Chocolate Avocado Pudding

INTRODUCTION
My first attempt at this pudding was an adaptation of a recipe I found at Forgiving Martha. I doubled the recipe for my use and I used all organic and raw ingredients including raw cacao powder.
INGREDIENTS
vegan, gluten-free

2 ripe avocados

1/2 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 cup raw agave nectar

1/2 cup raw almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tbspn. shredded coconut
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut avocados in half and carve them out with a spoon into the blender. Add all remaining ingredients into the blender and blend! Now, I thought this recipe was alright, however, my 5 year old daughter (and taste tester), Helen, was not having any of it. So, I added two more ingredients that made quite a big difference:
1/4 tspn sea salt and 1 tbspn shredded coconut.
COMMENTS
It ended up making it quite a lot tastier in my opinion, however, Helen was still cringing when I would give her a bite! I was also having a hard time calling this desert “healthy” given that it had 1/2 of a cup of Raw Agave Nectar in it. Agave Nectar has received a lot of heat lately due it’s high fructose content. Dr. Mercola argues that Agave Nectar is no healthier than High Fructose Corn Syrup. However most HFCS is typically made with genetically modified corn so if I’m going to use a sweetener high in fructose, I’m opting for Agave Nectar any day over HFCS. Global Healing Centerhas a great article challenging Dr. Mercola’s article and explaining why Agave Nectar is a far better choice than HFCS. That being said, I still wanted to find an alternative that did not utilize so much agave nectar and I also wanted to figure out how to get my daughter to eat it too.

So, I ended up creating a new recipe on my own that both myself and Helen love!! Here it is…

Chocolate Avocado Orange Banana Pudding

vegan, gluten-free

1 ripe avocado

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 tspn orange zest

1/4 tspn sea salt

1/8 cup raw agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cut avocados in half and carve them out with a spoon into the blender. Add all remaining ingredients into the blender and blend! This recipe not only tastes amazing but uses less agave nectar as well. Woo hoo!