This is one of my go-to recipes for a quick and healthy breakfast or snack. The chia seeds and milk go into the fridge the night before, and in the morning everything comes together quickly. Chia seeds are often considered a superfood for good reason - they are high in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, magnesium and iron. I also use raw organic cacao powder here, which is more nutrient-dense than heat-processed cocoa.
You can use the vanilla-maple flavored chia pudding in a variety of ways (cacao or not). Play around with different fresh and frozen fruits to see what you like. Our favorites are warmed frozen cherries or warmed frozen blueberries.
Note that if you aren’t prepping the pudding the night before, you will need 30-45 minutes for the chia seeds to absorb the milk and take on a pudding texture. If you mix the chia seeds with slightly warmed milk (such as homemade nut milk straight from the blender), they will absorb it faster than if it is cold.
Homemade Cashew Milk: I usually use homemade cashew milk for my chia pudding, which is super easy to make: In a Vitamix, combine a ratio of 1 cup filtered water to 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews. Sprinkle in some sea salt. Blend on high power for a couple minutes, then pour into a clean glass jar. If you’re using a high-powered blender there is no need to pre-soak the cashews or strain the milk afterwards. It’s the easiest nut milk I know.
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Chocolate Cherry Chia Pudding
Notes: You can easily scale this recipe up or down as long as you keep the ratio of 3 tablespoons whole chia seeds to 1 cup of milk. Also, if you’re serving this to small kids, please give the bowl a quick stir so they don’t inhale a bunch of cacao powder with their first bite (which I learned first hand). Finally, if you are using sweetened cocoa powder, I would hold off on the maple syrup and only add it at the end if you feel like it needs a little.
6 tablespoons whole chia seeds
2 cups milk
Pinch of sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup
To serve:
Unsweetened raw cacao powder
Fresh cherries, pitted and sliced or warmed frozen cherries (which should already be pitted)
About 45 minutes before serving (or the night before), combine the chia seeds and milk in a jar and give it a good stir (a fork works well for this). Place the jar in the fridge. Come back a couple more times within the next 15 minutes to stir again. This ensures a really smooth (non-clumpy) pudding.
When you’re ready to serve, take the jar out of the fridge and add in the sea salt, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Stir well. Portion the chia pudding into bowls and top with cherries and a sprinkling of cacao powder (see note).
Serves 4
