Raw Chocolate Pudding

chocolate pudding 1There’s a little something causing a stir over on Instagram lately. Actually, it may not be causing a stir so much as it’s causing some drooling. It’s a chocolate coconut pudding pic from my breakfast the other day and yeah, I was totally a tease. I put it up there and left it there with no way for you to make it. Bad lady.

I usually try to post recipes anyone can make, without the need for too much fancy equipment, but I just can’t resist letting you in on this dessert/breakfast treat. All it requires is a high-speed blender, and access to a young, Thai coconut or two.

Speaking of coconuts, I think I’ve said before, but it bears repeating, the fat in coconuts is good for you! Yes, it is. Do not believe the ancient faulty pronouncement that the saturated fat in coconut is bad for you. It’s not. Actually, coconuts are full of MCTs or Medium Chain Triglycerides, which have been shown to speed up metabolism, along with a host of other health benefits.

Young Coconut OpenAnd speaking of saturated fat, don’t believe the old dogma! As a colleague of mine, Cara Rice, put it recently, “the 90s called. They want their research back.”

In case you haven’t picked up a New York Times, Scientific American or Time Magazine lately, let me say this: the idea that fat is responsible for heart disease was a big, fat lie. Seems in our attempt to rid ourselves of fat, we started hyper-processing our food, adding sugars and chemicals where the fat should have been, and sent our metabolism and blood sugar on a roller coaster ride that caused a society-wide diabesity and heart disease epidemic. All of this was recently proven by the same researcher who insisted we must all go low fat. Go figure.

It really is ok to eat real, whole food sources of fat. In fact, it’s more than ok, and your joints, muscles, immune system and brain will thank you to do so.

Let’s not get to heavy in a post about chocolate. The main point is you can indulge in this pudding for breakfast or dessert without a single pang of worry or guilt. Your waistline will be just fine with it, and so will your heart, as long as you keep the sweetener to a minimum. But it’s your taste buds that will thank you the most!

When I eat this for breakfast I eat half the recipe, or the equivalent of 1 whole coconut. In that case I’d usually throw in a tablespoon of chia seeds for extra fiber, calcium and Omega 3s, in addition to a big handful of spinach or two, in order to get my greens in first thing.

For dessert I just leave it as is. And I still eat a heaping portion.

Either way I’m likely to top it with raw cacao nibs, toasted almonds, berries and bananas, coconut whip, and/or toasted coconut chips.

Coconut Pudding 2 Sheesh, now I’m drooling. To the recipe!

Some notes. It’s not easy to know from the outside of a thai coconut how much meat is inside. It might be all liquidy and jelly like if it’s super young, or it could be almost ready to crack like a mature coconut. You might want to buy a few at a time for insurance. At the least, you’ll have all that yummy and electrolyte-rich water to drink! You should also have some avocado and/or cashews and coconut oil on hand. In case there is not enough meat to thicken the pudding, you can fix it with these.

Until I get my own “how to open a young thai coconut” video out there, you could just look it up on YouTube. There are lots of options.

Or hey, you could just come visit the delectable kitchen and I’ll give you a lesson…

Coconut Pudding 3On that heavier note, check out the two websites below for truly enlightening info on the health benefits of dietary fat.

wapf.org
thebigfatsurprise.com

And, as always, I value conversation even more than chocolate! What do you think about the big, fat lie? How do you embrace healthy fats in your diet (or not)? And, how can I help?

Let ‘er rip!

Laura

Raw Vegan Chocolate Pudding
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Rating: 5
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Breakfast masquerading as dessert. As healthy as it is delicious. There are a lot of notes at the bottom, but never fear, this is a very easy recipe!
Servings Prep Time
2-4 10 minutes
Passive Time
1/2 hour or up to overnight
Servings Prep Time
2-4 10 minutes
Passive Time
1/2 hour or up to overnight
Raw Vegan Chocolate Pudding
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Breakfast masquerading as dessert. As healthy as it is delicious. There are a lot of notes at the bottom, but never fear, this is a very easy recipe!
Servings Prep Time
2-4 10 minutes
Passive Time
1/2 hour or up to overnight
Servings Prep Time
2-4 10 minutes
Passive Time
1/2 hour or up to overnight
Ingredients
Optional Add Ins
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Shave the thick, white husk off the coconuts, crack open the top and pour out the water. Add 1/2 cup of the water to the blender and set the rest aside. Scoop out the meat of the coconuts and add to the blender jar. (see YouTube for instructions if you've never done this before) If you have a very young coconut with almost no meat, just gel, it will not work. Open another.
  2. Add remaining ingredients, plus optional flavors to the blender and blend well, stopping to scrape down the bender jar periodically. You may need to add more of the coconut water to get it to blend, depending on the thickness of your coconut meat. When the pudding is very smooth, like, you know, chocolate pudding rather than gritty coconut, it is done.
  3. Place blender jar in the refrigerator to set up and chill for at least half an hour, preferably more. I find this tastes best cold.
  4. Serve topped with crushed nuts, coconut chips, cacao nibs, shaved chocolate, berries, bananas or anything your heart desires!
Recipe Notes

1. If your coconut is really just all water and gel, not really formed 'meat' it won't work. Grab another and try again, but eat that one as is!

2. If  your pudding is too watery, start by adding 1/4 of a large avocado and blending well. Add more avocado until it is the consistency you like. Keep in mind the coconut firms up as it gels in the refrigerator, so you may chill for half an hour, then taste again.

3. If eating for breakfast (or really, if you just want to health it up) add a huge handful of spinach and blend well. It won't be such a pretty color, but it will still be delicious and it will help you get your 'green' on!

4. If you don't have avocado you can thicken the pudding with 1/4 cup raw cashews and 1-2 tsps of coconut oil, plus more as needed. Start with the smaller amount, let chill in the fridge, then check for consistency again. If all else fails, drink it as a smoothie!

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