Shirtless Chef – Happy Accidents & Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Pudding

Bob Ross would always say you don’t make mistakes when painting, you just have happy little accidents. First off, Bob never saw me paint, because that’s nothing but a giant mistake, and second, that’s just not the case in cooking. Sometimes there’s no helping a recipe that doesn’t turn out the way you wanted. In those cases, you either suffer through and eat it anyway, or trash it and start over. Sometimes, though, it can be an inspiration to pivot and create something even better.

For instance, I made low carb Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter eggs this weekend. It was an easy recipe to make, the taste was excellent, but then when I ate one, the texture was so thick it was like trying to swallow a wheelbarrow full of Quikcrete. My first thought was this was such a choking hazard, I would not be able to use it for an article without all kinds of warnings and precautions. This stuff really gummed up the works something fierce.

Then 30 minutes later as I was finally done swallowing it and I was thinking this must be what a giraffe goes through every day, inspiration hit for a brand new dessert.  It would be loaded with healthy ingredients, have enough nutritional benefits to be its own stand alone meal, and provide lubrication so that the peanut butter cups weren’t a game of Russian Roulette trying to eat one. If you make this recipe and have some peanut butter cups left open, make sure you take very small bites and have a glass of milk at the ready. You have been warned.

My first thought was what goes well with peanut butter and chocolate?  Bananas, obviously. And what goes well with bananas? Pudding, of course. And what goes well with all of that? Whipped cream, naturally.  Bananas are healthy as is, so I was good there. Pudding is normally a no fly zone eating healthy, but pudding made out of avocados is a home run out of the park.

This dessert is a macro powerhouse, healthy fats and fiber from the avocado, complex carbs from the banana, protein from the peanut butter, omega-3 fats from the grass fed cream, antioxidant polyphenols from the dark chocolate. With quality like that, this is one dessert you almost can’t afford not to eat. The key is to use grass fed cream, natural peanut butter, and for the dark chocolate, at least 70% is the minimum requirement to get the health benefits. I prefer 85% myself, but if you are new to the low sugar lifestyle and your taste buds have not adjusted yet, 70% may be the way for you to go. This is a good brand of smooth dark chocolate that I use often.

Peanut Butter labels can be very misleading. There are a lot of so-called “Natural” peanut butters out there that have all sorts of questionable ingredients in them.  Your peanut butter ingredient list should only consist of two things, peanuts and salt. Any more than that, just walk away. One handy tip to make mixing it easier, store your natural peanut butter upside down. That helps the oil blend as you stir. Smuckers makes a very smooth and great tasting peanut butter that is easily found at all the local mega-marts:

Some of you may be questioning the chocolate avocado pudding base.  For those of you unfortunate souls that have decided you don’t like avocados, you will never know this pudding is anything other than regular old bad for you pudding. The taste, texture, and feel is exactly the same. So don’t be afraid, give it a shot and you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. And remember, if you eat one of the peanut butter cups by itself, go slow and be careful.

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Pudding:

Peanut Butter cups:

• 100 grams organic dark chocolate, at least 70%
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup/250 grams natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup powdered monkfruit sweetener
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Avocado pudding:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 20 drops Liquid Stevia
• 4 Tbsp powdered monkfruit sweetener
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 bananas, sliced into rounds

Stabilized Whipped Cream:

• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 4 teaspoons water
• 1 cup grass fed heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp Lakanta monkfruit powdered sweetener
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut butter cup instructions:

Mix the peanut butter, coconut flour, powdered sweetener, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.  You can use a hand mixer until it resembles sandy crumbs:

Then you will need to glove up and knead it by hand until it becomes a smooth dough:

Once it is smooth and worked together, divide out into 20 gram balls and then flatten into disks. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place in the freezer for at least an hour to set:

Once the hour is up, set a heat proof bowl over a pot with a few inches of water to create a double boiler. Break up the dark chocolate bar into small pieces and place in the bowl with the coconut oil:

Stir constantly with a wooden spoon just until the chocolate is melted and smooth:

Dip the peanut butter disks into the chocolate and place back on the parchment paper, then freeze again for 15 minutes to set.  After that, you can keep them in the fridge:

Chocolate Avocado Pudding instructions:

Place 2 halved avocados in a large bowl with the 20 drops Liquid Stevia, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/8 tsp sea salt.  Blend with a hand mixer until completely smooth and no visible lumps remain. Add the 4 tbsp powdered monkfruit sweetener and blend again until smooth and creamy, then add the 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and blend again until completely smooth:

Stabilized Whipped Cream instructions:

Place a mixing bowl with beaters in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. Place the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it, let sit for 5 minutes.

Combine the sweetener, vanilla, and heavy cream in the chilled bowl, beat with hand mixer until soft peaks form. Warm the gelatin in a microwave for 10 seconds and stir. Then slowly drizzle in gelatin while still beating until medium peaks form.

To assemble the pudding:

Spread the chocolate pudding into an 8×8 or 8×11 casserole dish, and then top with the sliced banana:

Spread the whipped cream on top of the bananas, and then break up the peanut butter cups into pieces and place on top of the whipped cream.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours and enjoy: