Love chocolate pudding, but want it dairy free? Look no further. It makes my day when my kids like the way the results of a new recipe tastes. My daughter’s recent diagnosis of food sensitivities has really pushed me to be a little more creative in the kitchen. Even though sweet-tasting foods don’t jump to the front of the line over vegetable-based foods, I don’t want my daughter to feel deprived either. She’s seven, which is a beautiful age. She’s old enough to read food labels and to understand that it’s going to be a while before she can start eating foods that gave her a funky skin problem. On the flip side, she’s still young and entitled enough to have an absolute meltdown if she can’t have something “special” once in a while.
Before I went to bed last night, I realized that I didn’t have anything fun for her lunch. At this point, she’s fairly limited. No gluten, dairy, eggs, cane sugar or beans. Even really good dark chocolate is made with some amount of organic cane sugar. Since I was leaning toward making something chocolate, I opted to make a pudding.
The first batch was an absolute disaster. It tasted really good before it set, but I added grass-fed gelatin instead of a starch (why I love grass fed gelatin). Normally this would be ok, but I added too much gelatin and ended up with a big brown brick by 6:00am this morning. That disgusting image you have in your head is almost exactly what the pudding looked like.
I’m an optimist, so I carved out a chunk of the the brown giggly stuff and attempted to give my daughter a taste. At first she just laughed at the way to moved on the spoon…and I can’t say I blame her. She took a little nibble and quickly said, “Ahhhh, no, it’s not good. I still love you though.” She always finishes with “I still love you though” to soften the blow.
With less than an hour to go before my kids had to be at school, I opened the freezer and saw a bunch of frozen bananas. Bingo! I also had a half of an avocado waiting to be eaten in the fridge. Perfect.
I quickly assembled a few ingredients, threw them into my blender and gave it a whirl. Before adding to a Thermos, I gave my daughter a taste. Thumbs up! I sprinkled a few chocolate chips just to garnish, but it’s really not necessary. In the end, this was the result.
Dairy Free Chocolate Pudding
serves 2
½ c. unsweetened almond milk (can substitute any milk alternative, unsweetened)
1 banana, frozen
½ avocado
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. honey (can substitute agave nectar to make vegan)
1 ½ tsp. potato starch (can substitute corn starch or arrowroot starch)
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine all these ingredients to a blender and pulse for a few seconds before turning to full speed. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
About Traci
Traci D Mitchell is a nationally-recognized Chicago-based nutrition coach and personal trainer featured on the TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. As the trainer for Steve Harvey’s Bridal Bootcamp, Traci keeps herself busy by challenging others to be the healthiest they can be. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and private coaching. Interested in working with Traci? Get info here. To keep up-to-date, subscribe to her newsletter.
