Almond Joy Pudding

Who doesn’t love thick, creamy, rich pudding? Well, this one takes on the flavors of the classic Almond Joy candybar but in a much healthier way and in pudding form. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• One 3.16 oz 71% dark chocolate bar (90g) (you can use a raw dark chocolate bar as well)
• 1 cup lite canned coconut milk, shake well before measuring
• 1/2 tablespoon creamy almond butter
• 1/2 cup melted liquid coconut butter (I make my own here)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or agave
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Optional garnish: shredded coconut, shaved dark chocolate

Instructions

1. All of your ingredients need to be at room temperature (nut butters and milk) so it doesn’t cause the chocolate to harden once adding the ingredients. Your coconut butter should be completely liquid, not thick or hardened, when measuring. First, you will need to finely chop up your chocolate bar and melt it your preferred method.
2. Add the melted chocolate, along with all the remaining ingredients to a food processor. Process until completely smooth and no lumps remain. Scrape the sides a couple of times during.
3. Pour into a container and chill in the fridge for a few hours until thick and well set. I made mine the day before I wanted to eat it.
4. It will be very thick/firm once chilled. If it’s thicker than you’d like, just add a splash of milk to it, just keep in mind that it just takes a good stir to loosen it up and it will soften at room temperature. To make it a nice presentation and soften it, I added the pudding to a ziplock bag, cut off the corner and piped it into my mini serving glasses. It’s the perfect texture this way. You can do this or just give the pudding a good stir before serving. I garnished my glasses with a layer of shredded coconut on the bottom and sprinkled some shaved coconut on top as well. Please note, it will be more textural that way if you add lots of coconut. I would not do the bottom layer next time, as it was more for presentation. I then added some shaved chocolate on top. These will keep firm for a decent amount of time at room temperature, but will eventually soften, so keep leftovers stored in the fridge.

Notes

Vegan, raw, gluten-free, oil-free