Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding

With an avocado base, this healthy vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding will satisfy your sweet tooth. Serve it with pretzel crumbles, melted chocolate, or fresh berries for the ultimate treat.

I’d made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding Tart in a Macaroon Crust for my family’s seder to please my peanut butter loving grandsons. That filling was made with coconut butter and based loosely on Chad Sarno’s Raw Chocolate Ganache Torte, which we teach in the Rouxbe Essential Vegan Desserts course.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding

It was a big hit, but now I wanted to make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding – not a tart. I wondered if avocado, with its fiber and good fat, could replace the coconut butter in the original recipe. It did a super job at that.

What I was after was a chocolate pudding that was nutrient-dense and healthy, and of course delicious, for a friend of mine who at 94 is active and fabulous in every way, but needs to increase her caloric intake. She mentioned that she’s been adding nut butter to her snacks. I’ve been bringing her cakes and cookies, many were tests, and she asked for more sweets. Well, that is my pleasure.

Avocado Dessert Tips

I am a huge avocado fan, but I don’t like the vegetal flavor I find in most avocado desserts. To avoid that,  use an avocado that is just barely ripe and serve the pudding close to as soon as it is made as possible. It can be made ahead when you flavor the pudding with an assertive spice like ancho chili powder. You may not notice the avocado at all. It seems mostly to be me who does.

Serving Your Pudding

In my family, peanut butter was often eaten with pretzels. I don’t know why but it’s a good match. So, here I crumbled pretzels on top of the pudding and drizzled liberally with melted chocolate to mimic chocolate peanut butter cups. Berries were in my refrigerator I adding fruit to desserts is always a good thing. Here I thought-  PB & Jelly. You can always use a good fruit-only jam.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pudding

This recipe can be made with either the prune puree that I use in my Gluten-Free Brownie Bites or the date paste that I use to make Chad Sarno’s Chocolate Ganache Torte. You also use 1/4 cup of each, which is what I did. 

This recipe makes 2 cups for 4 servings or fewer if you like bigger portions

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate pudding, peanut butter cup pudding, vegan pudding

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Yields 4 servings

Author Fran Costigan

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup prune puree or date paste or 1/4 cup of each
• 2/3 cup maple syrup or agave
• 1 small to average size avocado not too ripe, peeled and chunked
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2/3 to 1 cup room temperature water
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder optional

Instructions

1. Add the peanut butter, prune puree, maple syrup, avocado, tamari, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until the ingredients are combined. Add 1/3 cup of the water and process.
2. Clean the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Add the Dutch cocoa powder, and another 1/3 cup of the water, and process until creamy. Taste and adjust the flavor and consistency by adding more maple syrup and water. Note that the pudding will thicken when refrigerated so be cautious with the water.
3. Taste and add the ancho chili powder if desired. A small amount does add to the flavor.
4. Spoon the pudding into individual serving dishes.

Recipe Notes

Optional toppings include:

• Melted Chocolate
• Pretzels
• Fresh Berries
• Jam Chopped Peanuts