Healthy No-Cook Summer Dessert: Creamy Vegan Chocolate Pudding (Kids Cook Monday)
| July 29, 2013 | Posted by Stacy under Dessert, Healthy eating at home, Healthy snacks, Recipes |
For the past couple weeks, it’s been just too hot to turn on the stove. But, of course, we still need to eat. So my 5-year-old daughter and I have been blending up batch after batch of no-cook Creamy Vegan Chocolate Pudding. Made with avocado, banana and raw cacao powder, it’s the kind of wholesome treat that I’m happy to give my kids. On the right day, I might even be talked into serving it for breakfast (but I’m not sure that I want to open up that door).
Recipes don’t get any easier than this. All you do is place the ingredients in a food processor or blender, turn it on and wait for it to whirrrr. Eat it immediately or place it in the fridge to chill for a bit. So much better–and obviously way better for you–than the store-bought kind. Even Reese’s twin, a self-professed avocado hater, gobbled it up (and, yes, he knew what was in it!).
This is a perfect “beginner” recipe for kids who are just starting to get their feet wet in the kitchen. Children as young as age 3 or 4 can help scoop the avocado, peel the bananas and pour the ingredients into the blender. Older kids (age 10 and up) could probably make it themselves.
Creamy Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Balanced Bites
Yield: about 4 cups (eight 1/2-cup servings)
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
3 to 4 ripe bananas, peeled
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened cacao powder (like Dagoba)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened hemp milk
1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 to 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Optional topping: dark chocolate shavings
Directions
Scoop out the flesh of the avocado and place in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Process until creamy/smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary. Add additional cacao or maple syrup to taste. Serve immediately or place in an air-tight container and store in refrigerator until chilled. For variety, sprinkle on dark chocolate shavings, serve with fresh fruit for dipping, or scoop into popsicle molds and freeze for a homemade fudgsicle.
What’s your favorite summer treat? Please share your idea (and a link to the recipe) in the comment section below!
I created this blog to raise awareness and start a dialogue about the various issues involved in school food. By writing about it, I hope to provide parents and educators with ideas and inspiration for making healthy changes in their own schools. Since healthy eating habits start at home, I also address common feeding challenges faced by parents.
This was so delish that I just made a double batch! I’m not going to tell my husband what’s in it until after he tries it. He’s much more difficult than my children.
[…] this Chocolate Pudding Recipe that is actually healthy & delicious! A perfect lunchbox […]
This is perfect! My boys are right around the 3–4 age and they love helping in the kitchen… Can’t wait to try this with them
I hope they love it as much as my kids do! Today, they had fun adding a little milk to the pudding, which of course made it not vegan…but it was extra creamy and delicious. If it isn’t sweet enough for your taste, try adding a touch more maple syrup. Enjoy!
My friend Suzanne surprised me with this treat. YUMMY! Cannot wait to try it for my family. Also sending in the lunch box. Any tips for packing it to school? Does it need to stay cold?
So glad you like it–and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!! It’s vegan so keeping it cold isn’t a huge issue. But I do think it tastes better that way. I put it in my boys’ lunchboxes today with an ice pack directly under it. Good luck!!
[…] Adapted from School Bites […]