I’m all about getting my 4-year-old son to eat healthier foods every day. However, he doesn’t always agree with me on this which is why I like hiding various healthy ingredients in his food. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? I like blending fresh spinach into his smoothies, flax seeds into our cookie recipes and my all time favorite is making chocolate pudding with fresh avocado. He loves the pudding but he would surely avoid it at all costs if he knew the main ingredient was an avocado. To tell you the truth, I would've had the same reaction a few years ago too. I was not a fan of avocados until I realized how versatile they can be. This recipe is extremely quick and easy to make and you can even use the pudding to make pie or pops. It's a great way to use up those avocados you have that are no longer perfectly green anymore. I usually make a side of coconut whipped cream as a topping but you can use fresh fruit, peanut butter cups, nuts, chocolate curls, or even all of them. Avo good time with it!
Chocolate Avocado Pudding:
1 ripe medium avocado
3 tbsp of raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
5-6 tbsp non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of cinnamon powder
Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend well. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Spoon the pudding into cups and top with whipped cream and/or the toppings of your choice. If you’re making a pie I would suggest doubling the recipe. For a pie, pour the mixture straight form the blender into a pre-made graham cracker crust and refrigerate overnight. If making pops, you can pour the mixture directly into the pop molds or you can refrigerate it first then spoon it into the molds at a later time. I can usually make about 4-5 pudding pops from the recipe using only one avocado. Sometimes I will layer the pudding and whipped cream in the popsicle mold and make a swirled pudding pop.
Coconut Whipped Cream:
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup or agave
1 tsp vanilla extract
Refrigerate the can of coconut milk overnight. Open the can and scrape the thicker cream off of the top and put it into a bowl. You can reserve the coconut water and add it into the whipped cream if you need more liquid or you can save it to use in smoothies. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and use a hand mixer to whip for about 2 minutes. Add coconut water ½ tsp at time if it is too stiff and needs more liquid. Store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
This pudding is the perfect healthy treat and it is gluten-free, dairy free and free of refined sugar. We can keep the secret that it's made from avocados just between us. Enjoy!
