This healthy dark chocolate pudding is incredibly rich and decadent, despite containing lots of nutrients and no added refined sugars . . .
Why Dark Chocolate Pudding?
To be honest, I originally made this just because we had a lot of egg yolks in our fridge. Why? Because I really like to eat egg whites. I just fry them up in a little bit of olive oil and salt, and I could eat them all day. They’re delicious. I know whole eggs are supposed to be great for you and all, but I just love egg whites.
So because of my egg white habit, we have all these egg yolks sitting around. I didn’t want them to go to waste. At the point we had about 8 yolks, I thought to myself, hmmm these yolks aren’t going to eat themselves. I should probably do something about this. How can I use up 8 egg yolks? Custard? Fruit curd? Pudding?!!
How to Use Up Lots of Egg Yolks
I decided to use up the egg yolks by making chocolate pudding. My kids are already huge chocolate ice cream fans, so they were bound to be chocolate pudding fans. Maybe I could be too if I made it with good quality chocolate. And making it a little less sweet. Milk is naturally somewhat sweet, so maybe I would just increase that natural sweetness with a tad of honey.
So that’s exactly what I tried. And the results were completely delicious. Kids were huge fans. Husband and I were fans. And I got to use some of our tiny mason jars, finally! I may be gifting some of these to my daughter’s friends for the Holiday season.
Most importantly, I may have finally found a way to make my egg white habit sustainable. (FYI, for the similarly egg-yolk-laden, here are some other recipes calling for egg yolks!)
Is Chocolate Pudding Healthy?
Is it counter intuitive for chocolate pudding to be described as healthy? It feels that way to me. So let’s break down the ingredients and their health benefits, and you’ll see why I say this is pretty healthy.
- Whole Milk – The base of this chocolate pudding is whole milk. Obviously, milk is good for kids. High quality protein, calcium, Vitamin D, potassium, B12, hooray!
- Honey – Contains antioxidants and mild antibacterial properties. Honey also has a lower glycemic index than sugar, which means that it provides a slower release of energy into the bloodstream (read: less of a sugar rush). There’s also not a ton of it in this recipe, and it is counterbalanced by the healthy fats in the milk and egg yolks so it is less likely to cause kids to get a sugar high (more on this below).
- Egg Yolks – The yolk is the most nutrient-dense part of the egg. That means it has more calories, but it also has lots of Vitamin A, D, E, and K. It’s an excellent source of choline (good for brain health and cellular function, especially in little ones). The healthy fat in the egg yolk also promotes satiety. Important for dessert!
- Dark Chocolate – Rich in antioxidants (in particular, flavanols). These are associated with improved heart health by enhancing blood flow and reducing blood pressure. They may also have positive effects on brain function and mood, due to influencing endorphin and serotonin levels. Quick note here: in the 2 ounces of 70% bittersweet chocolate in this recipe, the manufacturer will have added some sugar. You can substitute 100% baking chocolate if you want to kick out the refined sugars completely!
A Note on Healthy Fat
One thing you may notice is that there is more fat in here than in a commercial pudding recipe. This is actually a good thing.
The fats are healthy fats coming from the egg yolk and the milk, and they help to slow down how quickly the sugar from the pudding enters your bloodstream. This means the pudding is less likely to cause a rapid blood sugar spike than a dessert that is low in fat. Blood sugar spikes lead to energy crashes, increased hunger, and poor focus, not to mention the risk of increased insulin resistance (leading to diabetes) and children bouncing off of walls. Therefore, when you have a treat with sugar, you actually want it to come along with some fat. In addition, treats with more fats leave you feeling satiated (rather than with an empty belly, craving more).
You may remember a time when milk fat was considered bad for you. I heard this a lot growing up. Apparently, however, more recent studies indicate that saturated fats coming from dairy saturated fats have a neutral or slightly beneficial effect on heart health. And the antioxidants in the dark chocolate have been shown to have a positive effect on heart health.
So, in conclusion, this dark chocolate pudding recipe is quite healthy. That said, I did not say it was super low calorie. It is a dessert after all, so like don’t go crazy.
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Healthy Dark Chocolate Pudding
This healthy dark chocolate pudding is incredibly rich and decadent, despite containing lots of nutrients and no added refined sugars . . .
The recipe only requires about 30 minutes of active time in the kitchen – and then about 2-3 hours for the pudding to cool and set.
Recommended Equipment:
- 1 thermometer (I use an instant read)
- 1 strainer
- 4-ounce mason jars (optional)
- Total Time: 3.5 hours (includes 3 hours to chill)
- Yield: 6 servings (each just shy of 1/2 cup) 1x
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup honey
1 vanilla bean
8 egg yolks
2 ounces of bittersweet dark chocolate (I used 70% bittersweet chocolate baking bars from Guittard which contains limited refined sugars; use 100% chocolate if you want to avoid refined sugars completely!)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Cocoa Rouge from Guittard; you can add 1 extra tablespoon if you want it super dark chocolate-y)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Steep the vanilla bean in milk.
Add the 2 cups of whole milk to a saucepan. Stir in 1/4 cup of honey. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, then quarter each half of the vanilla bean and drop it into the mixture.
Heat over low-medium heat until you start to see little bubbles starting to form around the edges. Turn off the heat and let it sit about 1 minute.
While the milk heats, whisk together the egg yolks in a medium heat proof mixing bowl until smooth.
2. Create the pudding base.
Whisk the egg yolks together and splash about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into them while whisking. This will raise the temperature of the yolks without cooking them. Splash another 1/4 cup into the yolks while whisking. And another 1/4 cup!
Then pour all the egg yolks into the remaining milk in the saucepan (the stove should still be off at this point). Whisk together until smooth (aside from the vanilla bean pieces which should still be bopping around). Then get back to a normal cooking spoon or spatula to stir.
Turn the heat back on to low. Heat mixture, stirring constantly, for about 5-10 minutes until it hits 180F. It will start to thicken slowly as it reaches 180F. Be careful not to exceed 180F! If any part of the pudding base hits 185, you will have scrambled egg. Your best friends are low heat, constant stirring, and a thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer for any reason, the traditional wisdom is to stir until it thickens enough to coat the back of a silverware spoon.
As soon as the mixture reaches 180F, take it off the heat. Congrats, you now have custard.
3. Make it into chocolate pudding.
Pour the custard through a strainer into a clean heat-proof bowl. Chop up the 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and drop it into the custard. Let it sit for about two minutes, then stir well. The chocolate should be mostly melted by that point, but stir until the chocolate is fully incorporated (don’t worry if the color looks a bit pebbled – it will go away after you add the cocoa). Then add the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and the 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Whisk into the pudding until fully combined and to make sure there are no cocoa lumps.
4. Allow the pudding to set.
Let the pudding come down to room temperature. Place into little pudding pots (I use 6 1/2 cup mason jars) or keep it altogether in one big bowl. Refrigerate until cold. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.
5. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: stovetop
