Avocado Chocolate Mousse Mini Pies

Say what? Chocolate avocado mousse?

In case you just missed the pinched up face and lolling tongue, Looly detests avocado. But like many red-blooded seven-year-olds, she adores chocolate, which is precisely why Bean, Roo, and I couldn't resist playing a trick on her.

For months (years?) I've seen recipes for vegan chocolate mousse made with an avocado base floating around...so long that I honesty can't remember where I saw it first. Food 52 has a version. I've watched Giada De Laurentiis whip up a batch on an episode of Giada at Home. There's another version here. And here. And here.

Suffice it to say the idea of using creamy avocado as a base for chocolate dessert is decidedly not my own. The evil plot to dupe my own offspring into eating her most despised food, however, is all mine.

Bean and Roo are avocado fiends and any mousse without eggs is bound to be a friend of ours, so it was about time to give this thing a go. We got to work while Looly was busy making dream catchers and rag dolls at art camp. Everything was going along just fine until my avocados started disappearing.  

I think we can safely say who's to blame, but luckily there's nothing like a bowl of melted chocolate to distract a couple of avocado bandits.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse Mini Pies
inspired by Food 52, vegan bakers, Giada De Laurentiis, and the Internet in general


2 ripe Haas avocados
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut milk (Use the thick part that gathers toward the top of the can. Leave behind the liquid)
1 tsp real vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp agave syrup (or less)
pinch of salt
8 mini pie crusts of your choice. We went with store bought graham cracker, but chocolate cookie crust or traditional homemade pie crust would be lovely too!
1/4 cup flaked coconut

Combine the chocolate chips and thick coconut milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 25 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted. Stir well and let cool slightly.

Place the avocados, vanilla, agave, and salt in a food processor and puree until smooth. Poor in the chocolate-coconut milk mixture and pulse until everything is well-incorporated, smooth, creamy, and delicious.

Put the mousse in a piping bag (or zip top plastic bag with a corner cut off) and pipe into the pie shells. Chill until the mousse is firm, about 2 hours.

Garnish the chilled pies with flaked coconut and fresh raspberries. The decision whether or not to disclose the full ingredient list is yours to make. As for us, we waited until those first few bites were thoroughly savored then...

Guess what, Looly?! Avocado surprise! 

Lucky for me that kid's a pretty good sport. She even went on to finish the mousse and declared that she actually likes avocado sometimes. When it's in other stuff. Like chocolate.

In the words of Bean, "Yeah, Looly. So does everybody".

Looly's Library Birthday Party

Shhh...Looly's library-themed birthday party was a quiet success.

Last year it was all about art. Before that, Little House on the Prairie. This year, Looly, the consummate book-lover, celebrated her seventh birthday literary-style. Thankfully, none of her friends are too cool for school just yet and all the young ladies (and Roo of course) had such a great time.

I'm kicking myself but I totally failed to get a picture of the invitations before we handed them out. So, you'll have to use your imagination. I ordered these old school library cards and pockets on etsy.com and we wrote in the party details. So cute and totally easy!

On the invitations, we asked guests to bring along a used book or two to trade in our homemade exchange library.

Looly invited 6 girlfriends and along with Bean, Roo, and herself, that made for 9 kiddos. We kicked off the festivities by painting and decorating book bags. Fabric paint, stencils, fabric markers, felt and foam stickers were a big hit and kept the kids occupied for some time.

Next we made these stained glass bookmark crafts. Due to the requisite abundance of glue on my kitchen table, hands, and everything else, I didn't manage to take any photos. They were simple enough, if somewhat messy, for the youngest kids to handle on their own and they all came out great. One word of caution if you attempt this craft: make sure you leave enough time for the glue to dry! Ours went home on paper plates with saran wrap because they were far from dry when the party ended.

After a thorough hand-washing, the kids took a book-themed trivia quiz. The questions were broad, covering everything from classic board books like Brown Bear Brown Bear to Harry Potter, so all the kids could participate regardless of reading level and experience. You can find the quiz here. It was even more fun than I had anticipated and the kids loved showing off their knowledge. To up the excitement, we handed out these adorable crocheted bookworm bookmarks as prizes.

Then it was on to writing our own books. Bare Books has a huge selection of blank books, puzzles, and all sorts of make-your-own crafts. The kids used markers, pencils, and crayons to write and illustrate their own stories.

Roo was especially proud of his masterpiece cleverly entitled, "My Own Book". Of course, that is a blank page he's showing off, but you get the idea.

Obviously for any KC party, snacks are key and we had no shortage. Check out the spread.

We served fruit, veggies, gummy "book" worms, fresh raspberry lemonade, and donuts from our farmers market but these chocolate cupcakes with pink and orange book cupcake toppers were the star of the show. I love etsy.

It was such a fun theme and really very easy to execute. Looly has such sweet friends who share similar interests. A couple of them even plunked down in a cozy spot during the party to get started on their "new" books from the exchange library.

Happy birthday, Looly! I can't wait to see what's next.

Looly's Solo Apple Crisp

No doubt about it. Looly's growing up. With a visit from the tooth fairy under her belt, it's time to start pulling her weight in the kitchen.

Last spring when she was a mere babe of 5, not the worldly, gap-toothed 6-and-a-half-year-old you see here, we took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where Looly chose a jar of Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon. She's been waiting to make her own apple crisp ever since and apparently I've been neither accommodating nor timely in making it happen. So she did what any gap-toothed, worldly 6-and-a-half-year-old would do. She went online and printed out a recipe herself.

Look at her, hands washed, hair back, apron on, ingredients assembled, reading through the whole recipe before she starts. She's already a way better cook than her mother who has an embarrassing habit of needing to run to the store for a roll of parchment paper or a bunch of cilantro because I swear it said nothing about that a minute ago.

 And check out those knife skills. I was 25 before I knew to curl the fingers on my left hand.

Mixing the "crisp".

Watch out, Martha. Looly's in the kitchen.

Looly's Solo Apple Crisp
adapted from Simply Recipes

5-6 medium apples (preferably Granny Smiths)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned or quick-cooking)
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

Peel, core, and chop the apples into 1-inch chunks. Place them in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top.

In a bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and oats. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the oat mixture. Sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the apples. Bake 35-45 minutes until the apples are soft and the topping is golden brown and crisp.