Y’ALL I am SO excited about this recipe! It happened by complete accident, and is so simple, and tastes amazing! I don’t think I have had pudding since I was little, and I forgot how tasty it can be, and I just created a healthy vegan version unintentionally! This is so simple to make and takes less than 10 minutes total - you absolutely have to try it!
I was trying to make a vegan frosting for a cake I was baking, and when I taste tested it partway through the process, I was truly blown away by how good it was! It tasted just like vanilla pudding, with the exact same texture! It is only made with a few simple ingredients: cashews, oat milk (you could use another kind of milk), vanilla, maple syrup or honey, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt! I used vanilla oat milk to make this, which added more vanilla flavor, but you could use regular milk. So of course, I had to see if I could make “tapioca” and chocolate versions - luckily I had made a large batch, so I had enough for frosting and three different pudding variations! When I made the chocolate version, the cocoa powder made the texture change to be fluffier and actually became like a chocolate mousse!
I seriously think this recipe is magical because it can be: pudding, mousse, or frosting all with the same base! It is vegan and gluten-free, but it is made with cashews, so if you are allergic to nuts and still want to try a vegan chocolate mousse, check out this recipe made with avocado. You will need a very strong blender or a food processor to make this so that the cashews are blended completely smooth.
Soak your cashews in water overnight (keep them in the fridge) in advance so they are soft and easily blend. I actually ended up soaking mine for two nights, but that was unplanned and you don’t need to soak them that long - I just wanted to share that fact so you know that you can soak them longer if you want to. You can also boil them until they are soft if you don't want to wait to make this recipe!
Anyways, I bet you are so intrigued to know how to make this pudding, so here is the recipe!
Ingredients
Makes about 5 cups
3 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight or in hot water for at least 2 hours
1 cup oat milk (I used vanilla oat milk)
6 tbsp maple syrup or honey
3 tsp vanilla extract
Splash of almond extract (optional)
Dash of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Steps
1. Add ingredients to a high-powered blender or food processor, and blend until completely smooth. It won’t take very long at all!
2. Spoon into bowls, and enjoy with berries and a sprinkle of cinnamon!
3. If you want to make a frosting, refrigerate the pudding for a few hours until it thickens.
Here is an example of this pudding as a frosting! I used it as to frost a carrot cake I made for Easter! I used the carrot cake recipe from Erin Lives Whole, and used a round pan and two small rectangular pans to make the cake in the shape of a bunny.
Variations:
Chocolate mousse pudding
Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to ¾ cup of the vanilla pudding, and mix well. And it’s ready to eat! Again, if you wanted this to be frosting, you could then refrigerate it for a few hours. P.S. You can use this mousse in layered truffles (see how here)!
Look at that perfect mousse texture!
“Tapioca” pudding
Add 2 tbsp of chia seeds and ⅓ cup milk to about ¾ cup of the vanilla pudding, mix well, and refrigerate overnight (or until thickened if you are making this during the day - it would take about 6-8 hours).
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