Pear and Avocado Ant Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting

So, disclaimer: I was just trying to stick to the Valentine’s Day theme…I made hearts out of a pear. I tried. It took longer than it should have.

Another disclaimer: these didn’t really turn out tasting very much like pear. Happily, they also didn’t taste like avocado. I have never baked with avocado, and made this with no knowledge of what my creations would taste like. They did, however, taste like, what I would call, banana bread and carrot cake’s love child. Nom. And I have never baked with ants, but I will say, the ants have the perfect crunch to them–they taste like chopped walnuts. I was pleasantly surprised.

At any rate, if you want to cash in your ant eating v-card on Valentine’s Day, you can try making this recipe for someone who might want to cash in theirs too.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Weaver Ants (I got mine from Thailand Unique)
1 Pear (Red Anjou)
1/2 Avocado
2 c. Flour
1 c. Coffee (any kind…just for added flavor)
1/2 c. White Chocolate Chips
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 c. Granulated Sugar
4 oz. Cream Cheese
1 c. Powdered Sugar
2 tbsp. Butter
1/4 c. Whole Milk
Red Candy Sprinkles (for garnish/decoration)

To get started, preheat oven to 350°F. Then blend 3/4 of the pear (if you want to use the rest to make laughable heart garnishes), avocado, and 1/2 c. coffee. Once well blended, mix with other 1/2 c. coffee, flour, vanilla extract, baking powder, ants, and sugar. Then slowly melt white chocolate over stove and blend in with other ingredients.

Next, spoon batter into a 24 count mini-muffin pan and put into oven to bake for 20 minutes. The way I did these, they turned out a little more doughy–sweet bread doughy–than I anticipated, but they were still good. If you don’t like yours as doughy, you can try a few things I didn’t: you could add more baking powder, add an egg, or turn the oven temp lower and cook the bites a bit longer.

Lastly, you’ll want to make ridiculous looking Valentine’s Day decorations and some cream cheese frosting to add some sweetness. Cream cheese frosting is really simple: whisk cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and milk over the stove top until they are well blended. Some people add the sugar gradually, but I dump everything in at once. It works for me, but it doesn’t for a lot of people. You’ll probably want to add ingredients gradually over low heat and whisk until everything is melted. Once your frosting is done, you can scrape it into a bowl so you can frost and decorate all of the bites.