The (secret ingredient) healthy pudding!

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging when I mentioned the chocolate pudding in the Frozen Avocado post. Today I will show you how to make it!

 Shhh. The secret ingredient is avocados. Don’t tell anyone who wouldn’t like it if they knew!

A GAPS treat

When my older sister came home from college this summer, my mom and I put her on the GAPS diet. She is doing pretty well on it, but the food can get boring. She tries adding new things into her diet, but reactions are still frequent for her. This is a sign she might be introducing foods too fast. To help with the variety of food that she can tolerate, I decided to add something very tasty into her diet. It wasn’t long after I made this pudding that she would constantly ask for it! Thats how good it is!

It tastes  so “normal”

I also served this pudding in little cups at my graduation party. No one knew that these were healthy. Better yet, one of my friends who tried this hates avocado’s and she LOVED the pudding. I never told her that it had avocados in it ;). Sometimes it is better not to say anything about the ingredients in food around here!

This is GAPS friendly, assuming that you can have chocolate. If you cannot have chocolate, carob would work (powder or squares, just taste as you go) or even just some cinnamon (it might look a little wired because it is avocados, and they are green. But who really cares if it tastes good! Right?)

I hope you like this recipe as much as my family does. It has become a staple in my house! This chocolate pudding is rich though, so don’t over do it. It is sure easy to, because it tastes so delicious!!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups smashed (fresh of frozen) avocados 

1/2 cup raw coconut oil (melted)

4 (1 oz) squares of bakers unsweetned chocolate or 3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup raw honey

2 Tbsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean (learn how to scrape out seeds here)

1/2 tsp sea salt

*This recipe makes about 6 cups of chocolate pudding. It lasts for 1-2 weeks in your fridge. It might even last longer, but mine has not lasted that long without being eaten! You can always make half a batch if you want.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peal and smash avocados

2. Put smashed  avocado’s in a big bowl.

3. ** If you are using the bakers unsweetned chocolate…Unwrap and melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a heat proof bowl over boiling water). If you cut up the pieces of chocolate, it will melt faster and easier.

4. Add the coconut oil (melted), honey, salt, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, and vanilla to the bowl. Roughly stir to incorporate all ingredients.

5. Put half the mix into the the blender <– I use this one or Cuisinart. (I have learned that the Vitamix blender makes the pudding the best texture. Sometimes the Cuisinart or a regular blender will leave the pudding a little less silky, but still GREAT!)

6. Blend all together. I actually had to blend in 2 batches because it seems to put less stress on the blender and it runs smoother.

7. Scrape out the blended pudding into a container or a ball jar (I like to use a small spatula).

8. Blend the other half of the pudding. If you have a Vitamix, it is helpful to use the black plunger to keep the blade running, because this pudding is thick! If you don’t, you might have to stop the blender or Cuisinart to stir it a few times.

9. Scrape the other half of the pudding out of the blender.

10. Serve just as is! Refrigerate leftovers (I always make a big batch of GAPS foods because it is easier to make a big batch of one recipe, than remaking it over and over again. I like to save time).

* It will be hard when you take it out of the fridge (the coconut oil turns hard when cold). If you like a softer texture, just keep it on the counter for 15 min and stir before you eat. Cold tastes just as good though.

11. Yum!

~Stay Gutsy, Caroline