Black Bean Chocolate Pudding

Note: This blog post may contain ads and affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you don't wish to support my site, please don't click on any ads or affiliate links. This will ensure that I don't receive any income while you're using my site. Affiliate links turn orange when you hover over them. Thank you!

Contents » Recipe : Tips : Variations : Budget : Inspiration : Resources

Eating healthy food is so much easier when it tastes this good.

This black bean chocolate pudding is packed with nutrient-dense wholefoods, but no-one will care.

They’ll only care that it’s the best tasting chocolate pudding they’ve ever had!

So feel free to start sneaking the goodness of black beans into everyone’s day, wherever you go.

Of course, it’s healthy in other ways too:

The healthy coconut fats.

The raw cacao powder.

The medjool dates for natural sweetness.

It’s almost healthy enough to eat for breakfast…

And happily it’s also super easy to make.

Chuck everything in the blender, blend it up, throw it in the fridge overnight and you’re golden.

Sweet, chocolatey black bean pudding ripe for the eating.

Yum.

Black Bean Chocolate Pudding recipe

Make sure to read the tips below the recipe to get the most out of this amazing black bean chocolate pudding recipe.

Black Bean Chocolate Pudding

This black bean chocolate pudding is packed with nutrient-dense wholefoods, but no-one will care because it's the best tasting chocolate pudding ever!

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Category: Dessert

Cuisine: Paleo, Vegan, Wholefoods

Tags: chocolate, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, salt-free, soy-free, sugar-free

Cook time: 5 minutes minutes

Setting time: 8 hours hours

Total time: 8 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Makes: 810 g (4 serves)

Calories per serve: 394kcal

Author: Nikki, Eating Vibrantly

Ingredients

• 1 tin black beans , drained (230g)
• 1 tin coconut milk (400g)
• 1/3 cup cacao powder (30g)
• 8 med medjool dates (150g)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder or 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Drain and rinse black beans.
• Put all ingredients into blender jug.
• Blend on high speed until smooth.
• Spoon into serving dishes, cover and refrigerate overnight or until firm.

Preparation

• Before: -
• During: 5 mins
• After: 8 hours (to firm up)
• Need: Blender

Nutrition Information

Serving: 200g; Calories: 394kcal; Carbohydrates: 49g; Protein: 9.3g; Fat: 22.7g; Saturated Fat: 19.6g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1.3g; Sodium: 15.6mg; Potassium: 799mg; Fiber: 10g; Sugar: 25.2g; Vitamin A: 50IU; Vitamin C: 1.7mg; Calcium: 70mg; Iron: 5.9mg

Get a beautifully designed printable version of my Black Bean Chocolate Pudding recipe

Add a gorgeous-looking ready-to-print version of my Black Bean Chocolate Pudding recipe to your recipe collection.

It also includes a handy Recipe Prep Checklist, to make sure you have everything you need on hand to get cooking.

And to help you make the most of this delicious recipe, I've also thrown in all of the super-handy tips and suggestions for variations.

Designed for Letter-sized paper
(US & Canada, 4 pages)FREEDownload now

Designed for A4-sized paper
(Australia, UK, NZ, 4 pages)FREEDownload now

Tips

• I used canned black beans because they’re faster and more convenient. But you could also buy dried black beans and cook them yourself if you want, which would make the recipe even more cost-effective. Just make sure to leave the salt out of the cooking process.
• If you’re going to buy tinned black beans, make sure the tins are BPA-free, so you don’t get any nasty plastic compounds in your beans from the tin lining.
• Make sure you rinse the black beans thoroughly with fresh water before using them, to remove any salt that might have been used in their preparation and any excess starch that might have soaked out into the water.
• I think the black beans work so well in desserts because they’re quite soft and have a mild flavour. I’ve never tried using a different kind of bean for this recipe, but let me know how it goes if you decide to give a different bean a try.
• I used canned coconut milk for this recipe because it’s quick and easy. Coconut milk in a UHT container is not suitable because it’s too thin to make this pudding work.
• You could definitely replace the coconut milk with the coconut water and coconut meat from a fresh coconut. That would make this dish even more nutritious and less processed. Just add enough water and flesh to make about 400g-worth (around 1.5 cups).
• Make sure that the coconut milk you use has sufficient fat left in it. If the fat content is too low, the pudding won’t turn out very firm.
• I love using raw cacao powder in my recipes because it has more of the nutrients left in it, so it’s better for you.
• If you don’t have cacao powder, you can use regular cocoa powder. Just make sure to use the unsweetened variety.
• I love using medjool dates to sweeten my dessert recipes because they’re as wholefood as you can get when it comes to sweeteners. Medjool dates are big, sticky, sweet dates that add a rich sweetness to this recipe, along with fibre and creaminess.
• If you’re using regular dates, you’ll need to soak them in water for a couple of hours first. Drain them, but keep the soak water to use in smoothies and other recipes, for an extra date-y taste.
• If you don’t want to use dates in this recipes, you could tried other dried fruit, like currants, raising, figs or prunes, although I haven’t tried doing this myself.
• You could also use other liquid natural sweeteners, like coconut nectar, agave nectar or maple syrup, but the pudding probably won’t set as well.
• The vanilla bean powder is just dried vanilla beans ground up into a powder.  You can make your own or you can buy it from your local health food shop.
• If you don’t have access to any vanilla bean powder, you can scrape out a fresh vanilla bean into the mix, or add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• My high-speed blender does a great job of turning the beans and dates into a super-smooth and creamy chocolate pudding. If you don’t have a high speed blender, just blend or process it for as long as you can, without the mix getting too hot, and you should be fine. You can also try refrigerating the ingredients for a few hours beforehand to give you maximum blending time before the pudding overheats.

Variations

• If you want to get creative with this black bean chocolate pudding, you could put it into popsicle moulds and make it into black bean chocolate ice pops. Trust me, they’re delicious!
• You could top this pudding with chopped nuts, fresh berries or even some natural coconut sprinkles.
• This chocolate pudding is also a fantastic accompaniment to other desserts, like my raw walnut & macadamia cake, my coconut vanilla ice cream or a big bowl of fruit salad.

Budget

Here’s roughly how much this black bean chocolate pudding cost me to make:

Budget notes

• This recipe is actually pretty inexpensive overall, compared to some, because black beans and coconut milk are reasonably affordable staples, and they make up the bulk of this dish.
• Interestingly, the medjool dates contribute the greatest amount to the overall cost of this recipe. You could reduce this cost by finding cheaper dates, reducing the amount of sweetener in the recipe or by using an alternative, cheaper dried fruit or natural sweetener (e.g. raisins, currants or figs; or coconut nectar, agave nectar or maple syrup)

My inspiration

This black bean chocolate pudding recipe was inspired by the “Black Bean Fudgesicles” recipe from Kathy Hester’s Great Vegan Bean Book.

I adapted the recipe to use even more whole foods, and increased the cacao powder to make sure that the bean taste was completely hidden.

And then I discovered that if you leave the mix in the fridge overnight, it sets up nicely.

So far it’s been a huge hit with my chocolate-loving 7-year-old daughter, who does actually put it on her breakfast.

And who am I to argue with that?

Resources

Here’s a couple of different ways that you can cook black beans if you decide to start from scratch:

• How to Cook Black Beans @ Wake the Wolves
• Black Bean Cooking Tips @ The Spruce

Learn more about Medjool dates here:

• Medjool Dates: The Healthiest Natural Sweetener? @ Dr Axe

And read about the difference between cacao and cocoa here:

• Cacao vs Cocoa: The Difference and Why It Matters @ Paleo Hacks

Check out Kathy’s book for yourself

I think beans are a great addition to any vegan diet, even a mostly raw one, so if you’d like to discover some awesome ways to add beans to your day, I highly recommend Kathy’s book.

The Great Vegan Bean Book

More than 100 Delicious Plant-Based Dishes Packed with the Kindest Protein in Town

• Get it at Amazon.com
• Get it at BookDepository.com

And have a rich and creamy day!

Nikki H Stokes, Eating Vibrantly

I studied Biochemistry and Genetics at Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science, with Honours. I've always had a passion for natural health, having grown up with asthma, eczema and numerous food allergies, and I wanted to help my kids avoid the same issues. I love blending science and alternative approaches to find the best of both worlds, and I'm always looking for ways to create more amazing health and happiness in my life.
Learn more about me