Raw Chocolate Pudding: 3 Ways

The best pudding ever, vegan or not, it is simply amazing! It's taken me a good few months to finally get around to trying this out and as I expected it is delicious in every way. Made from avocado, banana and cacao/cocoa powder along with a few various other ingredients and you have a most wonderful healthy, dairy free, wholesome pudding that will rival any other. I have here three amazing ways to enjoy this pudding. All three are wonderful with my personal favorites being the addition of cinnamon, and I love the orange too. Oh, and a dollop of the coconut whipped cream on top takes it to another level....absolutely heavenly! I also used some vegan chocolate chips and cinnamon as garnish. Mix and match the toppings on all three recipes. You will find a basic chocolate pudding, an orange chocolate pudding and a cinnamon espresso chocolate pudding. Lots of ways to keep this pudding versatile and fresh. I'm sure you can add your own flair to any of these making it even more personal. I would love to hear any additions you might think of. Maybe a dash of cayenne pepper for a spicy chocolate pudding. Have fun experimenting!

This is so easy to make. Cut your avocado in half, remove the seed, pinch and squeeze the halves of avocado into the blender. Peel your banana, break in chunks and place it in with the avocado. Add the remaining ingredients into the blender and blend until nice and creamy. Add more liquids as needed for desired consistency. Taste for flavor adjusting to your liking and serve however you like. So easy and positively delicious!

Note: The reason I like the mix of avocado and banana is to lower the fat content. I have seen recipes calling for two avocados but have purposely chosen to stick with the banana instead for this reason. Feel free to omit the banana and add an extra avocado instead or add two avocados and one banana for a larger serving.

Each recipe makes one generous serving or two small servings.

The riper the banana, the sweeter it will be naturally saving you from having to add loads of extra sweetener. A nice ripe banana will have brown freckles and be mildly soft to the touch.

Basic Chocolate Pudding

(photos & basic recipe inspired by Made to Create)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado, skin and seed removed
• 1 ripe banana, peeled
• 3-4 tablespoons cacao/cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
• 1/2 cup water, + plus more as needed

Blend all ingredients in blender until creamy scrapping down the sides as needed to incorporate everything. Add more water as needed for desired consistency. Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly. Top with a dollop of whipped coconut cream and shaved dark chocolate, cacao nibs or vegan chocolate chips. You can serve at room temp but I find it's best when chilled in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a couple days.

Here's a great tutorial for the coconut whipped cream from Lunchboxbunch.com...truly a delicious topping! How to: Whipped Coconut Cream from Coconut Milk

My coconut whipped cream didn't come out as fluffy as it should have due to my impatience...I will be taking new photos soon. Once you see the tutorial you will see what I mean, it should be fluffy and mine is flat, albeit it's still delicious. :)

 Orange Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado, skin and seed removed
• 1 ripe banana, peeled
• 3-4 tablespoons cacao/cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, + more as needed
• 1 teaspoon or so orange zest, optional

Blend all ingredients in blender until creamy scrapping down the sides as needed to incorporate everything. Add more orange juice as needed for desired consistency. Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly. Top with vegan chocolate chips and/or coconut whipped cream. You can serve at room temp but I find it's best when chilled in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a couple days.

Cinnamon Espresso Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado, skin and seed removed
• 1 ripe banana, peeled
• 3-4 tablespoons cacao/cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water, + more as needed

Blend all ingredients in blender until creamy scrapping down the sides as needed to incorporate everything. Add more water as needed for desired consistency. Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly. Top with vegan chocolate chips and/or whipped coconut cream. You can serve at room temp but I find it's best when chilled in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a couple days.

For this to be 100% raw, omit the espresso powder. It's fantastic with just the cinnamon too!

Enjoy!