Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Box puddings simply don’t measure up to homemade pudding. And making it yourself is almost as easy. This dairy-free dark chocolate pudding is a simple whisk and cook treat. It’s made with a generous helping of cocoa, and has a creamy finish, despite the lack of dairy, eggs, and soy!

Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Pudding Whisked Up on the Stovetop

This deep, dairy-free, dark chocolate pudding recipe was originally shared with us by cookbook author jae steele, back when she kept her blog, Domestic Affair. She has since moved on to another career path, but some of her vegan recipes, like this one, live on. We’ve updated it, and also have a few ingredient notes.

Sweetener: jae made this recipe specifically with granulated sweetener, but you can substitute a liquid sweetener if preferred. We have not tested this recipe with a sugar-free sweetener, which could dramatically affect the results. Sugar-free sweeteners don’t cook quite the same as actual sugars.
Starch: If you need corn-free, you can substitute arrowroot starch for the cornstarch. We do find that cornstarch is the most seamless, but arrowroot works in a pinch.
Cocoa Powder: This recipe uses quite a bit of cocoa, and it isn’t baked, so be sure to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. It’s darker, sweeter, and less bitter than natural cocoa powder because the acidity has been removed. Popular brands of Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder include Hershey’s Special Dark, Whole Foods 365, Anthony’s Culinary, and Ghirardelli Majestic.

Special Diet Notes: Dark Chocolate Pudding

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, ssoy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.

Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Pudding

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

Please note that the Prep time is hands-on time only. Allow a couple hours for cooling, unless you plan to eat it warm.

Author: jae steele

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

1½ cups + 1 cup dairy-free milk beverage, divided
1½ cups canned coconut milk
½ to ⅔ cup sugar, Sucanat, or coconut sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
⅔ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¼ cup non-GMO cornstarch

Instructions

In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the 1½ cups milk beverage, coconut milk, sugar, and salt.
Pour the remaining 1 cup milk beverage into a bowl or large glass measuring cup. Sift in the cocoa powder and cornstarch, and whisk until smooth.
Pour the cocoa mixture into the saucepan in a slow, steady stream, while whisking.
Cook, whisking frequently, until it thickens to a thin pudding consistency. It will thicken more as it cools.
Let the pudding cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Notes

Chipotle Chocolate Option: Whisk ¼ to ½ teaspoon (to taste) chipotle pepper powder into the saucepan right after the cocoa mixture.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: about ¾ cup Calories: 259 Fat: 17g Saturated fat: 13.6g Carbohydrates: 30.9g Sugar: 18.8g Sodium: 164mg Fiber: 4.6g Protein: 3.5g