Hello Friends!
Today, I bring you what is possibly one of my very favorite recipes yet.
Carob peanut butter pudding with coconut whipped cream.
Some of you may be thinking that nothing good can come out of carob. I know, I know…it just doesn’t have the same flavor as chocolate. But, really, this pudding is SO good. You won’t miss the chocolate here. I promise.
There are a few reasons why I generally prefer carob over chocolate, but I’ll sum up for you what I feel is the most important reason. Carob has no caffeine and no theobromine (both central nervous system stimulants contained in most, if not all, chocolate). The harmful effects of caffeine are numerous and obvious–so I’m not going to get into that here. But, basically, yes. Chocolate, at least Hershey’s chocolate, has both caffeine and theobromine in it. If anyone has more expansive knowledge on this issue and would like to tell me that I’m wrong, I would be happy to hear you out. Really, I would. I looooooove the flavor of chocolate, and I would love to accept any excuse to eat more of it. Oh, and if anyone has heard of chocolate that somehow has had the caffeine and theobromine removed, I would love to hear about that too.
However, I’m not here to force carob on anyone. I’m pretty sure this recipe would work just as well, if you want to use chocolate instead of carob. Vegan chocolate is pretty easy to get a hold of, and I think chocolate peanut butter pudding would be simply splendid. Moving on…
Why don’t you just have a taste of this?!
What I love most about this recipe (besides the taste) is that it is soy and gluten free, so almost anyone can enjoy it. And, it is chocolate free, so even your dog could enjoy it! I know there are a few crazy people out there who would totally share this dessert with their dogs. :) I think it’s wonderful.
Vegan Carob Peanut Butter Pudding
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1/4 cup vegan sugar-sweetened carob chips melted
- 2 1/2 cups almond milk I used lightly sweetened vanilla flavor.
- 1 tablespoon Florida cane juice crystals or sweetener of your choice, adjusted to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tablespoon carob powder
- 1 teaspoon Roma or other gluten-free coffee substitute; or leave it out altogether
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Melt your carob chips by mixing them with your peanut butter in a bowl and microwaving for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. OR, you can melt them in a double boiler on low to medium heat for a few minutes.
- Mix all your ingredients in a strong blender (I use Vitamix) until completely smooth.
- Pour blender contents into a saucepan on medium heat. Stir with a wire whisk pretty much constantly until mixture begins to boil. Allow pudding to boil for about 2 minutes, while you keep stirring. Then, remove from heat. The pudding won’t be very thick at this point. That’s okay, because it will thicken as it cools.
- Pour pudding into five 2/3 cup sized ramekins. Place ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours until pudding has chilled and thickened.
- Serve chilled with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and enjoy!
http://www.theroastedroot.net
Can’t tell ya how happy I am to see this post! I’ve had a can of carob powder in my pantry for about a year and have completely forgotten about it. Now I’m excited to put it to use…and I LOVE peanut butter! YUM!
Oh man…I LOVE peanut butter too. Lemme know how it turns out. I’m kind of addicted to this stuff. :0
http://www.piesandplots.net
I am allergic to chocolate and always looking for yummy carob recipes. This certainly looks like a winner :)
http://www.ADamselinDesign.com
I know this is a human recipe but I plan on trying this for my two dogs 5th birthday treat instead of their annual peanut butter & carob cake just to give them something different. I will be altering the recipe a bit such removing the coffee ingredient.