Now we all know that fruit and dried fruit are an easy healthy alternative to sweets, however, if you’re craving chocolate, there is no fruit on earth that will satisfy your craving! The good news is that cocoa before it is made into chocolate, can be part of a healthy diet. The bad news is that pure cocoa is actually not so tasty! Here we’re using cocoa with a healthy mix of ingredients to create a lovely chocolate chia pudding that will satisfy that craving for chocolate without ingesting all those fats and sugars that traditional chocolate has!
Here our base will be chia seeds. Now chia seeds are actually healthy, however, they still have a high-calorie value and do have some fats so do not go overboard with this pudding unless you are trying to gain weight. However, they are extremely high in fiber so they will help clean some of that excess fat! (Be careful when introducing chia seeds to your diet, they might induce side effects especially if you have any medical conditions.)
My suggestion for this dessert is, have a smaller lunch or dinner and follow up with this pudding unless you want to gain some lovely, luscious curves! It’s filling and nutritional, so good enough to substitute some of your food. Between chia seeds, peanuts, cashews, and milk it is even a good source of protein! So let’s see how this sweet recipe goes!
Ingredients
- Peanuts, Cashew Nuts, or Homemade Peanut Butter
- Cocoa powder
- Milk (or Chocolate Milk, and preferably nut milk instead of cow’s milk)
- Chia Seeds
- Coconut Shreds (Optional)
Method
Now this recipe is easy to make, however, it needs some preparation beforehand. So we start by soaking some chia seeds in some milk (you can use chocolate milk here, or, you can use regular milk and add cocoa powder). Leave in the refrigerator (as it has milk) for a couple of hours, the chia seeds should grow to about double their size, so you need more or less twice as much milk as you have chia seeds. I usually leave them overnight just to give them enough time to chill and drink.
Next up is the peanut portion! Blend some peanuts (mixed with some cashews or either-or, your choice) or some homemade peanut butter recipe with some milk and cocoa powder (use chocolate milk for a stronger chocolate taste! If you don’t want to use cow milk, alternatives are still available in chocolate flavor!). Add some shredded coconut and blend some more. Make sure to leave this mixture nice and runny, so if the coconut dries it out, add some more milk! Check on the chia seeds and if that has soaked all the moisture make this mixture even runnier!
Now mix most of the two mixtures together until you have a nice pudding consistency (or a consistency you fancy). Serve and add a top layer of the peanut and chocolate milk as a sauce. Top up with some extra coconut shreds and maybe a cherry or peanut on top! Dig in!
Variations
If your cocoa powder is pure cocoa or too bitter you may want to add some honey or maybe some dates to bring out the sweetness. Some bananas might also work, however, remember that banana does have a rather strong flavor! Ideally, mix them with the chocolate and peanut mix so you can blend them well. Cinnamon is another flavor you can play with that will also make your mix sweeter! It has an amazing amount of calcium and fiber, however, cinnamon is known to increase your metabolism, so it’s a good addition if you want to lose weight but not so great if you want to add a few kilos! You may try this recipe with almonds or hazelnuts too! Or maybe you fancy trying a white chocolate one? Few drops of vanilla and white chocolate powder should do the trick! Hope you enjoyed this recipe and hope it will help those chocoholics out there satisfy those cravings with a healthier snack! Feel free to leave a comment below, we would like to hear your thoughts and get some feedback!