Avocado Chocolate Pudding

I love chocolate.  I especially like chocolate pudding.  I could eat it everyday.  I stay away from the little pudding cups because they taste like chemicals, but I like the texture.  They say they are made with milk and are healthy but I can taste some type of preservative in them.  I know how to make pudding from scratch but it requires cooking over the stove which means planning ahead and lots of stirring.  I have been reading many different recipes for making Chocolate Pudding using avocados.  I couldn't imagine it working.  I have had some failures making "healthy" recipes, so I just never tried.  Just before I went on vacation, I had some avocados and bananas to use up.  I tried one of the pudding recipes and it was delicious.  The recipe I used had avocado, banana, cocoa powder, coconut milk and maple syrup.

After being home for a few days, I decided to make another batch.  I couldn't remember the exact recipe.  I looked online and there are hundreds of variations so I decided to wing it.

Chocolate Pudding

2 avocados (cut in half, take the pit out and scoop it out of the shell)
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup cocoa powder (use 1/4 to 1/3 cup if you want it less dark chocolate)
1 cup milk (if you're lactose intolerant, coconut or almond milk will work)
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup chopped dates

I put them all in the blender and blended until smooth.

This is a very forgiving recipe.  Sweeten it with whatever you like...maple syrup, agave syrup, brown or white sugar or honey, banana and dates like I did.  Regular 1% milk worked just as well as the full fat coconut milk.  I imagine almond milk would work too.  If you don't like the taste of banana with chocolate, just use another avocado or leave it out. 

The calories aren't that low, but good fat calories from avocados don't really count.   It is fast to make and delicious. It's especially good with a dollop of whipped cream.  Don't use Cool Whip type whipped toppings.  Of the many ingredients in those toppings, only a couple are safe and one of them is water.  Whipped cream is so easy to make, why take a chance.