Creamy coconut chia pudding, lightly flavoured with vanilla, maple & lemon, topped with mango, passionfruit, strawberries, pomegranate and macadamias. Jump to Recipe
Weeow, we made it to 2016! Sounds so far into the 21st century, doesn’t it? Scary!
I wish I could tell you I had an epic New Years Eve last night, saw fireworks at a music festival or made a huge celebratory dinner and these salted caramel brownies to see out the last of 2015… but I didn’t. My New Years was as boring as they come.
It started with a freezer scare. I was home alone for a few days before joining the rest of my family on holiday, and got back from work on the 30th to an odd smell in the pantry – on investigation, my stomach dropped when I realised the freezer door had been left slightly ajar – by myself, nearly 24 hours earlier. Although most of the meat seemed to still be frozen, all the ice cream was liquid, and I didn’t want to leave the door any open longer to check out all the drawers. That evening it didn’t seem to have gotten any colder, the smell was stronger, and growing more and more concerned (a solo clean out of a defrosting freezer being NOT how I had pictured New Years Eve, as well as the utter embarrasment of having destroyed a freezer full of food) I added a little 1cm full plastic cup of water to the top shelf as a quick check to see if it would freeze.
Skip to 430am on New Years Eve: the meaty, off smell filling the pantry was stronger than ever, the cup of water was still liquid, and sticking around to try and salvage things would result in being late for work. While I spent the morning at work kicking myself and dreading the clean-up, Mum organised a repairman to visit in the afternoon, and neighbours came past to check it out.
IT WAS THE ONIONS. The smell, I mean. The freezer was working again (my cup having iced over – it had just struggled to cool down the overly full contents), all the meat was frozen, and it was a bag of rotting onions a couple of metres away that had caused the decaying meat scent that had begun wafting through the kitchen. Relieved was an understatement.
I landed in Gisborne at 9pm hungry, tired, cold and over life in general – that stage where you feel like just about anything could bring on tears, your eyes start drifting shut every few minutes and you keep desperately trying to shake yourself awake. Vague thoughts of heading to Rhythm and Vines (one of the main New Years music festivals in NZ) were completely out the window, needless to say.
So New Years was a non-event – I hope yours was much better!! And if I have one word of advice – ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE FREEZER DOOR IS COMPLETELY SHUT.
But for a much more satisfying New Years Day, and a healthier start to 2016 than many of the other recipes around here, this is my favourite coconut chia pudding recipe. Lightly flavoured with lemon, maple and vanilla, just stir it together the night before you want it, then top the creamy, coconutty chia with anything you like – I love the tropical combination of mango, passionfruit, berries, roasted macadamias and pomegranate. Chia seeds are packed with nutrients (full of protein, omega-3 fatty acids and lots more- google it for your choice of hundreds of articles proclaiming their benefits!), are really filling and the texture isn’t actually that strange. Once they have been soaked over night they don’t get stuck in your teeth either.
I am far from a health-nut who espouses coconut oil in baking, or unprocessed sugars and spelt flour (though it probably wouldn’t hurt!), but chia pudding does NOT sacrifice taste. Paired with mango, tangy passionfruit syrup and those bright pops of pomegranate, it feeds my sweet tooth without adding to the cups of processed sugar consumed over Christmas time. Try it for a 10-minute, fuss-free 2016 holiday brunch, or a breakfast on the go if you are still working!
- 1 can (400ml) coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons water
- zest of 1/2 lemon (1 teaspoon) + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut yogurt (coyo) if available - if not, just leave it out.
- pinch of salt
- scant 1/2 cup chia seeds
- Strawberries
- Mango
- Passionfruit
- Macadamias , roasted and roughly chopped
- Mint
- Roasted coconut chips
- Pomegranate
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Make the night before or at least 3-4 hours before you want it.
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In a bowl, stir together the coconut milk, water, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, maple syrup, coconut yogurt (optional) and salt.
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Add the chia seeds and stir to combine, ensuring that there are no clumps of seeds.
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Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
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In the morning (or when you want it), remove from the fridge and stir to check the consistency. If you want it runnier, add a few tablespoons of water or coconut milk to suit.
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Taste and adjust maple syrup, vanilla and lemon.
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Top with your choice of fruit and nuts - I used strawberries, mango, passionfruit syrup, macadamias, mint, roasted coconut chips and pomegranate.
Oh no, what a disappointment but also what a relief.
Meanwhile, these pudding are absolutely gorgeous. It has bee a long time between chia puddings for me. I really must rectify that.
Thanks Nicole! I know, I have had huge gaps between making them and I am not even sure why – maybe even the minimal effort of making them the night before just gets all too much sometimes, as bad as that sounds haha. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday!
Happy new year, Claudia!! These are GORGEOUS. So summery and vibrant, exactly what I need for my poor, cheese-overindulged belly! And omg, when I was little we left the freezer door open… for about 2 weeks whilst on holiday. When we got back it was seething with maggots. Like, I cannot describe that sight to you. AND THE SMELL. Ughughugh. Such a stand-out childhood memory that one hahahhaa!
Thanks so much Hannah!! And OMG that sounds AWFUL! Were you able to save the freezer, or was the smell of the kind that you can never get rid of? I cannot imagine arriving home to that – you must have been scarred for life haha! Happy New Year to you too, hope you are having a lovely holiday 🙂
Actually we were able to save the freezer haha! If it were up to me I’m SURE I would have just chucked the whole thing out 😂
First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR, Claudia. Sorry about all your freezer troubles – know this only too well. Here, where we live it is always better to switch off the mains, even going out for half a day. And a big notice on fridge/freezer door saying PUSH remind anyone using the fridge to close it properly.
Now – lovely pudding. Will make it soon. Take care. Carina
Thanks Carina, happy new year to you too! That notice on the door is such a good idea, might have to try that in our house as a reminder for everyone!
Would love to know how it goes if you give it a try, thanks so much for stopping by! x
Ooooh it was the onions! Gross hahaha! I remember when we found a potato in the bottom of our pantry with a sprout growing out of it that was half a metre tall and I remember when someone accidentally put the cheese in the cupboard instead of the fridge – that was one unpleasant smell! Meanwhile, loving this gorgeous chia pudding bowls, fresh, flavourful and colourful! Perfect to start the year!
I knooow, so bad! The cheese must have been pretty horrible too – ugh, off food is so, so gross.
Thanks Jess, happy New Year!! x
Oh dear, I’ve had a freezer scare like that too (and the onion thing as well – there is NOTHING worse than a rotting onion…)! Not fun at all! This chia pudding looks amazing, though! I am a huge fan of chia puddings. So healthy and pretty too (as the piccies in this post most definitely demonstrate). Happy New Year!
Oh I’m glad it’s not just me! I had never experienced a rotting onion before so had no concept that it might be the source of the smell…
Thanks so much Lisa, happy new year to you as well! x
Oh Claudia your New Years sounds really stressful! Glad it all got sorted, but still probably not the most energising way to kick it all off. Hope you’ve managed to have a bit of a breather since. This chia pudding looks like it’s bursting with good stuff! just what I need after all the food I’ve consumed the past few weeks. I’ve tried making overnight chia pots before and never quite liked the texture, but from the photos yours looks really creamy (rather than my gloopy attempts), so I’ll have to try it and see how I get on.
So right, but I am very much enjoying being at the beach and just blobbing out a bit for a few days at the moment haha! And I have found with chia puddings that canned coconut milk is the only milk that gives that really thick, creamy taste – the bottled stuff is so much weaker and it just ends up a bit watery, at least in my opinion! Thanks Erika, let me know how it goes if you give it a try! x
Oh!! I’m sorry it was so stressful!! Our freezer has this feature where it dings if it isn’t fully closed! Very helpful. These bowls look amazing!! YUM! So healthy and beautiful! 🙂
Aw thank you!! Yes our fridge has that beeper, but not the freezer…so frustrating! x
Oh no! So sorry your new year wasn’t a good one! But, super glad everything is all straightened out! This coconut chia pudding looks delicious and like the perfect, healthy and beautiful thing to devour to cheer up ones spirits! Loving all the tropical flavors in here, girlfriend! Cheers to 2016 getting a little better for you!
So colourful! I want to make this right now ♥
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This looks just stunning!!!!! The colours are beautiful. And yes, 2016 does sounds freakishly futuristic! Bec x
Oh my, I have also fallen victim to the bad onion smell. I swear it took my husband and I a few days to figure it out. The worst! Sorry your New Years was kinda ruined :/ But I seriously always find that New years is kind of disappointing for one reason or another. Here is to a fab 2016!
This is sooo pretty!
It has been pinned happily to Pinterest! The colors are so beautiful and it is a taste of the tropics for real. To the commentor worrying about the added sugar of the syrup, there’s actually a way to skip it–especially in a tropical bowl like this one. You can blend a banana with the coconut milk/water until smooth, then use that to hydrate the chia seeds. The banana is a tropical taste, so it gets along with the coconut, plus all the toppings too.
Thank you! That is such a great idea to blend a banana in with the liquids to use instead of sugar – I actually saw a recipe recently where they blended in a mango instead, which looked amazing! Thanks for the tip 🙂