Happy Monday guys!
Here’s is my latest creation to get you through this Monday. Chocolate avocado pudding. And it's sooo darn good! How did I do it? Well again, I wanted a clean sweet treat that's also loaded with protein for a filling snack, and very healthy! I also didn't want something full of processed sugar that was going to give me a sugar crash and a headache.
So this pudding has no added sweeteners, like sugar, or even maple syrup. It's mainly sweetened by dates! (One of my other favourite food groups! Joking, I know this is not a food group, but it should be!) Then throw in some of my other favourite things, like peanut butter, collagen and cocoa powder.. eh voila! Chocolate pudding!
It's only 165 calories per serving (1/4 cup). I used all organic ingredients, and only 5 ingredients in total. Which is very exciting for those of us in favour of clean whole foods with minimal ingredients (as on the Whole 30 diet). Or at least ingredients that we can actually pronounce and know what they are. None of these mysterious ingredients that we don't understand, like polysorbate 80. I mean what is that anyway? And it has a number in it, making it all the more mysterious. I found this in a jar of pickles in the grocery store the other day. Well it's definitely synthetic, that's for sure.
Anyway, I like making these sweet treats firstly because I actually know, and control, what goes into them. None of this mysterious stuff. And I know what kind of sweetener goes into them and how much, i.e. no painful sugar crash that ruins your day.
Here's how I did it.
Ingredients
20 dates (I used pitted sayer dates)
1 small avocado
1 very ripe banana
1/4 cup milk (or non-dairy milk alternative)
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 scoops collagen powder (for a discount on this at furtherfood.com use the code NATASHA10)
Directions
Take your dates and place them in a pot with one cup of water. Place a lid on the pot and boil for approximately 15 minutes or until tender. Then let the dates sit for 5 - 10 minutes.
Then place dates and remaining liquid from the pot in a blender and pulse until they form a paste. Add the avocado, banana and milk to the blender and pulse until smooth.
Then, in a large mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder, peanut butter, sea salt and collagen (collagen is optional).
Then place the pudding in a glass container and put in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm. And you're all done.
You can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days in a glass container. This recipe serves about six 1/4 cup size portions, at 165 calories per serving. Recipe adapted from Ale Zozos.
You can add an array of different toppings to the pudding and combine it with your other favourite sweet treats and desserts.
Here I put the pudding in a chocolate oat cup with some fruit.