Description
No-Added-Sugar Vanilla Bean Chia Pudding with Easy Cherry Sauce combines creamy vanilla pudding with sweet, intense cherry sauce; it’s an irresistible combination!
Ingredients
Vanilla Bean Chia Pudding:
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream (see Note)
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) water
- 6 tablespoons chia seeds (I use Chosen Foods)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 packets stevia
Easy Cherry Sauce:
- 1 (340 g/12 oz/2 1/2 cups) bag frozen cherries (see Note)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 packet stevia
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon RealFruit Instant Pectin (optional; to thicken the sauce a bit)
Optional:
- 5 teaspoons 90% dark or stevia-sweetened chocolate shavings, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- For the pudding, whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and transfer to the fridge to sit overnight and turn into pudding (give it a stir every so often if you think of it).
- For the sauce, add the frozen cherries, water, and salt to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover the saucepan and cook until the cherries are softened, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it and turn the heat down if necessary so it doesn’t boil over. Once the cherries are softened, turn off the heat, stir in the stevia, vanilla, almond extract, and pectin, and use a fork to mash the cherries a bit. Cool completely.
- To serve, layer the pudding and sauce in individual glasses. Top with chocolate shavings if desired.
- Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Heavy Whipping Cream Substitute for the Paleo Version: For the paleo version, use canned unsweetened full-fat coconut milk instead.
Frozen Cherries: This is a great way to use frozen cherries because in this recipe, the cherries don’t have to hold their shape. If you have access to fresh cherries, you can always wash, de-stem, de-pit, and flash-freeze them to make this when cherries are out of season. Or if you have an excess of fresh cherries on hand during cherry season, you can go that route and make this recipe with fresh cherries instead, you might just need to add a splash more water.
Low-Carb Version: Although this recipe has no added sugar, it isn’t exactly low carb. With 11g net carbs per serving (mostly from the cherries) you can probably fit it into a low-carb lifestyle. Or if you need to reduce the carbs a bit, an easy way to do this is to use only half of the cherry sauce (which will cut the carbs in about half).
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/5 of recipe
- Calories: 218
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 78
- Fat: 15
- Saturated Fat: 6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 18
- Fiber: 7
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 32