Nikki’s Spiced Chocolate Chia Pudding

Happy Friday!  Nikki here from Fresh Young Coconut, a high-raw vegan blog.  One of the benefits of eating high-raw is that most of the food is gluten-free by default.  That makes for some happy bellies.  Being a lover of xgfx.org I jumped at the chance to make a MoFo guest appearance.

Today’s treat is Spiced Chocolate Chia Pudding, a sweet and spicy Fall favorite of mine that’s yummy enough to be a dessert, but healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast.  In case you’ve been missing out on the chia goodness until now, they’re an easily digested, high fiber, nutrition-packed seed that form a gel when mixed with liquid and take on the taste of whatever you mix them with.  When left whole they remind me of tiny tapioca.  When mixed with chocolate they become a tasty and wholesome way to indulge your sweet tooth.  I love chia seeds almost as much as I love Fall.

Spiced Chocolate Chia Pudding

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups coconut milk beverage (or nut milk of your choice)
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup agave or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• pinch sea salt

Stir together the chia seeds and shredded coconut in a mixing bowl.

In a high powered blender mix together the rest of the ingredients until completely smooth. Stir the wet mix into the seed mixture.

Let sit for 15 minutes and stir again. At this point the pudding can be divided into individual serving cups or left in the bowl to refrigerate. I like to put mine in 8 ounce juice glasses. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours before serving. Makes about 4 servings.

Now, this recipe is super flexible so you can make this completely raw or less raw depending on your nut milk, sweetener and cacao vs. cocoa.  It’s just a little bit spicy.  Adding more cayenne will heat it up if you’re into that sort of thing.  Enjoy!