Make Your Morning Better With This Chia Breakfast Sundae
This super-healthy, crazy-delicious breakfast sundae comes from Fran Costigan, “the queen of vegan desserts.” Fran is an internationally recognized culinary instructor and author, and she’s all about making and eating delicious, healthy, organic, and minimally processed food. Naturally, she’s also a longtime Theo chocolate devotee.
Fran created this modern version of muesli just for us. Traditionally, muesli is a mixture of uncooked rolled oats, fruit, seeds, and nuts. Invented by a Swiss physician for his patients, it’s packed with iron, calcium, zinc, and other important nutrients. Nondairy milk keeps this recipe vegan, and it’s also gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free oats.
The pudding is rich and creamy but light in texture, and far more interesting than straight chia puddings. Fran also suggests using chocolate-flavored nondairy milk for a Sunday brunch–worthy extra-chocolaty breakfast pudding. This recipe scales up beautifully, so make enough to last a few days.
Fran Costigan’s Super-Healthy Nibby Chia Breakfast Sundae
Serves 2
Ingredients for the pudding
- 1 cup nondairy milk (try almond, coconut, hazelnut, oat, or soy)
- 1 tablespoon black or white chia seeds
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon (¼ ounce) roasted cocoa nibs
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more if needed
Ingredients for serving (suggested)
- Berries
- Diced fresh fruit
- Diced sulfite-free dried fruit
- Chopped nuts
- Toasted unsweetened shredded coconut
- Seeds (such as pumpkin, sesame, hemp, or flax)
- Finely chopped 85 percent dark chocolate
1. To make the pudding, pour the nondairy milk into a glass jar or other container with a lid. Sprinkle the chia seeds on top, wait for about 1 minute, then stir with a fork. Set aside for 5 minutes, then stir again.
2. Stir in the oats and cocoa nibs. Cover the jar and refrigerate the pudding for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, until it’s creamy and thickened, stirring a few times if possible. The chia seeds will begin to soften and resemble small tapioca pearls very quickly, but it takes the oats a few hours to become creamy.
3. In the morning, stir in the maple syrup and serve with an assortment of toppings.
4. The pudding can be kept refrigerated for up to three days. Stir before eating. If you want to thin it after one or 2 days, you can add more nondairy milk.
*Copyright © 2015 by Debra Music and Joe Whinney with Leora Bloom. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Theo Chocolate: Recipes & Sweet Secrets from Seattle’s Favorite Chocolate Maker by permission of Sasquatch Books.
Joe Whinney, Founder and CEO of Theo Chocolate
As a conservation volunteer in Central America working alongside Mayan cocoa farmers, Joe realized that social, economic, and environmental degradation are business-related problems. Joe’s commitment to creating change in the world was galvanized after his first trip to West Africa in the mid-nineties where he witnessed poverty and economic oppression on a massive scale. In 1994, Joe began to pioneer the organic chocolate industry in North America through his love of chocolate and his passion for social and environ- mental justice. Joe expanded his work in 2005 by founding Theo Chocolate, the first Fair Trade and organic bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the Americas, which produces a wide variety of award-winning chocolate and confections.
Debra Music, Co-Founder and CMO of Theo Chocolate
Debra’s background includes extensive work as a social marketing and brand consultant. Since 2005, she has leveraged her business
experience and creative sensibilities to launch and grow Theo Chocolate. Theo was born out of the desire to show chocolate lovers how organic, Fair Trade chocolate can positively impact the world, from the farmers who cultivate the beans to the consumers who support this beloved national brand. Debra’s belief that we are all connected is at the very heart of Theo's business.