RECIPE: Healthy Chocolate Mousse

Fancy something that feels decadent but is good for your gut health? Enter this amazing recipe for a healthy chocolate mousse from Dr Joan Ransley, created for Love Your Gut www.loveyourgut.com.  

This recipe combines just four key ingredients – ripe bananas, avocados, almond butter and cocoa powder. When these ingredients are whisked together their natural textures and flavours form a delicious light and velvety chocolate mousse.

Bananas contain dietary fibre that helps nutrients move through the gut. They also contain complex carbohydrates known as fructo-oligosaccharides, that help healthy gut bacteria to thrive[1]. Almonds are rich in prebiotics including dietary fibre which is metabolised by bacteria in the gut and play an important part in keeping us healthy[2]. Cocoa powder is rich in polyphenols[3], which the gut bacteria can metabolise into bioactive compounds which have a number of positive effects in the body including helping the immune system function well.

healthy chocolate mousse
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Healthy Chocolate Mousse

This recipe combines just four key ingredients – ripe bananas, avocados, almond butter and cocoa powder. When these ingredients are whisked together their natural textures and flavours form a delicious light and velvety chocolate mousse.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 minute
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword: Healthy Choice, Quick Meals, Vegan
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe bananas roughly chopped
  • 2 small ripe avocados
  • 80 g almond butter smooth or crunchy
  • 30 g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100 g mixed berries

Instructions

  • Peel and roughly chop the bananas. Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and scrape the flesh from the skin.
  • Place the bananas and avocado in the bowl of a food processor. Add the almond butter,cocoa powder and vanilla essence. Process these ingredients for 30 seconds or until you have a smooth puree. 
  • Divide the chocolate mousse into serving bowls or glasses and top with berries.
  • Alternative serving suggestion
    This chocolate mousse could be used as a dip with biscuits as a snack, or as a topping for a cake.
    Cook tips
    1.    Good quality peanut butter can be used instead of almond butter
    2.    Bananas and avocados need to be ripe to add natural sweetness and velvety smoothness to this dish
    3.    To check an avocado is ripe peel back the small stem at the top of the avocado. If it comes away easily and it is green underneath, the avocado is ripe and ready to eat.

[1] Tandon et al. (2019) A Prospective Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Response Relationship Study to Investigate Efficacy of Fructo-Oligosaccharides (FOS) on Human Gut Microflora. Sci Rep 9(1):5473. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41837-3.

[2] Lamuel-Raventos RM, Onge MS. Prebiotic nut compounds and human microbiota. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017;57(14):3154‐3163. doi:10.1080/10408398.2015.1096763

[3] Kumar Singh A, Cabral C, Kumar R, et al. Beneficial Effects of Dietary Polyphenols on Gut Microbiota and Strategies to Improve Delivery Efficiency. Nutrients. 2019;11(9):2216. Published 2019 Sep 13. doi:10.3390/nu11092216

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