Better Than Ever Chocolate Frosty Pudding

I previously posted a recipe for avocado chocolate pudding that is also high in protein and good for your joints. I really thought that was as good as it gets but I was wrong. I have improved the recipe!

It all started when I was told by my chiroptactic nutritionist that I should stay away from bananas for a bit. I have had trouble with breakouts and we were trying to get to the root of the problem. Since my diet is already refined sugar free we were looking for other foods that may be triggering breakouts. So, no bananas. Gasp! What was I to do?! No banana bread? And no chocolate pudding?! I hate avocados (crazy-I know), and my avocado/banana chocolate pudding was the only way I was getting them into my diet. Avocados are full of amazingly healthy fat that I would never eat plain or even in guacamole. blech! So I made it my mission to still enjoy the chocolaty goodness of my favorite chocolate pudding treat.

Here is what I came up with. This pudding is not only lower glycemic than my previous recipe, but there is no need for Stevia (unless you have a SERIOUS sweet tooth). It’s plenty sweet for me. If you have a sweeter tooth than I do however you can add some stevia, honey, or dates.

All I did to change my previous recipe was substitute frozen strawberries for the banana. I also did not add any stevia. The trick to this recipe is either having a heavy duty food processor that will process frozen strawberries OR you can defrosting the strawberries just a little bit so that they blend easily in the food processor but are still a bit frozen to make the pudding have the consistancy of a Wendy’s frosty. Yum! (I know Frosties are MUCH sweeter but I’m used to the lack of sugar so this is just sweet enough for me). I have the Cuisinart DFP-14 Custom 14-Cup Food Processor which I bought off of amazon.com. My old food processor would not have been able to blend the strawberries. I often cracked the bowls of my past cheapo food processors with almonds and frozen strawberries and bananas. oops.

Okay, enough chit chat… here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 large (or 2 small) avocados (make sure they are SUPER ripe so you get the creamiest pudding)
• 1 heaping cup of (preferably organic) frozen strawberries
• 1-2 TBS (depending on how dark you want it) of organic cacao powder (you could also use cocoa but I prefer cacao)
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla (no high fructose syrup added-read the label)
• a pinch of salt. We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market.
• Great Lakes collagen powder  This is optional but gives the added protein and has so many health benefits. I use 4-6 TBS depending on how much protein I want.
• Optional: sweetener of choice I strongly recommend adding some liquid stevia (I add about 1/4 tsp), raw honey, organic maple syrup or dates (if using dates, processes into paste in the food processor 1st before adding any other ingredients) if you are used to “normal pudding” because this wont be sweet enough for you. 😉
• Optional but this ingredient makes a the pudding SO much better: 1/4 cup almond butter (or all natural peanut butter if you prefer)

Want more info on my favorite gelatin powders? Click here.

• Optional: a dash of sweet cinnamon
• UPDATE! I have been doing a half and half blend of protein recently. I have been adding just 2-3 TBS of collagen and adding 1-3 scoops of my new favorite whey protein powder. If you can do dairy this is a great way to give the pudding a more “milky flavor” of traditional pudding. Good stuff!

Directions:

1. If using dates to sweeten process these first then scoop them out and set to the side and continue on with the following directions.

2. Place frozen (or slightly defrosted) strawberries in a food processor and process them. Tip: either defrost the strawberries slightly in your fridge for a couple hours OR put them in a strainer with a bowl underneath and soak them in warm water until they are defrosted as much as you like. The second method is much faster when you are in a time crunch. You can process them while frozen but that can be hard on your food processor and I have cracked a many cheap food processors doing this in the past.

2. Add your avocado to the food processor and process with the strawberries. Make sure you take out the pit and scoop the flesh out of the skin of the avocado(s). Also be careful of the little nub at the top of the avocado. You don’t want that falling into your pudding. You may have to stop processing and stir the ingredients occasionally then continue processing till smooth.

3. Add all the rest of your ingredients and process till mixed completely. This is when you would add your processed dates back in if using.

4. Serve right away if you would like the more “Frosty” consistency. You can also store this in your fridge for later but it will be more like a pudding and less like a Frosty if you wait till later to eat it.

I like to make a large batch of this and freeze in individual serving size glass dishes. I then thaw it out on Sunday nights for a sweet treat.

I’ve also made these into fudge pops… good stuff!

Other options:

My son and I love adding chia seeds to ours and letting it sit for 5-10 min to let the seeds soak. I also like my pudding topped with cacao nibs, fresh raspberries, fresh strawberries, a dollop of homemade almond butter or homemade chocolate chips.

UPDATE! I just bought this awesome avocado slicer and pitter. It makes cutting and pitting my avocados a bajillion times easier. Love it!

UPDATE 2! I recently made a new post with the MACROS for this pudding. It’s not the exact same version since I tweak it all the time but it’s pretty close. Here is a link to my most recent recipe and the macros (serving size, calories, carbs, protein etc…)

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