No-cook Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding
This easy no-cook chocolate peanut butter pudding is a healthy and guilt-free dessert! Naturally gluten-free and grain-free with paleo, vegan and dairy-free options.
I have a weird issue with bananas. For years, I seemed to be allergic to them. Then the allergy disappeared for a while, and now it comes and goes. When I first made this pudding in 2012, I was tired of all the banana-based smoothies and puddings, which is kind of ironic because, as it turns out, most of my smoothies nowadays do use bananas.
Â
The original version of this pudding used honey or coconut sugar as a sweetener, but I recently found Natural Delights in a local store and wanted to incorporate some of them into this pudding. I’d seen Medjool dates before in an open bin at the organic shop, but let’s just say that they looked on the unappetizing side. So I was excited to finally get my hands on some delicious Medjool dates!
If you don’t want to use dates, you can use whatever sweetener you’d like in their place. And if you don’t want to use peanut butter or another nut butter, simply don’t use it. It works without any kind of nut butter!
Â
The only thing I’m not totally in love with is the amount of peanut butter flavor. It’s always the same when you combine cocoa powder and peanut butter. I did think about making a cocoa powder-free version but avocado + peanut butter pudding? It might taste good, but I don’t even want to think about what that would look like.
I used Greek yogurt, but regular yogurt will do unless you want it ridiculously rich and thick like what you see in the pictures. For a vegan and paleo-friendly version, use dairy-free yogurt.
I’ve made this several times, and only once did I have an issue with it tasting less than stellar the next day. I think my avocados were just too old. To be on the safe side, I recommend enjoying the pudding on the first day, or at least within 12 hours. Making it in the evening for a school lunch the next day would definitely be fine.
Â
No-cook Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 (23 grams) Medjool date or 4 regular dates
- 6 tablespoons (96 grams) salted natural peanut butter (use almond butter or another type of nut butter for paleo or just omit it
- 140 grams avocado this was 1 avocado for me
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150 grams) plain Greek or regular plain yogurt (use coconut milk yogurt for a vegan / dairy-free / paleo version)
- 1/3 cup (38 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 medium banana mine was 120 grams peeled, optional
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar optional (you could also add more dates) – if not using a banana you'll likely need more than 3 tbsp of sugar
- milk of choice for thinning down the pudding, optional
- peanuts and shaved chocolate as garnish, optional (omit the peanuts for paleo)
Instructions
- Pulse the date(s) and peanut butter in the bowl of a food processor using an S-blade until there are no longer any large chunks of date(s) remaining. If not using peanut butter, pulse the date(s) and avocado before adding the Greek yogurt and the other remaining ingredients.1 (23 grams) Medjool date, 6 tablespoons (96 grams) salted natural peanut butter
- Add the avocado, Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, vanilla and if using, banana to the bowl of your food processor. Process until totally smooth and creamy. There shouldn’t be any lumps remaining.140 grams avocado, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150 grams) plain Greek, 1/3 cup (38 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 medium banana, 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- Add sweetener to taste. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little milk at a time until it’s the desired consistency.
- Spoon into a container and let chill for an hour in the refrigerator. Best enjoyed on the first day but will also be fine if prepared in the evening and eaten for lunch the next day. Garnish with peanuts and shaved chocolate, if desired.
Notes
- I used Greek yogurt, which resulted in extremely thick pudding. If you want yours a bit thinner, like regular pudding, use regular plain yogurt. Or use Greek yogurt and add some milk to thin it out.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator. Values don’t include optional ingredients.
This looks super yum! Great recipe!!
Thanks so much! :)
Do you need to have dates? Can anything substitute for them?
You can use whatever sweetener you’d like! Just add to taste.
This pudding looks soooooooo good! I have to admit that I have never used avocado in pudding but I hear it’s awesome. It looks so creamy and I love peanut butter flavor so I’m all over that :)
It is creamy! I hope you’ll try it one day, despite how strange it sounds. :)
Those dates seriously are magic – this dessert looks ridiculously rich and chocolatey – awesome combination!
Aren’t they, Jess?! I’m only bummed it took me so long to find them in my area!
I honestly can’t believe this is a healthy dessert… it looks way too sinful and rich and chocolatey! I guess that just means I can have seconds without feeling guilty about it. ;)
Indeed you can! It’s quite rich, though. Like… really rich. ;)
This looks so thick and rich, I’d love to give it a try!
I hope you will! It’s worth the mess it makes in the food processor. :)
You had me at no cook. My kids will dig this. What a great after school snack!
Thanks! I hope they’ll love it. :)
I would totally be making this with the greek yogurt! Question! When you say that you were not in love with the amount of pb flavor, was it too much or too little? Hubby is all about chocolate and peanut butter!
It’s not very strong once you add the cocoa powder! It tastes mostly of chocolate with a little peanut butter. You could of course add more peanut butter or peanut butter powder if you have that. :) I hope you’ll both enjoy it!
I bet the avocado lends a really nice and creamy texture to the pudding. Totally guilt free dessert.
It does indeed! So rich and creamy.
I love how versatile this base recipe is. And I extra love how rich and creamy it looks!
Thanks, Lauren! It really is. :)
This pudding sounds great. I would do it without any form of nut butter, just because of the calories. I like plain chocolate better anyway. This would make a great snack for us (and I wouldn’t tell my husband that it has avocado)…
It’s definitely not a low-calorie treat. ;) I hope you and your husband will enjoy it! And I do the same with Mr. T – not a word about avocados in the sweets until he tells me how much he likes it!
I don’t think I’d have any problem eating it all in the first day :) Looks SO GOOD
Haha. I thought that same but it’s really, really filling. ;)
Oh I love that there’s an avocado in there! I am going to make this with my cashew butter :)
That sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out. :)
I am loving these ingredients! I also like to add avocado to my puddings, it adds the perfect amount of creaminess!
Same here! I’m so happy I finally gave avocados a try.
love this!
Thanks, Sofie!
Lovely recipe, thanks for sharing! I’m not a fan of puddings and I was looking for an avocado based recipe since I love those. Just made this and it’s really tasty, I’m surprised by how creamy it turns out :) I was hoping to try this out on the boyfriend to get him to eat healthier snacks, but he didn’t like the mix of banana and chocolate… Although I didn’t tell him about the avocado and he didn’t spot it! I’ll make this again without the banana next time, there’s still a chance to get him to sneakily eat more fruits yet… I’ll definitely be checking out more of your recipes in the time being :)
I actually added less honey because I love rich bitter flavours and I really liked it without any sweeterner at all (just a heads up for anyone else). I have a feeling that if I added more it would’ve been a hit with the man but I refuse to compromise… Seems to be a common theme with other commentators!
I’m happy to hear that you liked it! When you try it without bananas next time, just keep in mind that you’re losing a lot of the sweetness, so it’ll be even more bitter (which I hope you’ll still enjoy :)) And that’s awesome that your boyfriend couldn’t detect the avocado! I hope he’ll like the banana-less version. :) Thanks so much for your feedback!
Does anyone know how many calories are in each serving?
I intentionally don’t include the nutritional info (I focus on making healthier choices rather than low calorie / fat / etc.) but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. I hope you’ll enjoy the pudding! :)
Delicioso! I did a search for “what can you do with over-ripe bananas,” hoping to avoid the ubiquitous banana bread and I found this. What a treat!
Austin-man won’t try it — “avocados and bananas? no thanks” — so I’m ‘stuck’ with it all to myself. tsk, tsk. thank you for a sweet treat that is pretty darn healthy.
Haha. You should have kept the avocado bit a secret! Although having it all to yourself isn’t the worst thing ever. ;) So happy that you liked it! Thanks a bunch for the feedback and rating. :)
This pudding snds amazing! What could b a gd alternative to yoghurt?
I can’t have lactose
Thanks, Isabella! Have you tried the So Delicious cultured coconut milk? It’s like Greek yogurt! I haven’t tried it here but I’m assuming it’d work. They also have an almond milk version. I hope that helps! :)
Just found your site today. I would love to try this, only thing is my husband can’t have avocados or bananas! Though if the bananas are cooked, say in bread, for some reason he can eat it. Anyhow, I have a couple of your recipes pinned, and can’t wait to try! I also understand living in a foreign country and not having access to certain American things – since we lived in Hungary for a while. Danke!
Oh, that stinks! I have the weirdest banana allergy. It seemed to have almost disappeared out of nowhere about a year ago and while I still can’t eat them plain, mixed together with other stuff is usually okay. It’s bizarre. But even if I put them in smoothies or something, every now and then, I have a reaction. :( So sorry that there’s no good replacement for the bananas and avocados in this recipe! And someone who understands what it’s like to not have access to basic American stuff like brown sugar! You must be happy to be back. :) Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say hi!
Erin!
I made this tonight – my poor hubby almost tried to eat some, but realized at the last second he couldn’t; poor guy. It’s awesome!!!!!! My kids were drooling, wanting more. Only thing is that I put in a frozen banana – ha ha ha, I had to dig it out of my food processor, because it wouldn’t mix it in. My oldest was thrilled to be able to eat the banana chunks while I put in another “non-frozen” banana. He said, wow mom, you can’t even taste the avocado. Thank you so much, you made our night!
Aww, your poor husband! I feel awful he couldn’t partake in the pudding! I’m so happy that you and the kids liked it. Even with the frozen banana. :) Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how it went! And thanks for the rating.