Do you eat dessert every night? We don’t, but I really wish we did/could! It probably wouldn’t be a wise choice, though, because dessert in my mind is something sweet and sugary, usually heavy laden with bad calories that push you over the edge. I know dessert doesn’t have to be this way, but that’s a mental battle I have to get over. 😉
Yes, you can go a healthier route and serve fruit for dessert with some sort of low-fat yogurt dip, or grill it and call it a night (which both can be appetizing in my mind, depending on the day). Or, you can inject all sorts of alterations into a recipe to make it “lighter”. But, again, these are not the ideal desserts in my mind.
Plus, who has TIME to make dessert every day? I sure don’t!
You can imagine my delight when I came across this recipe for chocolate pudding that I don’t have to feel bad about eating every day. (Not that I would, but I could… <a-hem, cough, cough.>) There is no whole milk, heavy whipping cream, cornstarch, or sugar that you find in most recipes. The base of this chocolate pudding, and what makes it creamy, is the avocado! This means you can use a lighter milk, or not even a dairy product at all (like almond milk, coconut milk, etc.) because you’re not relying on it as the main substance. It is then sweetened with agave nectar or honey creating a dessert I wouldn’t feel guilty about eating every night. And, it’s a recipe to keep in my stash for serving to my gluten-free or vegan friends.
This is thrown together within minutes, maybe even seconds. There’s no ingredient prep, except to quickly peel and chop the avocado, then you just plop everything into your blender or food processor. You can even use your hand held mixer.
Don’t you love giving a dish to someone and not telling them what’s in it until they’ve almost eaten the whole thing? Since the avocado taste is masked well, Ben didn’t even taste a hint of it until I told him. Then he said he could taste it just a little, but it didn’t bother him at all. He loved it! Look who else loved it:
It truly seems like you’re eating a normal delectable homemade chocolate pudding! You can adjust the ingredient amounts very easily to achieve the perfect taste for you. My preference is listed below.
Now go fool your family or impress your vegan friends. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and stories on this one!
- 2 ripe medium avocados , peeled and chopped
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup honey or raw agave nectar (or other sweetener of choice)
- 1/2 cup milk (regular or almond milk, coconut, etc.)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Blend all ingredients, until smooth, in a blender, food processor or using a hand held mixer. Serve immediately, or chill first.
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Source: Adapted from my dear friend at Forgiving Martha
So so cool!! Definitely a dessert I can feel good about…and it doesn’t look avacado-ey at all!!
I love avocado pudding although I hate avocados! I’ve been eating avocado pudding a lot for breakfast lately but it’s healthy which makes it all okay. 🙂
If you want to make it really creamy, you can reduce the milk or leave it out all together and it makes it super rich and amazing.
I normally look like your little boy when I’m finished making a batch. It’s just so good!
haha, Erin! I would love to see a picture of you looking like Judah after eating some of this! 😉
Well I like avocado…and I like chocolate…so I may just have to bookmark this recipe!
Hello! I just discovered your site and I am so glad I did! I’ve been clicking through the recipes and I love what I’ve seen 🙂 Especially this one…OMG! I had no idea you could do this! 😀
Your photos are amazing, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to share what kind of camera and lighting setup you have. I desperately want to improve the pictures I take for my blog and need to upgrade my equipment.
Thanks in advance! 🙂
Thanks Tiffiny! You can find my camera information on my About page, but you can get achieve great photos on any camera with some practice. As far as lighting, never use flash. I try to make use of daylight as much as I can and always set up in the same spot (my dining room table next to the window). I also use a white foam board (only $1 at the Dollar Tree) to reflect the light. 🙂
Wow what an awesome idea!! I am so trying this. I will let you know how it turns out!!
This is so good!!! And judahs pic makes it even better!!!!
Looks awesome, Nikki!! xo Your little man makes it look EVEN BETTER!
Can you taste the avacado ?
There is a faint taste of it, but only if you know it’s there (in my opinion). 🙂
I read this post at about 8:10 and now it’s 8:19 and the pudding is already gone! You were right…super easy and yummy! Of course my husband felt the need to put some whipped cream on his (which I’m sure made it even better!) but it was great without it! He couldn’t figure out what was in it, and was shocked and impressed when I told him avocado! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Love it!! 🙂
I love this idea… I would feel less guilt eating chocolate pudding that had avocado in it!
I was so thrilled that we had the chance to meet at FBF Orlando and now I can’t wait to follow your blog! I’m loving this extra creamy twist on a classic!
Love it! Looks rich and decadent.
I can’t get over how smooth and creamy it looks! I am totally intrigued now. Must try!
What a GREAT recipe and I love that it gets lots and lots of good fats into my skinny little five year old girl! I made this for lunch and honestly neither kid was super crazy about it. I think I need to tweak it-maybe a little less cocoa powder and maybe slightly more sweetener…not sure. But I thought it was great and had just a faint taste of avocados. Thanks Nikki!
Did you find a combination that works? The coco taste was a bit too bitter for my kids but I did not taste the avocado at all.
I’ve seen Chocolate Avocado Pudding before but I’ve yet to make it. I’m a little hesitant about what it will taste like, but it’s not so much that I’m not willing to try, I just haven’t found that perfect moment. I must admit, your pudding looks absolutely delicious 🙂
Oh, you must find that perfect moment! 🙂 And, the best thing about this recipe is you can so easily tweak it to fit your tastes. Enjoy!
Looks delicious. I have to make this. Lovely blog you’ve got here. 🙂
This is amazing! Hope you don’t mind, but I put a post on my blog linking back to this recipe 🙂
I just made this for my son who is the pickiest eater. He loved it! I’m so glad you posted this.
I told hubby about this yesterday because he wanted pudding. He thinks he’ll be able to taste the avocado too 🙂
Blech! I made this and it’s very bitter. It took adding a lot more honey and some plain sugar to make it tolerable. Still not enjoyable. I love avocado smoothies, so it’s not anything I might have against avocados. ): Thanks for the recipe, but this was not good for me.
i will try this pud on monday never tried avocados before.i have alpro choc pud made with soya milk 110 cals in each pot.
I never post comments but this recipe was so good I just had to thank you. I put half in the freezer and it was divine! My fiancé had the great idea to use the other half as a dip for fresh strawberries and chocolate graham crackers. We are hooked!
P.S. I used light chocolate Silk soy milk – can’t have too much chocolate!
Thanks, Rachel! I love the idea of freezing it since when I was little I loved to eat frozen pudding cups. And, dipping fresh fruit is such a great treat!
This was really good. My husband is on a wheat, dairy and sugar free diet and it is hard to find good treat recipes. I did have to add a little extra honey to take the bitterness out. I also added a pinch of salt. Thanks for the recipe!!
Not really sugar free when you add honey 🙂
Mu brother in law made this for thanks giving, AMAZING is all I can say, I knew what was in it ahead of time, still can’t believe it’s from avacado……I literally could eat a gallon of this stuff……try it you’ll LOVE it
I tried this recipe but didn’t make it quite as healthy. I had been having a major ice cream craving. I used 1.5 c of cream in the recipe and froze it. It was a hit with everyone!
The taste of this is okay. I was just really upset that the avocado wasn’t blending well for me while using a hand mixer. It blended better in a blender and food processor. I love how simple and easy this is but I found it to be really messy! It wasn’t sweet enough, I might add honey instead of agave, and lots more of it!
I used the processor and it came out incredibly smooth. Also, I had to double the honey and I added both a whole banana and a tablespoon of brown sugar because it’s so darn bitter my daughter(5) said um that tastes like dirt mommy… so in went the extra stuff ha!
This looks great, and a great idea for a vegan dessert, but just wanted to mention that honey isn’t vegan, just for anyone reading this and planning on serving it to any vegan guests, but weren’t aware about honey 🙂 thankyou for adding agave nectar as a vegan alternative, I wouldn’t have a clue what to use otherwise! 🙂
Hi there! I was just wondering, can you used unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Alison,
Yes, you can. That is actually what I use as it is sweetened with the honey. 🙂
Thanks!
Nikki
Thank you for the recipe! I tried it and it was super easy and very yummy! 🙂
How does it hold up in the fridge overnight?? Thinking about making this for the boys lunches tomorrow 🙂
Hi Sarah,
It should hold up just fine over night as long as it’s covered tightly. 🙂
Will it make a difference if I am using 2% milk?
You can definitely use 2% milk! 🙂
This was incredible! It tasted just like real pudding! I was hesitant to try it because of the naysayers, but I am so glad I tried it. This is so sweet and delicious you could use it to ice a cake. My two-year-old giggled after her first taste. Thank you!
haha! I love that your 2-year old giggled. 🙂 Glad you love the pudding! Goes to show we all may have different tastes, and to know for sure you just have to try it for yourself! 🙂
This is the first time that I am ever commenting on anything but just had to say thank u for this awesome recipe.Wow, I used this recipe today and I think I am never going back to the traditional chocolate pudding ever. It turned out so delicious……..hummmmm!!!!! Could not taste the avocado in it at all.
So glad, Krishna! Thank you for taking the time to comment, too!
I had three avocados that were about a day away from being thrown in the compost heap. I thought I may as well try this. I used my Ghirardelli cocoa. I also used stevia liquid instead of honey (2 droppers, because that’s what I had). Super rich and yummy. I will never toss an avocado again! What an excellent way to add good fats and dark chocolate into my day. THANK YOU!
That’s wonderful, Kathy! I’m so glad you were able to use up your avocados before going completely to waste! Yay!
Oh yay!! I just asked that question because I can’t have agave or honey!! Thank you!!
Eek, that wasn’t what I expected at all, I didn’t like this one at all, it looked fine, good consistency,,, but, sadly It didn’t taste good, I even added some Nutella to help the taste, but.. Tastes of Avocado, not like chocolate pudding :-(. I’ll save the avocados for guacamole. Thanks for the recipe idea anyway.
This is a really good recipte but it took a while an one extra ugar to make it smooth and sweet
Thank you for this scrumptious recipe. The consistency is spot on. The flavor is sooooo much better than any store bought pudding. I made it exactly as written using vanilla almond milk and am very pleased with the results. My recommendation to those who didn’t care for it would be to try it again with the expectation of it being a healthy alternative to the store bought mixes. You can taste the pure healthy goodness!
Wondering if can be frozen and turned into icecream??
I haven’t tried!
Yep.
It is a little too gloppy for me, unless I freeze it. Froze it in little porcelain dessert cups. you have to really dig in to spoon it out- super satisfying.
FANTASTIC way to use and store the expiring avocados!
OHHHHHHHH love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made this pudding twice now. Seriously so delicious!!!! I added strawberries as a topping! Thanks for this recipe – satisfied my chocolate craving!
Yum! I’ll have to try the strawberries!
Love it!! I will never make boxed pudding again…so creamy, I added 100% organic coconut and slivered almonds and blended again. Almond Joy avacado chocolate pudding. It was so good!
I can not have honey or agave will it make a big difference if I just leave that out and use a couple drops of stevia?
Wow! This was super easy to make, and it came out light and creamy! I am a bonafide chocoholic, and this is a great way to satisfy the craving. I did double up on the sweetener to take the edge off the bitterness of the cocoa powder … just right for my taste buds. I would make it again!
This was seriously delicious! I followed the recipe but I put a little less maple syrup and I could taste the cocoa goodness in all its glory!
And to all the people who had to ADD sugar I would like to say: you might be addicted to sugar, it is a drug (don’t trust me, do some research). It brings a lot of health issues. Kids are at risk too.
If and when you are ready to change, try slowly cutting down and you will discover the great flavors of foods.
End of the preaching