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Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Pudding
I’ve gone a bit coco-nutty recently and this raw vegan chocolate coconut pudding is the result of my adventures.
Honestly, the first time I tasted this, it took me back 20 years, to when I used to make chocolate mousse from a packet.
You know the “just add milk, beat it thoroughly and leave it in the fridge overnight to set” kind of chocolate mousse?
Well this chocolate pudding is just like that, only a million times better.
And I reckon you could feed it to your non-vegan friends and you wouldn’t hear a single peep of complaint out of them.
It’s so creamy, sweet and chocolately, that it couldn’t possibly be healthy as well.
Only it is.
With just four wholefood ingredients, this raw vegan chocolate coconut pudding is not only delicious, it’s fantastically easy to make as well.
Yep, it’s yet another of my “chuck it all in the blender” recipes.
It uses the flesh from a young coconut as the base, plus medjool dates, raw cacao powder and a dash of vanilla bean powder.
If you haven’t yet mastered the art of opening coconuts, here’s a way to do it safely that’s a lot like the way I do it.
And even though it took me about three years to work up the courage to master opening coconuts, it was so worth it, because now I get to eat this amazing chocolate coconut pudding any time I like.
Just don’t take as long as I did!
Of course, it’s packed with the goodness of fresh coconut, including all the naturally occurring fats, which have got a bad rap in the past.
But according to some, there’s some amazing health benefits of fresh coconut, which I love, especially if it means I get to eat more chocolate pudding.
I’ve also found that I stay satisfied for ages after eating this pudding, so I don’t end up snacking as much either.
So take the plunge, give it a try, and you won’t regret it, I promise.
And you’ll never have to go back to packet chocolate mousse again!
Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Pudding
With only four wholefood ingredients, this raw vegan chocolate coconut pudding is not only delicious, it's fantastically easy to make as well.
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Makes: 270 g (2 serves)
Calories per serve: 359kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup young coconut flesh , from 1 to 2 coconuts (150g)
- 3 med medjool dates (60g)
- 2 tsp cacao powder (4g)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water (60ml)
Method
- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Preparation
- Before: -
- During: 25 minutes
- After: -
- Need: Blender
Nutrition Information
Serving: 135g; Calories: 359kcal; Carbohydrates: 35.3g; Protein: 3.4g; Fat: 25.4g; Saturated Fat: 22.4g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1.2g; Sodium: 17.1mg; Potassium: 509mg; Fiber: 9.4g; Sugar: 24.9g; Vitamin A: 50IU; Vitamin C: 3.3mg; Calcium: 30mg; Iron: 2.3mg
Tips
- The amount of flesh you get from a young coconut varies tremendously, anywhere from 60g to 200g in my experience, so just open as many as you need to get enough flesh.
- Most of the time required to make this pudding will be taken up opening the coconuts. Once that’s done, the rest is quick and easy.
- Even though it took me ages to master opening coconuts, I highly recommend persisting with it. And there’s plenty of ways to open coconuts safely that don’t put your life and limbs at risk.
- Medjool dates are big, sweet, soft and sticky dates that you usually find in the fresh produce section, or at your local health food store. They’re softer than regular dates, and have more of a caramelly taste and add a rich sweetness to recipes.
- The dates add fibre and bulk to this recipe, which help to make it even lighter and more like chocolate mousse, but they do also leave a little bit of texture in the pudding. Just blend it as long as you can before it warms up too much to ensure it’s a smooth as possible.
- If you don’t have raw cacao powder on hand, you can also use cocoa powder, but just make sure it’s the unsweetened variety.
- Vanilla bean powder is just fresh vanilla beans air-dried and ground into a powder using a spice blender or coffee grinder. You can make your own or you can buy it from your local health food shop. If you can’t get your hands on any of this, you can just scrape out a fresh vanilla bean or two into the mix, or add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract.
- The amount of water I’ve used in the recipe will give you a relatively thin consistency, which helps it to blend properly. The exact result you get will depend on the amount of water in your coconut flesh, which varies every time.
- You can play with the amount of water until you get the consistency you prefer. If you add the absolute bare minimum – just enough so that it will blend – it will become even more mousse-like in consistency, especially if you leave in the fridge overnight to set.
- If you add more water, it will blend more easily, and come out even smoother, but it might not hold as much air, and so it will be more like pudding than mousse.
- This recipe is really easy to double, triple or even quadruple (depending on the size of your blender and how many coconuts you can stand to open). It really is a very forgiving recipe, and seems to work no matter how rough and ready I am with the measurements. Now that’s my kind of recipe!
- I suspect if you made this recipe as thick as possible, by minimising the water, you could even use it to make a chocolate cheesecake filling. I haven’t tried it yet myself, but it’s something to keep in mind.
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender, you might struggle to get it smooth enough, but it’s still worth a try. You can certainly use a mix of water and ice, and start with cold ingredients to give you the maximum blending time before it all starts to heat up too much.
- Just like any plant-based recipe, this raw vegan chocolate coconut pudding really only keeps for around four days in the fridge, but then, who would leave something as delicious as this sitting around in the fridge for that long?
My inspiration
I started buying and cracking coconuts for the coconut water, because I love drinking coconut water SO much (and also because I was determined to master cracking coconuts).
But then I suddenly had all this fresh raw coconut flesh to use, so what was I going to do with it?
At first I made coconut yoghurt, inspired by this recipe on Choosing Raw, but then I got the idea to swap the lemon juice for cacao powder, and this delicacy was born.
I think this is officially my fourth “vegan chocolate pudding recipe”, although I’ve only published two of my others:
- Raw Vegan Chocolate Hemp Pudding
- Vegan Chocolate Ice Pops (actually just frozen chocolate bean pudding)
plus the classic avocado chocolate mousse recipe that’s also popular in the raw vegan world.
Do you think maybe I have a thing for chocolate pudding?
I hope you love it as much as I do.
And have an awesome chocolate pudding filled day!
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
Lynda says
Love this recipe. Would really like to make it because I can taste it just reading it. Big problem is that where I live young coconuts are $2.99 – $3.99 each and often have just a thin scraping of flesh so this could be a very expensive bowl of pudding. I buy young coconuts occasionally just for the fresh water inside and of course I use the flesh. How lovely would it be to live where such items just fall from trees.
Nikki says
Hi Lynda,
One of the reasons it took me so long to get started with young coconuts is that my experience with thin-fleshed coconuts was very similar. But then I went to a raw food class and discovered that the brand of coconut makes a big difference, so I started trying different brands, and finally found some that had both water and a good amount of flesh on a consistent basis. Thin-fleshed coconuts have basically been harvested too young.
I don’t buy organic coconuts, because they don’t seem to be as good for flesh, and their tough outer shell combined with the way they’re grown should minimise any pesticide contamination. My coconuts cost around $4 each, so they’re not cheap (although I have started buying them by the box which helps) but it’s worth every cent to me to be able to eat such an amazing wholefood, plant-based diet. I consider it an investment in my health.
Ute says
Hi Nikki,
found your website on a quest to make some veggie rolls for a wedding picnic, yours were just the ticket!! Delicious, thank you for sharing.
So am just exploring your other recipes.
This comment – buying organic only where there is a perceived risk of pesticide contamination to the buyer/eater – disappoints, and makes me think that there is a reason why organic choices often are perceived as only affordable to the middle-classes, because it suggests a self-focussed attitude to health, rather than a whole-systems focus on health. I see my food purchases as a tool to support positive change (and sadly, organic is not always what it claims to be). Seeking out regenerative agriculture, whether with organic certification or not, is my priority, as I think it is the only way we have a chance to feed ourselves and our neighbours healthily and sustainably. It needs to support more wildlife, more soil building, clean and restorative ground water supplies. We ignore the systemic impacts at our own peril or invest in the health of our local and global communities.
But on a practical note – will need to try this recipe with dehydrated coconut.
Many thanks for sharing your recipes so generously.
Best wishes,
Ute
Nikki Stokes says
Hi Ute,
We all make choices based on what’s possible with our resources – time, money, energy – and what’s most important to us.
My health is definitely my priority when it comes to my food choices, and if I can also benefit the planet in the process, then that’s definitely a plus.
My aim is to create a resource to support people in making the choices that work for them, whatever that might look like, because I believe that’s the most effective way forward for everyone.
Enjoy the recipes!
Len says
I don’t recall…. do you have some reluctance to use carob? I try to find it raw rather than roasted and I believe it may be more nutritious than cacao, but today that is a guess. Perhaps I’ll substitute and see how it turns out. In any case; Welcome Back!
Nikki says
Hi Len,
I don’t mind using carob – I have a couple of recipes that use it – but I just love my chocolate :)
I think this recipe could work quite well with carob though. Definitely worth a try!
Lina says
Hi, i like so much your site and your recipes. I would like to ask you something please: when you talk about a high speed blender, you do mean something like a vitamix? I have a simple kenwood kmix blender and i wonder if i will manage this. Thank you in advance.
Nikki says
Hi Lina,
I’m really glad you’re enjoying my site.
Yes, when I talk about a “high speed blender” I’m talking about something like a Vitamix, Blendtec or Thermomix.
Depending on the recipe, you might find that your blender will do a good enough job. I don’t have any personal experience with your brand of blender, so I can’t say for sure.
With this recipe, you might find that the pudding is not as smooth as you might get from a high speed blender, but it still might be delicious enough.
I would suggest swapping the water in this recipe for an equivalent amount of ice – either small cubes or crushed – because that should allow you to keep blending it for longer to make it smoother, without it getting too hot.
Let me know how you go!
fitoru says
Healthy and at the same time delicious. This one is a really must try. And what’s best is this is very easy to prep.
Nikki Stokes says
Thanks so much for the great feedback!