I’ve been pretty quiet here on the blog so far this year. Since last spring, I’ve made a lot of changes to my lifestyle that don’t really fit well with running a dessert recipe blog. Last March, I started working out regularly for pretty much the first time in my life. I’ve hit the gym sporadically in the past, but never found something that kept me motivated and moving.
I started my journey with Kaia FIT, an intense bootcamp-style program for women. Nutrition is a big part of their mission, so over the last year I tried out detoxing for the first time and gave up things like sugar, dairy, processed foods, alcohol, and starchy carbs for weeks at a time. In general, I’ve been trying to move towards a more plant-based diet full of whole foods and reducing my intake of a few things like dairy, grains, and processed sugar.
Silk makes a variety of plant-based milks (and even a soy-based coffee creamer) that, along with my other diet and exercise changes, have helped me bloom. I feel so much stronger and healthier than I did last year at this time. I can even do military style push ups now! I especially love Silk products because not only is eating a plant based diet good for you, but their products are dairy-free, gluten-free, and GMO-free (in fact, Silk is a supporter of the Non-GMO Project).
I use Silk milks in smoothies, on cereal, and in place of dairy milk in a ton of dessert recipes. If you’ve never tried them out (or if you have and love it), sign up here to grab an instant coupon for $.75 off any Silk half gallon. They have a variety of coconutmilk, almondmilk, and soymilk flavors, so there is bound to be (at least) one that you like. Plus, they’ll send you a birthday offer, more coupons, and occasional sweepstakes opportunities too!
I’ve done some experimenting with healthier desserts and I’m trying them out more and more now. There are a lot of ways to define “healthy” or “skinny” desserts – most of the time it’s a reduction of calories and/or fat, but with that often comes the addition of processed foods and artificial sugars. I’d rather eat whole foods and avoid refined sugar and flours, which I think are what are much more harmful than fat.
I’m still learning how to bake yummy things without too much refined sugar or grains. I’ve tried out some Paleo recipes (no dairy, grains, or sugar) with mixed results, including this one…at first. I tried to make some chocolate ganache with Silk Unsweetened Coconutmilk, which really ended up making chocolate soup. Not that there’s anything wrong with chocolate soup, but it certainly wasn’t going to work as a frosting or tart filling like I was intending.
I threw some chia seeds into the wannabe ganache and stuck it in the fridge, thinking I’d at least have some chocolate chia seed pudding to enjoy later, and went back to the drawing board. I was brainstorming other ideas when it happened…I pulled the chia seed pudding out of the fridge, stuck a spoon in and found something unexpected: it turned into chocolate mousse. Rich, creamy mousse. What!
I accidentally ate all of the first batch, you know, because I needed to taste test it and make sure it was good. It worked out anyway, because I need to try it out a couple more times to make sure it wasn’t a weird fluke. The next times I puréed the mixture before placing it in the fridge to firm up and it made a perfectly smooth, creamy mousse – you’d never know it was full of chia seeds!
To fancy up the chia seed mousse even more, I made a grain-free chocolate crust and topped it all off with some really easy coconut whipped cream. No dairy, no grains, and just some refined sugar in the chocolate. So this is almost Paleo friendly, depending on how strict you are with chocolate/sugar.
Really, what you get is a creamy pie chock full of rich chocolate and coconut flavors. I served this to several friends and none of us could tell there was a single chia seed in it or that it lacked any dairy – it just tasted like a mousse pie!
Ingredients
- Crust:
- Use your favorite crust recipe or store bought crust (I used this grain-free chocolate cookie crust)
- Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups Silk Unsweetened Coconutmilk
- 1 1/2 cups dairy free chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- Coconut Whipped Cream Topping:
- 1 can coconut cream, placed in refrigerator overnight
Instructions
- Prepare and bake your crust in a 9 inch pie pan (or follow instructions to prep and bake your store-bought pie crust if needed)
- In a double boiler over medium heat, combine coconut milk, chocolate, and coconut oil. Stir occasionally until everything is melted and well combined. Remove from heat.
- Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and add chia seeds. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into prepared pie crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight (pie filling should be firm when ready).
- To make coconut whipped cream, open the can of refrigerated coconut cream and scoop it into a large mixing bowl. Use an electric or stand mixer to beat at medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes, until soft peaks form.
Notes
This is a very rich, but not very sweet recipe. I recommend tasting the pie filling and the coconut cream as your prepare them. If you want either to be sweeter, you can add a little sugar (I recommend adding a 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar to the filling and 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to coconut whipped cream).
https://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2014/03/12/chocolate-coconut-chia-pie/
Don’t forget to sign up for your Silk coupon! Then come back and tell me in the comments – do you want to see more healthier dessert recipes like this?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
