When Brad lived in Brazil he was surprised to learn that there, avocados are seen as a fruit. The avocado fruit smoothie is a common breakfast, and avocados work their way into other sweet foods as well. So even if it sounds a bit strange, trust us, and the Brazilians. This pudding is darn good.
We just took this pudding to a picnic the other day and it was a hit among adults and kids alike. You won’t believe what’s in here.
- 3 ripe avocados
- 1 cup raw cocoa powder
- ½ cup raw honey or maple syrup [Edt: changed from agave nectar]
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Combine all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Depending on the ripeness of your avocados, you may need to add a little more cocoa or agave nectar. Add just a little at a time until it’s to your liking. This pudding should have a very smooth, deep chocolate flavor.
- Spoon into dessert bowls and serve.
- Really. That’s it. Make it already. You’ll have to try it to believe us. Avocados make fantastic chocolate pudding.
- There are endless variations on how you can serve this up. We had this last week with sliced bananas and strawberries on top. We’ve also used coconut pieces, walnuts and cashews as great toppings. Shredded coconut is great to have stirred up in the pudding as well – adds great texture and flavor. And you can always stir in a few tablespoons of raw cocoa nibs for a chocolate chip-type feel. Yep, the sky’s the limit with this one.
Health Benefits:
Chocolate has a very high amount of flavanoids, which act as antioxidents and so reduce free radicals in the body and help prevent cancer and other types of diseases. Some of the flavanoids in chocolate also produce nitric oxide in the body, which helps lower blood pressure. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which produces endorphines in the brain that help balance mood and make you feel good.
Avocado is high in oleic acid (like olive oil), which has been shown to prevent breast cancer. The fat in avocados is very healthy and actually aids the absorption of important nutrients. Avocados also help prevent prostate, oral, and many other types of cancers. Avocados contain glutathione, which is a very powerful antioxidant. Avocados also contain a lot of folate for heart health, lutein for eye health and beta-sitosterol for lowering cholesterol.
photo credit: aliciagriffin cc
I just tried this recipe, after rereading it for so long- it tasted FABULOUS! So rich, decadent! Wow, who would have thought? Thanks for sharing!
It’s amazing isn’t it! Thanks for letting us know, Dru. We’re thrilled to hear you tried it and that you liked it so much. Now we like to experiment with different additions as well: coconut oil, bananas (blended in with the pudding), chia seeds sprinkled on top, etc. Hope to hear from you again.
This was truly incredible. I made it tonight and can’t wait to share it with people! I used honey instead of agave. It was super-rich and awesome! Thanks!
That’s awesome! Thanks for trying it out and letting us know, and we’re thrilled to hear your response. It’s definitely one of our favorites. And yeah, we make generally make it with honey or maple now as well.
Raw cocoa or cacao?
Cacao can give people a stimulant overdose at just 1.5 tbsp. Ingested over several months, it can burn out the adrenals and damage the liver. As for cooked cocoa, it’s less potent, but still a food to be treated carefully! I blame dangerously high cortisol on cacao ingestion-started with a pudding just like this! Important to consider! Some people have bad reactions to just 1 tsp cacao. 1 cup eaten in 2 days would likely lead to insomnia, at best.
Hey Jen, thanks for your comment. Yes, high sustained doses of cacao can lead to adrenal fatigue, and those who are sensitive should reduce their consumption of cacao. Though we’d be dealing with other issues if someone was consuming a tablespoon and half every day for months on end. However, there are many substances that are much more problematic for the adrenals than cacao – coffee and sugar being two examples. The message isn’t that people should avoid cacao – raw cacao or a square of dark chocolate have arguable beneficial properties – but that desserts are just fine, meant to be limited and savored when eaten.
Hey Brad, I loved this so much that I posted my own version of it on my blog. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: http://www.creativesimplelife.com/chocolate-avocado-mousse/ I used honey instead of agave and added in some salt and optional non-dairy milk. I also included a link to and mention of this page! Thanks again for the inspiration.