Have you ever tasted shortcrust pastry with avocado, made with avocado instead of butter?

After hearing about it on several occasions, I absolutely wanted to try it. And not finding anything on sale, no cookies or pies, nor sweets with avocado, I equipped myself 🙂 and I made my own beautiful shortcrust pastry with avocado.

I bought a couple of avocados (or avocados? who knows!) and waited a few days for them to ripen.

PS: Be careful because avocado is tricky, it can go from the stage of “it’s very hard to the touch so it’s not ripe yet” to the stage of “oh no, it seemed ripe but the flesh is brown and I have to throw everything away, even though the skin didn’t show anything.” So, don’t wait for it to be soft to the touch, because it might already be too late. 😉

About a month ago, one evening, I decided to try, and since I had no idea where to start regarding weights and measures of flour, sugar, or avocado, whether to use eggs or not, etc., I started looking for recipes, keyword: avocado instead of butter.

It could be that sometimes “Googling” bores me, because despite the approximately more or less fifty-six thousand results, I end up not finding what I’m looking for…

…or maybe it’s because sometimes I do these searches at the last minute, like when I’ve already poured the flour into the bowl, already cut the avocado into pieces, and come to the computer with floury and damp hands and the anxiety that “what if in the meantime my avocado darkens?”

…and the anxiety of “I have to hurry, it’s late”…

In these instances, finding the right recipe for me can become really difficult, torn between the curiosity to read all the existing recipes and the anxiety of seeing my perfect recipe realized. Because I know, I know that I could end up spending the entire evening in front of the computer, fascinated by the many possible recipes, with the ingredients waiting for me in the kitchen.

And so, in the end, after trying to read two or three recipes, of cupcakes and brownies that had nothing to do with shortcrust, and one of a shortcrust that the author, from what I understood in my hasty reading, already planned to modify… I decided to give up and go back to the kitchen to do my own thing. I ended up deciding that a simple personal variation of my classic shortcrust pastry, the one made with butter but using avocado instead, could be the best thing to do. Practicality, simplicity, and no unnecessary complications, and off I go with my personal recipe made by feel.

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shortcrust pastry with avocado instead of butter

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Rest time: 30 Minutes
Preparation time: 20 Minutes
Portions: 1 block
Cooking methods: Without Cooking
Cuisine: Healthy
Seasonality: All Seasons

Ingredients

10.5 oz flour
3.5 oz avocado
3.5 oz sugar (granulated or cane, as desired)
1 egg
Half packet baking powder
Half lemon (juice and zest)

Tools

Mixer
Bowl

Steps

Pour the flour mixed with baking powder into a large bowl or onto the cutting board and make a well in the center.
Peel the avocado and blend it with the mixer.
So far, I have made this avocado shortcrust pastry three times. On one occasion, I tried mashing it with a fork, but I found it stays grainy and even after working the dough, some avocado pieces remain and do not dissolve, which is why I find it better to blend it.
Pour into the bowl the flour, sugar, egg, blended avocado, lemon juice, and grated zest.
Mix with a spoon then work with your fingertips until the sugar is dissolved and knead incorporating the flour.
Once a soft yet compact dough is obtained, entirely similar in consistency to traditional shortcrust pastry, place it in the fridge for half an hour wrapped in plastic wrap, or in a container, before using it to make cookies or pies.
If well sealed and stored in the fridge, the dough keeps well for several days, at most oxidizing just a little on the surface, a typical characteristic of avocado, but inside it remains that beautiful green color shown in the pictures.
This beautiful avocado shortcrust pastry, with its light green color, can be used to make cookies and pies. So far, I’ve tried the cookies, making them plain, using the dough as you see in the pictures, and also chocolate ones by adding melted chocolate to the dough.
I also distributed them around a bit (mom, sister-in-law, nephews…) because I was curious to get as many opinions as possible since my kids were a bit skeptical (go figure!). The feedback was:
– my mom: “I like the plain ones” (I expected that)
– the nephews: “we like the chocolate ones better” (I expected it too!!!)
– sister-in-law: “successful experiment” (pure diplomacy! 😀)
– husband and kids: “when will you make normal ones?” (sob 😛)
– me: what can I say… I liked the cookies, with or without chocolate!
Sure, it’s not identical to butter shortcrust pastry, but you can’t expect that, right? It’s crumbly, with a hint that reminds you of the avocado taste but it’s not intrusive at all, and I would see it well (the flavor) paired with almonds or hazelnuts, I might even dare to say peanuts or amaretti. So I really think that, kids and husband permitting, I will try again with other productions, because… because I am sure that with the right combination of flavors one can achieve a perfect avocado shortcrust pastry for perfect cookies and pies. 🙂
So… let’s go! The “how much I like experimenting in the kitchen” mode is ON !!
Below I repeat the links (already present in the intro) to the recipes I made with this shortcrust, along with the update dates. All recipes I strongly recommend trying. 😋😊
Update 31/8/18
With this avocado shortcrust pastry I tried five different types of cookies: with amaretti, coconut, peanuts, chocolate, and without baking powder, try them all! You can find them all HERE 😊
Update 2/4/19
The tart I made with this shortcrust is described here —> Avocado Shortcrust Tart with Cherry and Bergamot Jam.
Update 15/9/22
Additionally, I tried using this avocado shortcrust to make stuffed cookies, a personal reinterpretation of Bolognese raviole. Here is the recipe –> Green Stuffed Cookies
Over the years, I have repeated this shortcrust countless times, each time without re-photographing the basic recipe, but today I finally did, and I replaced the previous photos in this recipe with the new ones. However, I like to also keep the “old” photos, they are a memory of that very first avocado shortcrust, of a beautiful green that amazed me, made on a dark and stormy and adventurous evening! How could I forget them! 😀😃
And please… if you make the pie or the cookies, send me the photos!! 💛
😏 This recipe is from 2016, the avocado shortcrusts that later magically populated the web were not yet there, as told in the introduction. Oh the patience… this recipe is purely the result of my, and only my, late-night hands-on experiences, and a citation after “taking inspiration” is sometimes, just a little bit, appreciated).