{Guest Post Friday} Vegan Chocolate Coconut Pudding

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

I absolutely love Fridays, I mean what's not to love??  It's the start of the weekend, everyone has fun plans AND you get to meet a new blogging friend!!  Today's guest post is from Miss Charissa over at the Colourful Palate!  (Don't you just love the name already??)

Soo I must admit that I've been stalking following Charissa's blog since I first started my site and I love it because not only are her recipes amazing, her writing is completely witty and fun and she also blogs about fitness! (woo hoo!)  As a long-distance runner and self-proclaimed health nut, she focuses on creating balanced recipes that aren't just healthy, but taste delicious.  Oh and did I mention?  She's part of a family band!  Now I sure feel boring.

So without further ado, here is the lovely (and extremely talented) Charissa!

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  Hey guys!  I'm Charissa from Colourful Palate and I'm simply delighted that I can do a guest post here for you today!  Kelly is such an inspiring lady and I just love the whole idea behind her site...eating sinfully scrummy food that actually helps keep you fit and healthy!  Yup.  That's awesome.  If I can stay slim and eat an obscene amount of chocolate my whole life (current lifestyle - check!)...that is like...ULTIMATE!  Anyway, moving on...

Since chocolate is obviously a big part of my happiness factor I really love, I love including it in some of my recipe!  Here is one of my favourites...Vegan Chocolate Coconut Pudding!

 

When I first made this dessert, a big family dinner was on the agenda.  My contribution was supposed to be dessert.  My brother, sister-in-law, and their children stay away from gluten, and my Dad can't eat gluten or dairy, and then there's me, who avoids cow's milk (unless there's some serious milk chocolate cravings involved!).  I felt like being creative and making something up, but I wasn't sure about doing a dessert for the whole family and then discovering it didn't turn out.  Thinking about it, I unquestionably wanted to make a dessert with chocolate (duh, such a no brainer!) and coconut.  I decided to brave it without a recipe and make a dairy-free, cooked pudding...with a twist.

Happily, it turned out just as I had wished and my family and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is a slightly firmer pudding and I think it tastes best when just warm, but is still delicious if you let it set on the counter or in the fridge for an hour.  It all depends if you like hot or cold puddings.  Some of my family topped it off with something slightly sinful; ice cream or a whipped topping.  I tried to make this recipe as healthy as possible, but ended up adding just one naughty ingredient...1/2 cup sugar (but it's organic, doesn't that like...sanctify everything?!)  But since this recipe serves 8 people, it doesn't end up being that much sugar per person anyway.

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Servings: 8

Calories: 190

Fat: 10 g

Carbs: 23 g

Fiber: 1 g

Sugar: 13 g

Protein: 1.5 g

Old Points: 4.4 pt

Points+: 5 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

1 can coconut milk (I used AROY-D coconut milk)

3 1/2 cups cold almond milk

7 Tbsp. cornstarch

9 Tbsp. dark cocoa

1/2 cup organic sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

Heat up the first 5 ingredients until boiling.  Let it boil for 1-3 minutes.  By then, it should be thick.  Stir in the vanilla and sea salt.  Pour into 8 dessert bowls.  Garnish with a sprinkling of shaved coconut.  That's it!  I love this recipe because it's so quick to whip up, tastes so creamy and chocolaty, it's a lot healthier than store-bought puddings, and serves lots of people. Hope all you skinny cooks enjoy! ;)

 

Come visit me at Colourful Palate for more desserts and healthy recipes that taste indulgent (when they're quite low in calories!)  It's where I share my passion for a healthy lifestyle, my love for whole foods, fitness, running, and my favourite "keep you slim" recipes.  Thanks to Kelly for allowing me to post on her site!

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Thanks again for guest posting Charissa!  Now head over to her blog and send her some love!