And the avocado love continues! I didn’t plan it this way — I must be on an avocado kick, I tend to go through phases where I use a bunch of one ingredient!
For years, dairy was off limits since I was told I was lactose intolerant, so of course restaurant or store-bought chocolate pudding wasn’t an option. Although I am now able to eat dairy in smaller quantities, I acquired a taste for non-dairy alternatives over the years and actually prefer certain substitutes (ie. I love almond and coconut milk).
This non-dairy chocolate pudding is no exception – the creaminess of the avocado makes for a rich-tasting dessert while being sweetened by fruit and a bit of stevia. I admit I was wary at first to try this dessert as I’ve seen variations floating around the blogosphere, but don’t be scared! You can’t taste the avocado, it blends in beautifully with the rest of the ingredients to create a silky dessert that is both healthy and delicious! Plus, avocados are packed with potassium, Vitamin E, lutein, fiber and antioxidants. If you are interested in learning more health benefits of avocado and why you should include more of this fruit into your diet, check out this page at Green Parenthood.
I’ve made this pudding multiple times but my favorite is topped with cacao nibs – a burst of chocolate goodness with some crunch for the variety in texture…for those that know me, I’m big on texture! You can also serve this plain, with chopped nuts, whipped cream, fresh berries, coconut flakes, fresh banana slices or nut butter – it’s all delicious!
Chocolate Avocado Pudding with Cacao Nibs
Ingredients
2 avocado, chopped
5-6 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 banana (ripe but NOT overripe)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (updated 1/13/12 – if you want super thick pudding, you can omit)
1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
dash of cinnamon
stevia to sweeten (I used about 6 drops)
For serving, optional
Cacao nibs
Berries for garnish, optional
Directions
1. In a food processor or high powered blender, add ingredients avocado through stevia and process to combine, about 1 minutes until smooth and well incorporated. If too thick, add more milk. Serve immediately or let chill for a couple hours (I like to chill the mixture and let the flavors meld together).
Serves 2
Recipe Notes: If you prefer a sweeter pudding, use more stevia or you could add honey, if desired. Cacao nibs add great texture and a great punch of chocolate flavor but are completely optional!
If the banana is too ripe, it lends a funky flavor to the pudding. If bananas aren’t your thing, use several tablespoons of honey (or agave) and reduce the milk slightly.
I stole the berry on top! Just had to dig in 🙂
Natural Noshing 
This makes me want to lick my screen…or go buy some avocados, the latter of which is probably more appropriate. I’ve been making ‘pudding’ with psyllium husks a lot lately (mostly just to use up a can of them), which makes for a healthy, but not, uh, texturally ideal dessert. This alternative, though, looks silkier than the dairy-laden original.
Thanks Erin, your comment made me laugh! Your psyllium husk pudding sounds interesting, do you have a recipe? This pudding is a fav for me, and good for you too!
Oh my… this looks soooooo good! Healthy chocolate pudding, topped with cacao nibs! Heaven is here!
Does it have a somewhat firm texture? I like my pudding really firm, yet creamy. Ah, guess I will have to give it a try… there’s no better way to know for sure! I’m thinking I could probably even turn this into a healthy chocolate pie… why not?
And another recipe for my trusty Must Try List. I think I will soon have to rename it “Recipes from Nora’s Site that I must absolutely try! 😉
Thanks Sonia! You can control the texture by how much milk you add, the pudding will hold it’s shape since I do not like thin pudding either 🙂 Just use a high powdered blender or a food processor to ensure everything is mixed up well. I think you could definitely make it into pie if the mixture was a bit thicker and refrigerated to firm up a bit more. You’ve sparked an idea that I’ve gotta try!!! If you make a version please let me know!
PS I need to make your bell pepper pasta salad, it looks SO good and filling!
Thanks for the clarifications, Nora! Although it took me a few seconds to figure out what a high POWDERED blender was… 😉
For sure, I will let you know if I make a pie… I will even let you know if I don’t make one and only try your pudding as is (which will probably happen first, as I still haven’t figured out how to make a healthy “sweet” dough).
I hope you like the pasta salad if you try it (I strongly recommend you go with the second version!) 😀
Haha, whoops! Wrote that too fast, thanks for setting me straight 🙂 I’ll let you know if I make a pie version…maybe I will make a raw crust to go with it to go along with the raw pudding or a no-bake version at least…I need to experiment!
When I make the pasta salad (not if), I’ll let you know how it turns out!
I first saw this photo on tastespotting and I have to say it looks pretty darn good (I mean it’s chocolate so how could it not be?!), but I have to say what intrigued me is the avacado. My questions though: can this be made with regular milk rather than the unsweeted almond milk and if I use regular sugar instead of stevia, do you have any idea how much I should use? Thanks!
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I actually prefer it to regular pudding and the avocado is really creamy! Yes you can definitely use any milk that you prefer, regular cow’s milk or even coconut milk would be delicious! If you use sugar instead, I would probably use powdered sugar so you won’t get the grainy texture from the sugar. I’d say 1 Tbsp would be ok? You can always add more if you want it sweeter, depending on your taste buds 🙂 Hope this helps!
I made it last night. Lighter, creamier, BETTER than real pudding is my vote. I also threw in a wad of fresh spinach, undetectable amidst the dark chocolate cocoa powder.
I do have a psyllium husk pudding recipe, but there is no contest which version is better between yours and mine (definitely yours). A hybrid might be worth a shot for an extra dose of fiber from the husks.
http://bit.ly/oxgi8k
Isn’t it lovely?!? Such a quick and delicious dessert! Spinach – you are my kind of gal! Have you seen my mint chocolate chip ice cream? I used spinach as the “green food color” 🙂 I’ll definitely check your psyllium version out! thanks for the link!
The recipes on this blog are the most intriguing of any I’ve seen! And they always look so scrumptious – – how can they be healthy! You have quite a knack for making yummy stuff that is good for you!
Aww thanks so much for your kind words Food Lover in TX! It’s much appreciated! 🙂
Just made this using milk instead of almond milk, did not add any sweetener at all, the banana was enough, and used my stick blender thing, as I was too impatient for my blender jar to come out of the dishwasher. All I can say is WOW!! It is amazing. Definitely worth trying, you would never guess it is avocado! Thanks for the great recipe!!
So glad you enjoyed it! I’ll have to try this with my stick blender as well 🙂 thanks for letting me know about your success, always great to hear!
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Can one replace the almond milk with normal milk if you aren’t lactose intolerant?
Yes! You can use whatever milk you would like – I use almond milk myself. For a really thick pudding, eliminate the milk altogether 🙂
Thanks so much – greetings from South Africa!
Thanks again for stopping by! I’d love to visit South Africa someday 🙂 I hope you enjoy the pudding!
Can one replace the almond milk with normal milk if you aren’t lactose intolerant?
I just made this and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooo Good!!!
So glad you like the pudding Shez! Which reminds me, I need to make this again really soon! 🙂
I’ve never had an avocado before, anticipating that they’d be gross. But I bought 5 of them yesterday! I’m making this as soon as they’re ripe. And for some reason my husband, who hates healthy sweets, was incredibly enthusiastic about this recipe. “Can we make this?! I want it!” Whole grain whatever he usually dislikes, but chocolate and avocado together just floats his boat. Strange. Anyway, I’ll let you know how it comes out. 🙂
I used to detest avocados but I LOVE them now! Just don’t let them get too ripe for this recipe because then it causes a slight funky taste 🙂 I sure hope you and your hubby like this pudding! I LOVE it and the texture is unreal and pudding like 🙂 The best is to let the flavors meld in the fridge for a while and let it chill – yum, yum! Can’t wait to see what you think!
When you say too ripe, do you mean like black bananas that you use for banana bread, or that I should use them just as soon as they’re ready? I hope they’re ready soon! I want to make this now because I’ve really been craving pudding for a long time. Too bad you can’t make butterscotch pudding out of avocados. That would just be dandy. 🙂
I would make the pudding when the bananas have just a few spots of brown on them but definitely not black, otherwise it over powers the pudding. You could also sub soaked medjool dates for different flavor (would be more caramel-y…if that’s a word, but probably wouldn’t be as creamy unless they were well soaked).
Im going to have to come up with a butterscotch pudding now! Not sure if the avocados could be used but I sure could try! Now you’ve got my wheels spinning 🙂
Nora Nora! I made it! You made me eat avocados. 🙂
I’m allergic to bananas (and not really a fan) but I wanted to try this anyway. I used 1/3 cup cow’s milk and it was so unbelievably creamy. It has a better texture than normal pudding! Even the husband said so.
I don’t have Stevia yet so I ground up some unrefined sugar in a coffee grinder and used that. I used 2 tablespoons and it was sweet enough. Yay pudding. I’m so happy! Thank you so much. I took pictures and will post about it at some point if that’s okay with you. Probably before Valentine’s Day. 🙂
YAY!!!!! Nice job Erin! I am SO glad you liked it – and good for you for eating avocados! 🙂 And wow, you even tried it though you are allergic to bananas? That’s dedication + being adventurous!
Isn’t the texture unreal?
Your substitutions sound like they worked really well – I can’t wait to see your photos (they are always brilliant) and of course you can post about it!
They don’t kill me or put me in a coma so I wasn’t that adventurous. 🙂
The texture is really amazing! I made it with raspberries already (YUMMY!) and I’m making it again tomorrow.
Oh good!!! I am going to have to try the pudding with raspberries instead of bananas – YUMMMMM!
I am wondering if the pudding will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Since avocados turn brown without lemon or lime juice… I’m sure they will ‘turn brown’ in the pudding, but obviously it will be masked by the chocolate. I would love to make some ahead of time and pack in my sons lunchbox for a few days. Any thoughts?
HI Lora! I think it would keep for a day or so but I’ve found you can taste the avocado if it sits too long and it wasn’t in a good way. I made a chocolate avocado buttercream for my vanilla cake and it kept for 3 days in the fridge…it didnt last longer than that so I wouldn’t know longer than 2-3 days how it would turn out. I usually eat it up too quickly to find out!
I forgot about a little bit of leftover pudding for 5 days and I didn’t notice a funky taste when I devoured it for breakfast. 🙂 But maybe it has to do with how ripe your avocado was to begin with. Just mix it up well in the morning when packing it for your son because there’s a little bit of a color difference.
Great to know! Thanks Erin! It must have something to do with the ripeness of the avocados 🙂
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I love this idea! making it for the 2nd time, so delicious and healthy! love when I can find a truly guilt-free dessert 🙂 thank you for the post
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