AVOCADO?
yea.. I didn't believe it either. This is very similar to my Banana Soft-Serve experience. Simply do a search for avocado pudding and you will see tons of web sites with recipes using a simple avocado as the base ingredient for pudding.
I had to try it.
I just had to.
So I did! And honestly, I'm SHOCKED. I never in a million years would have thought of doing this.
I'm just not an avocado person. I never ate them growing up and always thought they were odd. When little man was, well, little, I bought my first one as I thought it would be a good, soft, first food with lots of healthy benefits. But I was unimpressed and so was he. I just didn't understand their appeal.
But I kept trying them and experimenting with ways to include them, at least a little bit, into my diet. And now that I'm pregnant it's even more important for me to eat a variety of foods. Especially whole, unprocessed foods that have a lot of nutrients. Avocados fit the bill and this morning I decided to try to do something entirely different with them.
My first attempt of Chocolate Pudding made from Avocado was a smashing success! It was smooth, thick and chocolaty! Everything pudding is suppose to be.
I decided to use plain old organic sugar as I was worried honey would be too strong of a flavor. Especially as I was having the 5 year old taste test as well. Unfortunately he didn't seem to think the avocado pudding was as impressive as I did. But don't let that deter you, he doesn't like "regular" pudding that much either. I even stopped buying the little cups. He takes about 2 bites and then decides he's done. It's weird! Especially considering his mom can eat pudding by the ton!
Next time I will be using honey but here's how I made my first batch.
Ingredients
- 1 small ripe avocado
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (10g)
- 4 teaspoon sugar (16g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon almond milk (or skim or water)
Instructions
Half the avocado and remove the pit.
Cut a checker board pattern in the avocado.
Scoop out with a spoon and add it to the food processor.
Top with the cocoa, sugar, vanilla and salt.
Process stopping 1-2 times to scrape the sides.
After a few minutes you will be in awe!
Scoop out to serve.
Top with a squirt of whipped cream for effect and let the cheesy child taste test.
I have no DOUBT that he would have eaten this at 1,2,3 AND 4. At 5 he's getting pickier and pickier but I'm not giving up! It's all about variety and taste testing in my opinion. 🙂
Nutritionally avocados aren't "light" but this isn't about a low calorie pudding alternative. This is about finding way to eat more whole, nutrient dense foods in fun ways.
📖 Recipe
Unbelievable Chocolate Pudding Made with...
Ingredients
- 1 small ripe avocado
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 10g
- 4 teaspoon sugar 16g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon almond milk or skim or water
Instructions
- Half the avocado and remove the pit.1 small ripe avocado
- Cut a checker board pattern in the avocado.
- Scoop out with a spoon and add it to the food processor.
- Top with the cocoa, sugar, vanilla and salt.2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, 4 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, pinch of kosher salt
- Process stopping 1-2 times to scrape the sides. After a few minutes you will be in awe!
- Scoop out to serve.
- Top with a squirt of whipped cream for effect and let the cheesy child taste test.1 tablespoon almond milk
roni
I Healthy 10 month old boy no. I think it may be a little too late. 😉
Candice
I was told you shouldn't eat honey while pregnant. Something about a bacteria that may not get thoroughly processed out that can be dangerous... Not sure exactly, maybe ask your doctor... 🙂
Cindy
I tried this tonight and it was really pretty good! It was definitely very filling and satisfied my sweet craving. I didn't have any vanilla on hand so I think that made a difference. Also, I would definitely chill it first before eating (if you can wait that long)
Cindy from BTL
roni
Alex - THere's no doubt a hint of avocado but it seemed to disappear after the first bite or two for me. I'd try another avocado or increase the sugar a bit. Do you like dark choc? that would also make the taste a bit more.
Alex
I just finished making this and I'm not really a fan of it. At first, I followed the recipe, but it tasted like avocado still - not very pleasant when you're expecting chocolate. So then I added a bit more sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder, but then it ended up tasting like vanilla (not in a good way). So now,I put it in my fridge, hoping that it being cold will make it a bit more edible. Still, it seems like most people love it - any suggestions for doctoring it up a bit? I really want to like this recipe! On a better note, I'm currently freezing bananas for the banana soft serve - I have high hopes for that!
Christine
I had half an avocado left after dinner today so I made half the recipe. Even though you suggested using sugar I went ahead and tried it with sucanat. I'm not going to lie, the first bite was *not* good. Then I added a few dark chocolate mini chips and the bowl is licked clean. Thanks for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Ann
What a cool idea! I am always looking for ways to get those good fats into my diet as well as cut back on dairy. I might try stevia as a sweetener. Sweetleaf makes a chocolate raspberry version that would probably add a nice kick. I can't wait to try this!!
Sue
I love avocados and have been know to eat them plain:) I KNOW I would love this pudding!
Justine
Oh my, I'm absolutely shocked! I'm not really an avocado person either (I'll eat it but frowning at its consistency) and when I saw this post I thought you were crazy. There was NO WAY this could taste anything near good.
But I did have a lonely forgotten avocado in my fridge... Needless to say I'm eating this as I type and it's better than any real pudding I had in my life. Amazing.
Puglet
I had never had this before and I loved it. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder and it was like an intense, dark chocolate mousse. Delicious!
roni
This is a GREAT question. I didn't really think about it.
It seems Alton has an avocado frosting he stores in the fridge...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/avocado-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html
SO I'm assuming it will store well. For at least a couple of days!
Annie
Does anyone know if this stores well? Can I make it during the day to serve after dinner or should it be served right away?
Heather
I made it, and oh wow. It was surprisingly delicious!! The only thing I didn't like is I tried to change the sugar for agave... bad idea. So it was a little too sweet. But, good. I just have one question, how do you pick the right avocado? Today was my first purchase, and I was dumbfounded on what the look for. It was rock hard >.<
Melanie
Roni,
I just made the pudding, and it was DIVINE! Well worth the 9 weight watchers points - This is an excellent way to get kids eating healthy avocados (heck, even picky adults)...i love someone's idea of using this as a healthy alternative to frosting!
Ami
This is great because my kids are on a gluten, dairy, egg, and nut free diet. They won't eat plain avacado or guacamole, and I've generally had a hard time getting them to eat enough fat. (Yes, I'm on the eat fat, be healthier bandwagon) This is going to be great!
I like Sundi's idea for green frosting, too!
Lisa
My husband & I shared an Avocado Lime Tart for dessert at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago. It was AWESOME! It sounded so weird, but the server told us it was really good. It actually did taste like a Key Lime pie. I will definitely try this recipe!
Sundi Warden
I made green frosting out of an avocado last year for my son's birthday cake. It was great!!! Who knew you could make healthy frosting. Healthy minus the sugar, but hey it was creative.
Jessica
Here I thought it would be banana based! Phew! Good think I'm not a betting woman!( banana blended with chocolate is phenomenal!) I'm sure it wouldn't have been quite so cloaked in mystery if you had used banana....lol
This looks GREAT! I love avocado, can eat my weight in guacamole and would have NEVER dreamed of this!
Shrinkella
I have never bought an avacado, but I am going to now. This looks so good!!
wendy (healthygirlskitchen)
Yeah! You know I love to see you promoting the nutrient dense foods! I made this over the summer and served it to a large crowd at a pot luck. People went crazy over it and the nice thing is that it is so rich that a few spoonfuls is really enough to satisfy anyones' sweet tooth and fat tooth! We ended up dipping fresh strawberries into it and it was great. Would also be great schmeared onto a banana . . . yum!
Heather
Hmmm....well I'll just sacrifice elsewhere. This just sounds too good to pass up. Avocado's are surprisingly delicious ...and I am relearning to eat in a sense.
Michelle @ Turning Over a New Leaf
I agree about the fats being worth it! It's easy to get scared of fat, but for many people, including myself, my body crrraaaves fat and I always do better with a bit more than American health experts advise. Europeans eat more fat than we do, and they're usually in better health!
Last time I had my bloodwork done, everything looked good except it indicated I could work on lowering my carb and sugar intake and increase my healthy fat intake. Avocados are great for that!
Arlene @ Adventures in Weight Loss
That looks good. I think I'll pick up a couple of avocados @ the store ASAP.
Nicki
I will for sure give this a try. I love avocados, but my family doesn't. Pudding they love so maybe I'll try this first without them knowing what is in it.
roni
I TOTALLY agree! I think they include the weight of the skin and pit. I did not weight this one out so it may actually be lighter then I have listed. When I make this again I will weight out the avocado when counting.
Michelle @ Turning Over a New Leaf
I'm actually impressed with how "light" avocados really can be. I never, ever input "small" or "medium" in my food tracker or recipe builder. I always weigh the actual amount of avocado "meat" I actually use, and I've found that in the small avocados I buy, half an avocado really only accounts for 1-1.5 oz of avocado, making a whole small avocado only about 2-3 points. Far less than the startling number all the trackers suggest for a "whole small avocado." I have no idea where they get that huge number!
Heather
That sounds great but the fat seems like such a steep price to pay! 23g of fat?? =( My little app would go bonkers if I ate that... though it sounds tempting. The fiber though, that's pretty awesome.
Michelle
I'm a huge fan of the banana soft serve and I bet 1/2 serving of that with 1/2 serving of this would be super tasty and cut the points in half. I love the chocolate banana combo.
mel
I was making this same combination this past summer, but I just used truvia as my sweetner. I agree that although an avacado is a bit higher in fat and calories.. the health benefits are great. I also believe in the concept of the difference of digestion of natural whole foods, verses over processed foods.
roni
Jonna - honestly, it does. And that's why I stuck with regular sugar. I wanted to see if it would compare. That was a "slight" oddness to the flavor but the texture was seriously dead on. They cool thing is you can flavor anyway you like! Up the cocoa powder or sugar, use honey, add some almond extract. Seriously, the possibilities are endless!
Evan Thomas
I love chocolate avocado pudding! It's so unexpectedly creamy. I haven't had it in ages; I need to remember to buy some next time I'm at the store.
Jonna
And this just tastes like regular old chocolate pudding? i might have to try it. I like avocados, but never eat sandwiches, or the usual places you put them, and my fiancée adores chocolate pudding. Since wee're both trying to lose some weight for the wedding (and I am continually trying to sneak healthy foods by him!), this may be a solution!
Eating Bangkok
Avacado's may not qualify as "light", but the fats in them are the best kinds so if you have to eat pudding I guess one made with avacado will be the best. Considering my wife asked me tonight to stop and get her some avacados I will be passing this little gem of a recipe along to her and asking her to turn the avacados into smooth delicious chocolate pudding...not what she had in mind I'm sure!
Eileen
uh...next time I go to the store I'm buying some avocados. That is insane.
I did try the black bean brownie thing and wasn't impressed at all (it did NOT taste like brownies) so at times I'm skeptical. I can see how such a creamy veg can make something good though...