When I was a kid, my family didn’t get JELLO puddings – or any puddings for that matter. As an adult, I realized that a lot of those are just sugar, cornstarch, and stabilizers. So, they became less appetizing.
You’re going to laugh at me.
A few years ago my wife and I went to a nice little breakfast restaurant for brunch in old town Fredericksburg, VA. I got this coconut milk chia seed parfait. I was blown away. That seems silly to say, but it was really nice.
For years we spoke longingly of that chia parfait and we’d speculate about when we might go there again. It was one of those conversations that married people have.
“Hey, remember that really good thing?”
“Yeah, it was really good.”
“We should try that again sometime.”
Then one day, while visiting Virginia, we noticed that the restaurant had closed. It wasn’t surprising because the restaurant had only been ‘fine’, except for the healthy and delectable layered treat from years past.
Now we have a handful of kids and we try different things periodically to make the morning routines go more smoothly. Having a responsible treat to entice juveniles from their room isn’t the worst thing that we’ve tried.
My wife, in her laudable creativity, refined a new creation that’s inspired by our now frustrated longing for a nice chia parfait.
Below is a recipe for peanut butter chocolate chia seed pudding. Basically, you mix it the night before and stir it again in the morning and it’s ready to go. It’s a crowd pleaser.
Mix 1/4 c cocoa powder w/ 1/4 c peanut butter and 1/4 c maples syrup until incorporated. Optional: add 1 tsp cinnamon,
Dash of salt, and a splash of vanilla.
To this mixture, add 2 c milk, whisk well. Then add 1 c chia seeds, and another 2 c milk.
Optional, but helps it settle better: Let sit for ten minutes at room temp, whisk again, then put in lid on and put in fridge.
You can probably get away with using just plain sugar. Plant based milks also work. I like mine with even more peanut butter. To boot, chia seeds have a decent amount of protein. Coupled with peanut butter, I’m happy for my kids to eat as much as they want. There is plenty of room for experimentation. My wife has made pumpkin spice, eggnog, and coconut version too. Generally, the pudding is receptive to new tries, since you can usually add more ingredients to fix most mistakes.
Enjoy!
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