Chocolate Pudding (vegan, paleo, sugar free)

Well, friends, it is finally starting to look like spring in Canada. It sure took Mother Nature long enough! It’s just about popsicle season! Speaking of popsicles, last year, I was planning to post a chocolate popsicle recipe. There was a little problem with my freezer at the time, though. The popsicles I made kept the consistency of pudding. So, I ate some very cold chocolate pudding. I did end up figuring out how to adjust the settings on my freezer so that it froze properly, and made raspberry cream popsicles a few weeks later.

Avocado-based chocolate pudding is nothing new in the vegan and food sensitivities world. However, I find that most recipes complicate things by adding ingredients that don’t need to be in the pudding. For example, milk (cow’s or non-dairy) will do nothing but water down the perfect creaminess of the avocado. I also find that adding vanilla extract takes away from the richness of the cocoa, rather than complementing it. So, I like to keep my chocolate pudding recipe nice and simple. Let’s say it becomes a “dark chocolate pudding”.

P.S. If you want to make this into popsicles, all you need to do is place the mixture into popsicle moulds. It works well, provided that your freezer is actually functional.

Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients
1 large ripe avocado
1 tbsp cocoa powder or raw cacao
Maple syrup to taste (a couple tablespoons should do)

Directions
With a large spoon, scoop the avocado out of its skin. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Put it into function until you have pudding. Eat the pudding. That was complicated, wasn’t it?

If you want to turn it into chocolate mint pudding, add a splash of peppermint extract.

Makes only 1 serving, so multiply as needed.