A Paleo Blackberry Cashew Chia Pudding You Can Eat for Breakfast or Dessert
There are two kinds of people: those who love chia pudding, and those who find it icky. To the latter, it may just be that you're making paleo chia pudding wrong. Though the dish can be as simple as mixing together chia seeds and nondairy milk, that can be a bit, well, gloopy. What chia pudding really needs is a little help from cashews and a blender. Blended cashews are basically nondairy cream, and which pudding isn't immensely improved with a bit of cream?
If you don't have a high-power blender, you'll need to start by soaking cashews in filtered water for 3 hours so they soften enough to blend smoothly. Otherwise, you can simply plop all the ingredients in the blender and get going. To avoid the aforementioned gloopy qualities of chia pudding, the chia seeds themselves get blended smoothly into this mixture, leaving nothing but a smooth, creamy paleo chia pudding.
Fresh blackberries add a tart-sweet element to the pudding, but you can swap in any other fruit you like, or even omit it altogether.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unsweetened hemp, almond, or cashew milk
1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for 3 hours if you don't have a high-power blender)
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1/3 cup white or black chia seeds
2 pitted deglet nour dates
1 teaspoon red beet powder, optional, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes, for serving
Cocoa nibs, for serving
How to Make It
- Combine nondairy milk, cashews, chia seeds, blackberries, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a high-power blender. Blend until very smooth. Taste and add another pinch of salt if the mixture is very sweet, or another date if you want the mixture sweeter.
- Divide the pudding among individual serving cups or a large sealable jar (not all the way to the top!). Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- When ready to serve, top with toasted coconut flakes, cocoa nibs, and more beet powder if desired. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 3 days.
