When I made this for my husband recently, after enjoying a few bites, he wanted to make sure I was going to share this recipe on my blog because he thought that this was really something worth sharing. It has a rich chocolate flavor, has a gentle “set” (not at all like a chocolate “jello”), and is delish with a variety of toppings. This is adapted from a close friend’s recipe.
While many pudding recipes can involve several steps, and expensive ingredients, this one is simple, frugal and and very satisfying. I bought some ice cream cups from a second hand store especially for recipes like this. It makes it seem so much more special to eat out of a glass dish. I actually like to eat this hot as well as cold.
I used to make this with milk (which is wonderful) but recently I have started making it with my coconut milk tonic. It is great! Definitely just as good, if not better in my mind. If you can’t find the coconut water to make my coconut milk tonic, follow Sally Fallon’s coconut milk tonic, which uses water. Or, if you can have dairy, this is wonderful made with whole milk as well.
I love eating this with just a little nutmeg on top, but I have been thinking of ways to incorporate this pudding into other recipes. The possibilities are endless!
Chocolate Pudding
You can serve this with raspberry sauce, whipped cream, freshly ground nutmeg, or fresh berries. You can use whatever sweetener you like, just keep in mind that they have varying degrees of sweetness. If you use regular milk, you may want to sweeten it just a tad bit more, because coconut milk has a natural sweetness to it.
1/3 cup of arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
dash of salt
1/3 -2/3 cup agave syrup, rapadura, maple sugar, maple syrup, or honey (to taste, I use the lesser amount using agave syrup)
4 cups of coconut milk tonic, or regular milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk the arrowroot powder, cocoa powder, and salt together in a medium size pot. Make sure there are not lumps. Add about 1 cup of the milk and sweetener, and mix until thoroughly combined with no lumps. Stir in the rest of the coconut milk and heat on med-high heat, stirring continuously. Heat until the mixture starts to thicken. I find that this usually happens right when it starts to simmer. Simmer for no longer than one minute. Take it off of the heat, and add in the vanilla. Pour into desired containers, and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours to cool and set. After it is cooled, then cover with plastic wrap.
This post is part of frugal friday.
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YUM!! I was just lamenting YESTERDAY about needing a good cooked chocolate pudding recipe and here you are! Thank you!!
This sounds awesome, thank you. I am also excited to try the coconut milk. We eat mostly vegan in our house and drink only soy and rice milks. Thanks!
Looks yummy.
I don’t have arrowroot, any idea if agar powder works the same way?
How scrumptious looking! I will be trying this tomorrow…can hardly wait. :o)
Oh goodness… why didn’t I see this recipe yesterday… grrr before I enslaved myself to the JELLO pudding box .. lol Your recipe looks 100 times better.. I will be trying this soon! Thanks.
I made this recipe using fresh coconuts and it was worth the work as the second time I made it with canned and there is truly a difference. I also froze the pudding in popsicle molds and made the best tasting “fudgesicles” I have ever tasted. My son loves them! Thanks for the great recipe.
Just made this with the following subs:
tapioca starch for arrowroot
reduced agave to 1/8 c and added 8 drops dark choc stevia
WOW
Can I ask if, using coconut ingredients, it has hints of coconut? I am not a fan of the coconut flavor, but I keep reading about the benefits of coconut oil, etc….I’m so curious if it tastes like coconut!
Also, if I wanted to add 1 cup of avocado puree (to make this healthier!) what would I substitue/take out?
I made this pudding the other day and even my husband who does not like the taste of coconut at all (but love chocolate) liked it. The only thing is the pudding became watery after I refrigerated it. Any clue as to why that is or what I did wrong?? Thanks…
I am wondering what brand(s) of coconut water have no sugar added. My husband and I have bought coconut water at Asian markets – but after we got it, I realized it was full of sugar. Thanks! Love you blog!
i think it’s funny that your husband did that. i am planning on starting a blog in the next couple of months similar to yours, but for beginners. to document my journey into being a young wife who desires to fear the Lord and be a nourshing homemaker and hopefully someday, a loving mother. anyway, if my husband likes his dinner he’ll say “write the recipe down and get the camera, you have to take a picture for the blog!” so cute. oh, and i am going to try this pudding very soon… maybe today 🙂 thank you so much for all you do. i am young and this is very encouraging to me.
Jessie-you definitely don’t want to use coconut water. Look around for cans of coconut milk, often in the Asian/ethnic cooking section.
We usually make this with whole milk since dairy is not a problem for us. I have some Pyrex ramekins with heavy plastic sealing lids, so I pour the pudding in those and my husband can take some to work in his lunchbox. Love love love this recipe! Your blog could be ONLY this recipe and it would still be worth it! 😛
My gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sugar free little girls are going to flip over this recipe!!!
DELICIOUS!!! I was right, it was a huge hit!
Hey!!! thanks so very much for your AMAZING!! website!!
I just made the chocolate pudding and instead of the cornstarch or arrowroot I used quinoa flour!! and it was a fab substitue!!
yum can’t wait to try more recipes ….
Quinoa flour??? Intersting! I’ll try it!
Yummo!! Thanks for this AWESOME recipe!
I made some changes but it turned out wonderfully:
-I did not have arrowroot so I used Tapioca starch
-I did not have cocoa powder so I melted one large DARK chocolate bar before adding it to the rest of ingredients.
-I used only 3 cups of the milk (2 cups coconut milk and 1 cup cows milk) because I wanted it to be thicker.
-I also added one egg yoke to make it rich!!
-And I added a skimpy 1/4 cup honey because there was already some sugar in the cocoa bar.
I am amazed how RICH it is and to be honest I hardly taste the coconut flavor which bothers me a little now that I’m pregnant.
Thank you for this recipe, it is absolutely delicious.
This recipe is delicious. Thanks so much for a dairy-free pudding!! Now how about a vanilla flavor?? 🙂 I’m wanting to make pumpkin cream pie but need a recipe for coconut milk vanilla pudding… Anyone tried this?
Just wanted to share a little update… After doing some research on traditional vanilla puddings, I decided all I needed to do to this recipe was omit the cocoa powder, and instead of adding a teaspoon of vanilla at the end, I just added 1.5 teaspoons instead, since the coconut milk tonic already has vanilla in it. It is SO delicious! I had a hard time waiting for it to cool! Now I’m going to make it into some cute little pumpkin cream pies for date night tomorrow night. 🙂
Add sliced banana’s, yummy!
Wonderful! I used tapioca starch, melted Dagoba unsweetened baking chocolate, coconut sugar (low glycemic/high nutrient content) and only coconut milk. All organic. I ate a bunch before I even got it into the fridge. I’m pregnant, and am having a hard time getting down the coconut oil that I use for cooking, but this pudding is so delicious AND nutritious that I’ll get all the good coconut I need now!
I tried this tonight and used arrowroot. I am wondering if I did something wrong. It is like snot. The consistency is horrible! I followed the recipe…. I have had this trouble with arrowroot before (thickening gravy) but wasn’t using a recipe so I thought that was the issue. Any ideas?
I’ve had trouble with that as well, with cow’s milk and coconut. Basically what you need to do is cook it longer. I use a double boiler and let it heat for a long time, almost 40 minutes, but it will turn out better.
This is sooooo delicious. I made it with raw cow’s milk and used sucanat as my sweetener and it was wonderful. The best part was that I didn’t feel one bit guilty eating it or feeding it to my family as a fun treat. Plus it was so easy to make. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’m trying to find recipes that contain the actual coconut oil. Can I safely add a few tablespoons of the melted oil to any of these recipes? I have read of its benefits to those battling alzheimers disease and would like to incorporate it into foods I KNOW he’ll eat and enjoy.
Thanks
Susan
hi Susan. this is a very late comment…. I use virgin ex – peller pressed coconut oil as the oil in a white cake recipe, i’ve scrambled eggs in it. you can make up hot tea and stir some coconut oil into it. coconut oil is liquid at warm room temps, and gets harder when the room is cool. do not refrigerate it. i do notice the coconut scent when i open the jar and add it to recipes, but the coconut taste is mild or nonexistent. also, try coconut butter- vegan, virgin, made from raw coconuts.(you can make it yourself), i buy it at prepared from health food stores.(or online( vitacost and swanson) use it in smoothies, spread it on a graham cracker( very rich). i also found some organic raw chocolate coconut butter which is heavenly.(sort of like one of the nut butters, only richer) i used it in a chocolate smoothie which i made with whey protein powder, and coconut milk (from the refrigerated section of the grocery, or health food store)-my favorite brand is So Delicious. they also make ice cream sandwiches and lots of flavors of nondairy coconut milk ” ice cream”. i have also used the canned coconut milk unsweetened- Thai brand from the Asian section of the grocery store. i drink coconut water( unsweetened) after exercise for hydration. i buy it in cartons or cans. naked brand makes a good one. i have a diagnosis of early onset alz and Cognitive impairment. i do believe that using avocado, virgin coconut oil and butters and milk along with olive oils have halted the progression of the cognitive impairment. i am still confused, and have problems with executive functions, memory, etc, but am functioning better than i was before i began using these products.
Can u use almond milk
This is by far the best chocolate pudding I have ever had! I did use the coconut milk tonic and added the egg yolk as suggested by another. I used half raw honey and half powdered stevia (total of 1/3 cup). I did use the arrowroot and had no trouble although I did cook it about a minute longer. It was so easy, very, very creamy, and very low carb. Absolutely excellent. I’ll never make another kind. Thanks so much!