Are you in the mood for a healthy dessert?? One packed with healthy fat, protein, fiber, and other nutrients?? This is the one for you. This dessert can be used as a dip for fruit, or by itself as a pudding. It has all the nutrients you look for in a well-balanced meal, providing healthy fat, plant based protein, and carbohydrates for fuel. I used peanut butter, but other nut butters would also work. This recipe is gluten free and can be made vegan friendly by using soy, rice, coconut, hemp, or other non-animal produced milk. I would recommend using a plain milk substitution as flavored varieties would alter flavor and add sugar. Enjoy your healthy dessert!
Ingredients:
15 oz. can garbanzo beans
¼- ½ cup milk
¼ cup maple syrup
½- cup peanut butter
½- cup dark chocolate or cacao chips/nibs
1-2 TBSP flaxseed (optional)
**You could sub honey or agave if you don’t have maple syrup
Directions:
1. Drain and rinse beans
2. Puree beans in blender or food processor with milk and maple syrup- start with ¼ cup of the milk and add gradually until desired consistency- more milk for a pudding, and less milk for a dip
3. Add optional flaxseed if using, mix in thoroughly
4. After everything is blended, stir in chocolate chips
5. Refrigerate for a few hours (preferably overnight)
This healthy dessert has many nutrition benefits. The bean taste is masked by the peanut butter but provides a great source of protein and fiber which helps keep you full. Make sure you use a natural peanut butter without any hydrogenated oils, added sugars or salt. Although peanut butter is high in calories, it is a great source of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. The flaxseed adds omega 3’s for extra healthy fat and contributes to the nutty taste without changing the consistency. Chocolate comes from the cacao plant which offers antioxidants that have many heart healthy benefits. All these features make this a very nutrient dense dessert! Do you have a favorite healthy dessert?? What about non-healthy dessert?? Mine would be a hot fudge brownie sundae! Dessert is one of my favorite things to enjoy; the important thing is just to enjoy it in moderation!