Vegan Chocolate Pudding (without avocado or tofu)

I debated whether to call this vegan chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse.  It reminds me of a cross between the two, but since when I served it to my kids they said, “Yummy chocolate pudding!” I went with pudding.

The truth is, this is not really a pudding or a mousse in the traditional sense.  Pudding is made with milk and sugar and thickened with corn starch.  Mousse is made with similar ingredients, but with the addition of egg whites for a lighter and airier texture. 

This vegan chocolate pudding is made with (almond) milk, but there’s no cornstarch or eggs in there. So what gives this pudding its bulk?  No, it’s not avocado chocolate pudding or tofu chocolate pudding.

It’s beans.

I should have called this Black Bean Chocolate Pudding, but that would have scared you away, wouldn’t it?  Don’t be afraid of using beans in this pudding.  I promise you, you do not taste the beans one bit.

Here’s what you need to know about this vegan chocolate pudding.  The taste is incredible.  While I love chocolate puddings made with avocado or silken tofu, it’s really hard to mask the avocado or soy completely.  There’s always that slight off-taste or aftertaste that makes you question what’s in there.  Here? No ma’am.  The taste is 100% beautiful chocolate.

I used dark cocoa powder and it was fabulous, so if you can find it I definitely recommend the dark chocolate.  I’ve also made this with regular cocoa powder and that tastes great, too, so either will work. 

As you can see in the pictures, the pudding is light and creamy.  Because of the beans, however, there is a slight graininess.  In my recipe testing, I tried to eliminate it completely, and I did reduce it, but it is still there. Think of hummus. It’s never totally smooth, right? I think the graininess is worth it to have a healthy dessert with nutrients like iron, calcium, and folate added from the beans. 

I used cashew butter to help with smoothness of the vegan chocolate pudding.  I chose cashew butter because it is sweet and has a more neutral flavor.  I wanted the chocolate to shine through.  You can definitely use peanut butter, almond butter, or even sunflower seed butter to make this nut-free.

Unlike traditional pudding, this has no refined sugar.  I sweetened this with maple syrup.  Other liquid sweeteners should work fine if you prefer. 

Because it’s December, and because I promised you healthy Christmas treats, I gave this vegan chocolate pudding a holiday spin.

First, I’ve been totally intrigued by the vegan “whipped cream” photos I’ve seen floating around the web that use the liquid from a can of chickpeas.  Yes, you read that right.  The fluffy white topping you see was made from whipping the liquid from a can of beans with some cream of tarter and sweetener.  Crazy, right?!

Including the topping is optional, but the recipe has the details if you are interested.  Then for a spot of red I topped them with a few pomegranate seeds.  Talk about a healthy, easy, and beautiful holiday dessert!

I need to tell you really quickly that this recipe was inspired by a reader.  She told me that she loved making my peanut butter chocolate energy balls for her toddler and since her little one didn’t like beans she’d love it in dip form to get him eating even more.  My kids are more pudding eaters than dip eaters, but with a little less milk, this would be a fabulous dip as well!  I hope you all love this and it gets your kids eating more beans. 🙂