Does anyone else find that they crave chocolate more than ever in February? With all the Valentine’s Day recipes in blogs and magazines and all the treats in stores, I feel like I see the stuff everywhere! Of course, a good quality chocolate treat isn’t bad for you, in moderation, but why not a chocolate treat that actually has tons of additional, wonderful health benefits, even?
Today as part of my ongoing Restricted Diet series with Free People, I am sharing a super simple to make, raw Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding that will knock your socks off. The best part about this pudding, besides it being chocolate, is that you can really make it you own. Select your favorite toppings, add some cinnamon or cayenne for a little heat, whip up some coconut cream for topping, the possibilities are endless.
This pudding is great as a healthy dessert, a quick snack or even a decadent breakfast. What toppings would you put on you superfood pudding?
This recipe was originally shared on the Free People blog BLDG 25.
[print_this]Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding – Gluten-free and Vegan
serves 2
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (almond or coconut are my personal favs)
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons raw cacao powder (baking cocoa will also work)
- Dash of pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1 tablespoon organic maple syrup or raw honey (you may want more depending on how sweet you want it)
- Dark Chocolate shavings for garnish
Add all of the ingredients to a large glass jar with a lid, give it a quick stir, then put the lid on. Shake it like crazy to mix it all up. Refrigerate until very thick and pudding-like, at least 4 hours or overnight, shaking or stirring occasionally. Serve the pudding chilled with whatever topping you’d like. See my suggestions below.
Optional add ins/toppings: crystallized ginger, goji berries, nut butter, coconut, fresh citrus, bananas, nuts, pomegranate seeds, whipped coconut cream. [/print_this]
36 Responses
I have to make this. Going to gather ingredients tonight. I feel the same way about chocolate in February!
I love your blog Beth – love your food and your photography and your writing.
Hey Emma, thanks so much for your sweet comment, I am blushing over here 😉
I hope you enjoy this when you make it. It’s a favorite of mine!
Definitely making this. When I make chia pudding I grind the seeds a little first and it thickens much faster because sometimes it’s difficult to wait! That doesn’t affect the benefits of the seed does it?
Great tip on grinding the seeds first, I will have to try that. I can’t imagine it would affect the benefits of the seed, but I don’t know for sure. Thanks again for the tip, I can’t wait to try it.
chia seeds retain their nutrition, left whole or ground up.
Grinding other high omega-3 stuff (flax, hempseed) too far ahead of time can make the omega-3’s oxidize, but if you’re grinding it right before making it, it should be fine.
I just saw this on Pinterest and had to click through – it looks amazing! My mom got me a super-sized bag of chia seeds for my birthday so I will be making this! Yum!
Hey Grace – thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this if you make it, it’s one of my favorites. So decadent 🙂
I made this a couple years ago with almond chocolate milk and with vanilla almond milk. It is delish and I haven’t made it for a while. Will do it today.
Hey Debbie, isn’t it funny the things you totally forget about making, if it’s been a while? I do that quite often with recipes, circling back around makes them even more fun, if it’s been a while 😉
It is so tasty and simple. I always have chia seeds and coconut milk around. It will now be a staple in my fridge. A little toasted coconut on top was perfect. Thank you.
Hiromi – I am so glad you liked it. So simple to make right? I love the toasted coconut too! Thanks for your comment!
I’ve never made anything with chia before, so what better recipe to start with than a chocolate one! I think I’d put pistachio nuts on top of mine 😉
Chocolate is ALWAYS the best place to start. With everything 😉 I hope you love it. The pistachios on top sounds amazing. Great idea.
I made this today with a can of full-fat coconut milk (Thai brand), and upped the chia seed quantity to 1/3 cup and the cocoa to 4 Tbsp (because of the larger volume of milk). So good. So good. I reckon one could make all kinds of healthy variations to this recipe.
Thanks for all your bright ideas that keep me stuffing my face with nutrition-rich desserts!
[…] chocolate chia seed pudding (with toppings- nuts, coconut, whipped […]
Just tried this the other day, wow! So good!! I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake and the fact this doesn’t need any effort is great. Been making it in tupperware containers to take to work and have now converted others to it 🙂 Thanks for sharing this.
Have you read the Born to Run book?
Oh & p.s I added some carob to the cocoa and it makes it just as rich and adds a little sweetener without needing to add syrup or dates.
Oh my gosh- just made this for the first time today, and it’s amazing! I swapped out the maple syrup for zest, juice and pulp of half and orange, and is was great. I reckon next time I’ll add a bit more cacao though, and made some ground vanilla or other spices. Anyone who tried grinding the chia seeds, did it make the pudding a little smoother?
I made this last night and let it sit overnight. This morning I found all the chia seeds sunk to the bottom and the liquid was not thickened .. what did I do wrong?
Yum!! I found this set super quickly? It was in a pudding like state before it even went in the fridge.
Either way, I just had some and it was super delicious.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Love this recipe! Do you know how long it would last in the fridge for?
Thanks! I would say 2 to 3 days max.
I love chia puddings and lately, this is my favorite one! Thanks for sharing the recipe. 😉
Is the syrup/honey needed for consistency or just for sweet? I can only use stevia for sweetener, wonder if this would be able to adapt? Thanks!
I have just made this from home almond milk, looking forward to having it in the morning.
that would be the best pudding i have tasted.
I had this with semi frozen strawberries as its hot here this morning! OMG delicious. Was turned off chia buy a product in the supermarket which were revolting.
Now I”m back on the chia train. So easy and my 3 year old didn’t mind it either. Look forward to trying some different variations!
Delicious. Loved it
Delicious can’t wait to make it!!!
Can I use something else other than maple syrup or honey? (really don’t like the taste of them as a replacement sweetner)
Could I use glucose syrup instead? Or home-made sugar syrup?
What is the nutritional value of this?
I don’t supply nutritional facts, but you are welcome to plug the ingredients into one of the many free nutritional calculators online to get the results, if this is important to you.
That “11 /4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk” is a typo (and should be 1/4 cup) or on purpose?
Just bad spacing it is 1 and 1/4 cup total. Thanks for letting me know.
I’ve made this recipe a million times and it never fails. I’ve switched to keto, however, and found that I could sub three scoops of chocolate MCT powder (with almond milk) and it’s still magic. I know you work hard on your recipes and that’s why they rock. Thanks, Beth!