Vegan Banana Pudding

In honor of National Vegan AND National Banana Pudding Month, we recently did a segment where we combined the two into a demo for Vegan Banana Pudding. Not only are you getting the benefit of the potassium, vitamin C and B6 from the banana but also the creamy texture it lends to this dessert! It’s a quick, no-added sugar dessert to eat when you have a craving and is perfect to share with others. If you are fans of chocolate like we are, you’ll notice how the cacao powder and nibs elevate this dessert to make it feel like a true treat. Top with your favorite fruit (our seasonal favorite is juicy pomegranate) and chopped nuts and enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup cashews
2 frozen bananas
1 fresh banana
2 medjool dates
1/2 cup coconut cream
1.5 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
Blend and serve chilled. Enjoy!

5 Spice Hot ‘Choffee’

Cold mornings require some extra effort and incentive to get out of bed. This warming, caffeinated, chocolate-y drink will help provide a firm boost as you launch into your day!

Ingredients

8oz coffee
4 oz non-dairy milk (coconut milk or almond milk)
1 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1 or 2 anise pods
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp honey
optional (cloves)

Instructions

Prepare coffee as per usual (we used a moka pot) and heat milk on stove top along with cacao or cocoa powder, cayenne, cinnamon stick, black pepper, anise pods and honey. Simmer for about 5 minutes and add milk to coffee.

Recipe: Celebrity Couple! Choco-cado Cookies

When celebrities get together, the press loves to dub them with a cute and catchy portmanteau; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s ‘Brangelina’ being one of the most well-known. Well they need to move over because chocolate and avocado or ‘Choco-cado’ have once again proven themselves a yummy pairing, deserving of the spotlight. We’ve already seen them come together for a delectable pudding and we’re starting to think these two are suited for a long-term, possibly exclusive, relationship.

Do you know what this means? In less than 15 minutes, this recipe makes it possible to fully enjoy some dark, rich cacao along with some creamy, (healthy) fatty avocado in a fudgy cookie form. It doesn’t even have flour!

“Incroyable!” say the French readers. “Ausgezeichnet!” say the Germans. And you? Well, you may have your mouth too full of cookies to exclaim anything. That’s okay, we can all envision the look of bliss crossing your face.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Prep time: < 5 minutes
Baking time: about 8-10 minutes
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dark cacao or cocoa powder (we used Nativas Naturals cacao powder)
• 2/3 cup ripened avocado flesh, mashed
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut sugar, depending on your desired sweetness
• 2/3 of bar dark chocolate, cut into small chunks (we used a chocolate bar with 88% cocoa content)
• 1 egg (or 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and 2.5 tbsp water mixed together as vegan egg-less option)
• ½ tsp. baking soda

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. With a hand mixer/food processor/vivacious Vitamix blend avocado and coconut sugar, then egg. Add cacao powder and baking soda to mix and then stir in dark chocolate chunks. Try not to salivate over the bowl. Use coconut oil to grease baking pan; dollop cookie dough mix on pan and flatten with spoon. Bake for 8-10 minutes and then cool them down; unlike most cookies, these taste better after 30 minutes or so in the fridge. Makes 10-12 cookies.

P.S. Not gonna lie, we made these babies into ice cream (dairy-free) sandwiches. More on that later 🙂

Recipe: Ultimate Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

Kids (and adults) love these brownies; many times they are surprised to find that black beans could be used to make a dessert. Next time you have a bit of a sweet tooth, give these chocolate-y brownies a go!

Keeping with the theme of these recent blog posts, see how many of these ingredients you can make organic (and/or free-range, in the case of the eggs).

Ingredients:

1-15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa/cacao powder
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips or 3 oz dark chocolate bar, in pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and use liners to fill in muffin tin or spray with cooking oil. Add all ingredients to a large food processor or mixing bowl (except the chocolate chips/ pieces of dark chocolate). Process for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth, then stir in chocolate chips/pieces. Pour batter into muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring brownies to wire rack.