The photo doesn’t do this dessert any justice. It’s so difficult to get good photos at night this time of year – sigh. It’s time to fess up and share with you that the base of this decadent dessert is none other than a can of cannelleni beans (or a box if you buy the no salt added 365 brand at Whole Foods). I know it sounds strange but it works beautifully. They blend up all nice, smooth and creamy are very neutral in flavor so there is no “beanie” taste going on. The incredible Debby at The Healthy Librarian blog came up with this amazing recipe.
We enjoyed it with some fresh strawberries I bought at Trader Joe’s. They were perfect together but raspberries would also be delightful! I must warn you that this is loaded with caffeine – the recipe calls for instant espresso powder. You might remember that I gave coffee up last March when I began a plant based diet. I enjoyed this dessert at about 7:00 in the evening and I barely got a wink of sleep that night!
I think it would still be good without the instant espresso if you want to avoid an all nighter. Ha ha! Or another option would be to brew some strong decaf coffee and use it in place of water in the recipe. A little orange juice could be a nice flavor too or if you are into chocolate mint some fresh mint leaves or mint extract would work! Take the basic recipe and have fun with it. I plan on trying several different versions.
Chocolate Ganache Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 15- ounce can cannellini beans no salt added drained (you could sub garbanzo beans but they do have a stronger flavor)
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter almond butter, cashew butter or defatted peanut flour or PB2.
- 1/2 cup organic Cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa
- 2–4 tablespoons date syrup for sweetness if needed
- 1 teaspoon of decaf instant espresso coffee – optional or Dandy Blend
- 4 large pitted Medjool dates that are moist and plump
- 1 teaspoon of good quality real vanilla extract or vailla powder
- 1/2 cup water or more if needed
- pinch of salt – optional but it does help bring out the sweetness
Instructions
- Throw everything into a food processor, process until smooth adding more water if needed. I made it in my high powered blender and it worked well but you won’t be able to make it in a regular blender as it is very thick. You can make it as thin or thick as you want. Add less water for more of a ganache, frosting or hummus texture. If you want more of a pudding/mousse add more liquid such as water, juice or almond milk.
- Debby used the bean liquid instead of water but I thought the drained bean liquid looked unappealing and went with water.
- Serving Suggestions: spread on chunks of bananas, use to frost cupcakes, cookies or brownies, serve in small dishes garnished with cut up strawberries or raspberries. It would be pretty layered in dessert shot glasses alternating with layers of fresh fruit!
Notes
Recipe from The Healthy Librarian
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Can you use another sweetener instead of Stevia?
Sure use whatever sweetener you prefer. I no longer use stevia so would use dates instead.
Made this today, yummy. Gonna try with bananas and raspberries. Thx.
I am glad you like it Sunny!
Happy Cooking,
Tami
I love your site and videos – you are really helping my husband and I make the change to a Vegan diet to lower his cholesterol. Love your recipes! Thank you for all the work you and Tom put into your site!
Thank you Darlene! We appreciate the positive feedback!
Hi Tami,
Sounds delicious.
I wondered if you are still eating cocoa?
I’m not sure if it’s a trigger food for me, but I would love to try this recipe.
Thank you!