The Cleveland Clinic recently published an article, 6 Foods That Boost Your Beauty. Three of those foods were tofu, chia seeds and cocoa. Tofu contains isoflavones that can help our skin’s collagen to avoid wrinkles! (I may start sleeping with tofu under my eyes!) Chia seeds, the newest superfood, are a great plant source of omega-3’s and are wonderful for your overall health and the health of your hair and skin. Chia seeds absorb moisture and get things nice and thick. They are flavorless and make a perfect addition to this pudding. Cocoa is full of flavonoids that have antioxidant properties and cocoa contains epicatechin (say that five times fast!) which increases blood flow and oxygen to our skin. Just another reason to never feel guilty about eating chocolate!
OK, enough scientific terminology. This just tastes really good. Isn’t that the bottom line? This dessert will fool anyone with a sweet tooth or a love of chocolate. I know. I’ve fooled my father-in-law with a similar dessert that partly inspired this one. Alton Brown has a delicious Moo-Less Chocolate Pie made with silken tofu. My father-in-law does not like to experiment when it comes to food! So, one Thanksgiving, I decided to make Alton’s pie to take to my in-laws. I knew my father-in-law couldn’t resist a chocolate pie! I did’t say a word about the tofu. He ate it and loved it. When I told him it was tofu…well, he wasn’t happy at first. Fast forward a couple of years and it’s one of his favorites!
- 1 pound silken tofu, drained if needed
- 3 to 4 tablespoons honey (or pure maple syrup to keep this vegan)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (see Notes)
- 2 tablespoons your favorite liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (see Notes)
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- grated chocolate for garnish
- In a blender, combine the tofu, honey, cocoa and liqueur or vanilla. Run the blender on high speed just until the ingredients are incorporated.
- In a small bowl, pour the contents of the blender and add the chia seeds. Stir to combine.
- Pour the pudding into serving dishes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Before serving, garnish with some grated chocolate!
Some liqueur ideas: coffee, almond or orange flavored liqueur.
When you open up the package of tofu, there will usually be a bit of liquid in it. Drain that off before adding the tofu to the blender.
Thank you for this recipe! I have never thought about incorporating chia in a dessert! I do have to ask, however, if there is anything that substitute the silken tofu?? I am highly sensitive to soy; almost as much as I am to dairy! Please let me know if you can. I would love to try something dessert-like with chia and chocolate.
Take care!
Ashley, I’m so glad you’re interested in using chia. I think you’ll love it this way! You can most definitely make this using almond milk to avoid any dairy. I would change the proportions to 2 C. almond milk in place of the 1 lb. of silken tofu and I’d increase the chia seeds to 1/3 C. instead of 3 T. I hope you love it! Let me know! Thanks so much!
I’ve been hunting for more silk tofu recipes after using it in a cake the other week – love this idea!
Thank You! I’d love to hear about the cake recipe! Sounds great.
Yum this looks delicious, love that it’s healthy too!
Thanks so much!
I completely agree on the Ghirardelli. I always use them for baking, even for the chocolate chips in cookies! It just makes such a huge difference, much better than nestle or hershey. And using chia seeds in a pudding is a wonderful idea! I have some chia seeds in my cabinet but I wasn’t ever sure what to do with them besides put them in oatmeal, I’ll have to give this a try :)
Thanks so much Eva. I updated to explain the difference between the cocoa powders. I love Ghiardelli too, but if anyone has a preference for a sweeter, less bitter chocolate, they would probably enjoy it with the Dutch processed cocoa. The chia is great this way. They plump up and give the pudding a great consistency. Thanks for stopping in! I appreciate your comments! :D