Chocolate Pudding with...Avocado?

Lately, we've been making a lot of chocolate pudding at the Center for Health and Well-being.  Why?  It's not only because we love chocolate.  (We do!)  It's also because it's heart-healthy.

Heart-healthy chocolate pudding?  Yes indeed...with our secret ingredient!  But more on that in just a moment.

Chocolate pudding is a beloved food.  Yet during a recent grocery store trip, I perused the ingredient list on a container of chocolate pudding.  The first three ingredients were what I expected:  milk, water, and sugar.  Not the ideal snack, but at least the ingredents are ones I can pronounce.

But then the list got ugly.  Modified corn starch (who knows what "modified" means?).  Vegetable oil (who wants to eat that in pudding?), including hydrogenated oils, which are notorious for their heart-harming trans-fats.  Sodium stearoyl lactylate (a completely unknown ingredient to me).  Artificial flavors.  Color added.

Not exactly the snack I want to be feeding my kids on a regular basis.  And certainly not heart-healthy with the trans fats.

So I set out to find a simple yet delicious chocolate pudding recipe that is heart-healthy.  What I discovered is that a secret ingredient can make chocolate pudding creamy and contribute lots of heart-healthy fats.

That secret ingredient:  avocados.

Avocados are a great source of fiber, potassium, lutein, and vitamins C, K, folate, and B6.

To make the pudding, mash 2 avocados in a bowl.  Stir in 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 C milk, 1T instant espresso powder, 1tsp vanilla extract, and 2-4T honey (depending on your sweetness preference).  Mix until the pudding is smooth and well-combined.  (Sometimes it helps to blend with an immersion blender.)  Transfer to individual serving bowls.  Garnish with shredded coconut or fleur de sel, if desired.

This pudding would also be really delicious with bananas instead of (or alongside) the avocados.