A chocolate chia pudding topped with an airy golden cream made with sunflower seed butter. A protein-rich layered snack that is velvety smooth and rich in nutrients, perfect for firing up your afternoon energy.
Sunbutter Chocolate Chia Pudding
This chocolate chia pudding is such a chocolate-y nutty flavored creamy pudding. Chocolate chia pudding is already a yummy treat, but this recipe takes that one step further and nutty-i-fies it. Is that a word? And by nuts, I don’t mean peanuts – although that flavor works too – I mean sunflower seeds, as in sunflower seed butter, as in the kind of sunflower seed butter, Sunbutter.
You’ll Love This Nut Butter Chocolate Chia Pudding
You’ll love this recipe because it’s flavor is basically chocolatey and nutty, as in seed-nutty. And if you can’t eat nuts, all the better! But even if you can, you’ll love the taste of sunflower seed butter in this creamy layered pudding. Studies show that the combination of chocolate and a nutty flavor triggers a strong reaction in most taste-buds.
Not only will you love the flavors here, you’ll also love the texture of this pudding. Chia pudding in general has a textured texture, but not my chia pudding. That’s because I blend it into a velvety cream.
And then I top that layer with a cool creamy sunflower seed golden cream, made with just sunflower seed butter and milk.
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Okay, so is Sunbutter chocolate chia pudding good for you?…
How Healthy Is This Chocolate Chia Pudding?
Very healthy, thanks to the nutritious ingredients, especially chia seeds and sunflower seed butter which both contribute potent and energizing fiber, protein, and essential nutrients.
And the healthy ingredient list is short! Read on to see what goes into Sunbutter Chocolate Chia Pudding.
Ingredients in This Chocolate Chia Pudding
The ingredient list here is simple for both layers.
Chia Seeds. Chia seeds are a seed, and enjoy a lot of adulation in the past decade. Pretty much deserved. These tiny wonders (don’t drop them on the kitchen floor, you’ll never find them all. I speak from experience) are full of fiber, antioxidants, calcium and show support for reducing coronary heart disease.[NIH source]
Milk. I used a creamy almond milk but you can use cashew milk, even full fat coconut milk. Just beaware of how sweetened it is and adjust accordingly the amount of sweetener you add.
Maple Syrup. My sweetener, a low GI golden liquid with essential nutrients such as iron.
Vanilla. I love vanilla. To me, it can make or break a recipe. I use whatever I have on hand. I love when I have vanilla paste because that is like fresh vanilla beans. I have never had the pleasure of buying quality vanilla pods and scraping them, but that is on my bucket list for sure.
Sunflower Seed Butter. I used Sunbutter’s “organic” version but you can use any of their flavors. Again, if you choose a sweetened version, you might not need the maple syrup. I love Sunbutter especially because they do a great job of using only sunflower seeds. And sunflower seeds are sooo nutritious. Low in calories, sunflower seed butter is high in fiber and protein, and rich in nutrients sometimes hard to find, such as vitamin E, zinc, and selenium which supports the brain.
Is Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Healthy?
Aside from tasting delicious, chia seed pudding has so many nutritional benefits. Here are some notable ones:
1. Chia Seeds are full of quality protein, more than most plant-based foods.
2. Chia Seeds have quality plant-based fats, omega 3 fatty acids, that are beneficial to many body functions, including the brain.
3. Chia seeds are super high in fiber. And that makes them terrific at weight loss. Because chia seeds alone swell nearly 10 times their size in the tummy, you feel FULL for a very long time. And it’s a good full because of all the nutrition that came with.
4. Finally, chia seeds are terrific immunity boosters because they are so strong in zinc. And zinc is most easily absorbed via food, so eating chia seeds when you want to boost your immune system is an awesome idea.
How to Make Chocolate Chia Pudding
Okay, so to make this two layered pudding, let’s get started.
First, gather all ingredients, and put them in a bowl. Whip them up with a spoon or wisk or even a hand mixer on a low speed. I say low speed because you don’t want to destroy the chia seeds, you want them whole so they can soak up the chocolate sunbutter milk.
Once mixed up, refrigerate the pudding for 30 minutes, stir it up, and refrigerate again for another three hours at least. You can spoon this pudding into four bowls right away and go straight to make the golden cream top. But that would mean your chia pudding texture is bumpy. I prefer a velvety smooth texture, so I pour my soaked mixture into a blender, and blend until smooth.
Then I poured about half a cup into each cup, and went on to mix up the topping. Spooned the topping on and sprinkled some salt and chocolate curls and refrigerate until ready to eat.
How Long Does Chia Pudding Keep?
This pudding actually can be frozen long term. I’d suggest freeze the chia pudding in a sealed container and make the golden ganache when you are ready to serve. Frozen, chia pudding keeps about one month before the flavor will wane.
How Else Can You Eat Chocolate Chia Pudding?
I love it with Sunbutter because the nutty sunflower seed butter flavor elevates it. So I love making the chia pudding with a spoonful of Sunbutter in the pudding, but then also with a golden Sunbutter cream on top.
But you can eat chocolate chia pudding in other ways.
Use it as a dip for fruit.
Dollop it on your morning yogurt, granola, favorite cereal.
Pair with ice cream, or freeze as popsicles.
The uses of the nutritious delicious snack are endless.
Where to Find Sunbutter?
It’s easy to find this quality sunflower seed butter. Order it directly from their site here, or buy it from Whole Foods or other markets that carry it. Find it in the peanut butter aisle.
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This post is sponsored by Sunbutter. My opinions are my own.
Sunflower Seed Butter Chocolate Chia Pudding
Ingredients
Chocolate Chia Pudding
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tbsp cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- 1 tbsp sunbutter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
Sunbutter Mousse
- 1/4 cup Sunbutter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 4 tbsp coconut milk (or your choice milk)
Instructions
Prep
- Mix up all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Set the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Stir again, and refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Blend the mixture, pour between 4 small glasses. Refrigerate while you make the Sunbutter cream.
Make the Sunbutter cream
- Add the Sunbutter, maple syrup and milk to a pot and warm and stir until combined. Or add mixture to a pyrex measuring cup and microwave in 15 second intervals.
- Spoon the mixture evenly on top of the 4 glasses full of chocolate chia pudding.
Store
- Store the jars in the refrigerator for 24 hours. If you want to freeze, them do so in a sealed container for 1 month.
Nutrition
Dee Dine is founder of Green Smoothie Gourmet, a plant based recipe blog, and author of the recent cookbook, Crazy Healthy with 4 Ingredients . On this blog you’ll find incredibly easy recipes with hidden veggies for anyone wanting to eat healthier, regardless of diet. Dee has graduate degrees in sciences and journalism. More about Dee Dine here.
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