the past – the ones with the big piles of frosting. But that was before we knew she couldn’t have dairy. Those cupcakes were no longer an option.
My poor husband did the best he could. He wasn’t aware of the frosting requirement. He picked up gluten-free cupcakes without frosting (a.k.a glorified muffins). I didn’t notice until I pulled them from freezer five minutes before we were going to sing happy birthday. Ugh!
I didn’t think I had the ingredients on hand to quickly make a non-dairy frosting. We went with the naked cupcakes. My daughter wasn’t thrilled…
As my husband’s birthday approached I began a quest for an easy and delicious non-dairy frosting recipe. That’s when I discovered the wonders of dark chocolate avocado frosting.
Dark Chocolate Avocado Frosting
This Dark Chocolate Avocado Frosting recipe is so easy! It’s made with just a few simple ingredients:
- Avocados
- Dark Cocoa Powder
- Maple Syrup
- Coconut Oil
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
You blend the avocado in a food processor, add the remaining ingredients and blend some more. And voilà! You have a decadently dark and creamy frosting with just the right level of sweetness. You’d never guess it’s made with avocado!
For my husband’s birthday, I added the frosting to my Gluten-Free Chocolate Snack Cake recipe. (I stirred mini dairy-free chocolate chips into the batter instead of sprinkling them on top.) It was super easy and made a delicious birthday cake. Both husband and daughter approved! No more frozen frostingless cupcakes for this family!
Dark Chocolate Avocado Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados med/large, peeled and pitted, 2 ½ small avocados
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil (melted coconut oil will give you a silkier texturebut un-melted works okay too)
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Add avocado to a food processor fitted with an S blade and blend until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula a couple of times. (Add the maple syrup on top of the cocoa powder to keep the dust down.)
- Use immediately or store in fridge until ready to use. Frosting should be okay in the fridge for a couple of days.
Notes
You may have noticed these lovely measuring spoons in the photo above. A friend brought them to my attention on Amazon. I love their weight and how they feel in my hand.
Note: I do not include nutrition information with my recipes because I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients. Note: This page contains affiliate links. Veggie Primer earns a commission if you use the links. We only recommend items/brands we use and trust.
I am the aforementioned provider of the frosting deficient cupcakes for our daughter’s birthday. As many are aware, it is difficult to provide special treats for people that can’t have gluten or dairy products because it makes them ill. The sad bald muffin wanna-be cupcake birthday experience drove my wife to adapt this frosting recipe so that our daughter could get some thick chocolatey frosting.
A big bonus is that it is good. Really good. Better than I’d like to admit because I despise avocados. I don’t like the way the insides look or taste. So as an avowed avocado hater – try this recipe. It will satisfy your chocolate hunger.
such an awesome idea!! thanks for sharing 😀
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
You’re welcome! 🙂
Any suggestions on what I can sub for the coconut oil? My daughter is allergic to coconuts also:-(
Hmmm… Try grape seed oil – it has a light neutral flavor and I often use it in baking – you also don’t have to mess with melting it! 🙂 You could also try skipping the oil all together – I haven’t tried that, but it might work… Let me know how it goes.
Nicole, I often use applesauce in place of oil in baking. See if that works.
Avocado oil and it is good for high temp cooking too. Hope this helps.
Thanks K.T. – there’s no cooking involved with this recipe. I suggested the grape seed oil because of it’s neutral flavor – but yes – it’s also good for high temp cooking! 🙂
Any idea how long this frosting would last? It seems to me that it would have to be stored in the fridge, and for not more than a few days.
Yes – store it in the fridge – it should last at least a few days – hard for me to say beyond that – it gets eaten quickly in my house!
I decided to just try it, and I noticed a difference in flavour at three days. So I would say three days max; two is better. Very delicious though!
That’s good to know Sara – thanks! Like I said, I’ve never kept it longer than a couple of days!
It may be freezable. Guacamole is totally freezable, so this should be as well.
I’ll have to give that a try – thanks for the suggestion! 🙂
Looks amazing! Do you know what can i replace the maple syrup with? Its really hard to find in my country
You could replace the maple syrup with agave nectar – I like to use maple syrup because it’s a little healthier – but agave would work. 🙂
I plan to try honey. Sugar is not an ok substitute for me!
Honey should work. 🙂
Honey is just sugar, according to the way your body sees it.
I used 2 cups of icing sugar instead of the maple syrup, and it worked great!
Glad that worked well for you!
Can i use regular cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate?
Hi Jordan – Regular cocoa powder should be fine. The frosting just won’t have as deep of a chocolate taste – but it should still be delicious!
I made this with regular cocoa powder (more antioxidants) and paired it with the “healthier chocolate cake” from The First Year. It was just sweet enough, still had a great dark chocolate flavor. So delicious!!
Glad you liked it!
Anything to replace the chocolate powder? i do not like chocolate.
Hi Kristin – I haven’t tried making other types of frosting with avocado… It’s an interesting idea to explore, but I’m afraid I don’t have any suggestions right now…
Maybe vanilla protein powder would work? What do you ask think? The icing would be such a weird color though!
It would be green! ????
You could just use powdered sugar and whichever extract you would like. If you like matcha, you can even make a matcha flavored frosting!
You could also substitute cacao powder for a very fine almond flour, and add almond extract… Or add pistachios!
For other flavors, I would do key lime, mint, or even hazelnut, peanut butter, or oreos… Anything that would look nice as a green or brown frosting would work!
Thanks for the suggestions Betty!
Did you use real maple syrup or just any old pancake/waffle syrup
I always use real maple syrup. It’s a bit healthier than the fake stuff. 🙂 You can try other sweeteners if you don’t have real maple syrup. Some folks use agave syrup. I tend to steer clear of agave because of it’s high fructose content.
I was wondering about using monk fruit sugar substitute. I steer clear of agave as well. Maple syrup although good for you, I would like to make this diabetic friendly for people in my family. I just wonder if monk fruit could be ground to almost a powdered sugar and used. Hmmmm. May have to try soon. Looks really good by the way 🙂
That’s a really interesting idea Jennifer. I’m not familiar with monk fruit sugar substitute. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!! 🙂
Would this frosting work on a cake that will be on a counter for about 4 hours or will it need to be refrigerated?
Thanks,
Danielle
Hi Danielle – I think it would be okay on the counter for 4 hours if you refrigerate it ahead of time. It just gets a little soft when it’s at room temp, but it shouldn’t run or spoil in that amount of time.
Has anyone tried freezing this?
Hi Christy – I have not tried freezing this frosting. I would also be curious to hear from anyone who has!
Can i use honey in place of the maple syrup? Also could i use melted non-dairy butter in place of the coconut oil? Thanks
The honey should work fine. You can try the non-dairy butter and see how it works…
Hi Margaret,
I would like to try this recipe but I am wondering what kind/brand of cocoa powder to buy? I have seen these two options in the nearest grocery:
1. https://well.ca/products/camino-natural-cocoa-powder_102873.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAvNrBBRDe3IOwzLn6_O4BEiQAmbK-DuFxzZzEBORuBYoMvxUv5Y3oMpCiX2BtKg0-Cc2pUocaAtQs8P8HAQ
2. https://well.ca/products/cuisine-camino-organic-cocoa-powder_18783.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAvNrBBRDe3IOwzLn6_O4BEiQAmbK-Dixm4GAsgeYdEzXTE-HH5wj55M_b_TVovYBAcCJxHV0aAgSq8P8HAQ
I am coocking a banana cake for my daughter’s 1st birthday 🙂
Thank you,
Maria.
Hi Maria – I have to confess, I use Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder. I’m sure whichever unsweetened cocoa powder you opt to use would work fine. 🙂
Hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday!
Thank you very much!!
Hi! Can i use blender in rep for food processor?
That should work fine. I just find it easier to scrape the frosting out of the food processor. 🙂
I made a variation of this recipe last week and we LOVED IT!!!! So good, I’m going to use that recipe in my cooking class next month! Thank you! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
what is the reason for the maple syrup? Just for sweetness? Am I able to leave it out completely? We are all out and I’m trying to avoid another grocery store trip!????
Hi Sara – yes, the maple syrup is for sweetness. If you don’t have any you can substitute another sweetener to taste – not sure if you’d want to leave the sweetener out all together!
So I tried it with a rather strongly flavored raw honey, which I could taste. I think I should use a milder flavored honey next time, or go with the maple syrup. Also, I forgot to add the cinnamon, which might have covered the honey flavor a bit. It was still extremely creamy & I loved the flavor overall. Looking forward to trying it again soon!
I prefer using maple syrup – but a milder tasting honey might also do the trick. 🙂
Hello! I have a quick question. Do you think this would work in this icebox cake recipe? Or would something funny happen with the avocados in the fridge overnight? http://livingsweetmoments.com/icebox-matzo-cake-recipe-great-dessert-idea-passover-seder/
The icing keeps well in the fridge for one or two days – so I think it should work in the recipe just fine. Let me know how it goes!
For decorative purposes, how well does this icing hold it’s shape? Do you think that you could use it to create designs? Wondering because I would like to be able to sub this in for buttercream icing.
I can’t say for sure, because I haven’t tried it. But it appears to have a good consistency so it might work!
Hello, so I made the frosting for my chocolate red bean cake, super simple recipe btw all vegan. Just made this frosting and it is AMAZING. I cant stop eating it and its not even put on the cake… The taste is so good I dont even know… Time to read the rest of your website and join the mailing list.
Thank you very much I’m pretty sure my motherday cake is gonna be amazing cuz of you.
Thanks Linde – glad you like it. I know what you mean about eating it before it gets on the cake. I’m guilty of that as well. 😉
For the diet I’m on I needed to know nutrition facts, so I added it all up and replaced the maple syrup with erythritol (I have to watch my sugars)… It’s only 53 calories a serving, just 0.5 g saturated fat, and 1.5 g of protein. And it comes out to 2.6 Tb spoons a serving which is a hardy amount of frosting! Thank you so much for this. I will definitely try this recipe in place of the sugar free frostings I’m always buying. Those come out to 90 calories a serving and have more fat and artificial sweeteners.
Thank you for sharing, Lindsey!
Hello. I am sick of everything tasting like coconut oil. Can I use almond oil as a substitute without ruining the recipe?
Hi Karrie – ideally, you want to use an oil that is at a solid state at room temperature to give the frosting a little stiffness. I’m not familiar with almond oil – but you could give it a try and see what you think.
This recipe is amazing!! I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and use it to ice cakes and cup cakes.
Guests can’t believe it’s made with avocados, it’s so creamy!
Thanks so much for creating and sharing it.
Thank you, Virginia. Glad you like it! It’s one of my favorites. 🙂
I’d love to top my son’s birthday cake with this frosting but I’m allergic to coconut! I’m wondering if ghee would work instead…seems like it has the closest consistency to coconut oil.
You can also omit the oil all together!