This week’s healthy, light dessert recipe is for Almond Matcha Chia Seed Pudding! It’s slightly sweet with subtle flavors of almond and matcha blended together to give it a really unique taste. I’m excited to share it today because I think the flavor combination turned out great, and it’s super easy to make.
Not only that, it’s also a very nutritious/healthy dessert too! Chia seeds are commonly referred to as a “super food” and I’ll definitely go into detail about that later. For now though, let’s begin the recipe!
The Health Benefits of Matcha
This will be a quick post, and that’s because there are really just a few simple steps to putting this together. But first, what is this ‘matcha’ stuff anyway?
Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. You’ve probably heard of the health benefits of green tea before, the main one being antioxidants. Green tea’s super high levels of antioxidants is protective against cancer and strokes. It can also lower cholesterol and help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. That’s really just the tip of the iceberg though – green tea has a long list of amazing health benefits, and matcha powder shares these benefits too.
So for all of those things I listed above, I think this recipe is a “superfood” dessert for more reasons than one! I purchased my small bag of Matcha powder on Amazon for a good price.
The bag I got wasn’t very big, but a little goes a long way with this stuff. I made this recipe as a “meal prep” recipe, meaning I made enough to last me all week for dessert, not just for a single night. Even making a large batch, I still have plenty of matcha powder left over in my small pouch from Amazon. So I’m glad that it will last me awhile.
Making Matcha Chia Seed Pudding
I classify this dessert as sugar free because the only sweetener in it is found naturally from fruit. I use dates in almost all of my dessert recipes as my go-to sweetener. I do it for the fiber, and if you’re curious to learn more about this reasoning I highly recommend Dr. Michael Gregor’s video on the healthiest sweetener!
So, step 1 is to blend the dates and plant milk in a blender on high until the liquid is smooth. It will take anywhere from 10-20 seconds for all of the dates to be thoroughly pulverized. This provides us a nice base for the pudding.
Next, add the matcha powder to the blender, almond extract, and vanilla extract. This time, blend on low for only a few seconds, basically so those final add-ins are incorporated into the liquid mix. Below I have a photo of the before and after – white liquid to green!
Pour the liquid into a large container and then add the chia seeds. Mix everything together with a spoon for a few seconds, making sure all the chia seeds are in the liquid and not on the sides of the container. Finally, cover the container and put it in the refrigerator overnight. It will take a few hours for the chia seeds to start to “gel” with the liquid, and give the dish that thick pudding-like consistency. The longer the better, so I usually refrigerate overnight. Your matcha chia seed pudding will be ready in the morning!
Health Benefits of Chia Seeds
I’ve made a post before about chia seed pudding, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the health benefits yet.
First and foremost (my favorite stat), chia seeds are very high in fiber. Just 2 tablespoons have over 10 grams! You may not know this, but 97% of Americans are deficient in fiber. The bare minimum to get in a day is around 31 grams, and right now as a country we’re averaging only 15 grams a day. By definition, fiber is only found in plants – so the more plants you eat the better! Chia seeds are a great option to include in one’s diet because of this.
Chia seeds are high in protein, and high in Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3’s are extremely important to brain function, and can therefore be protective against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Omega 3’s have also been shown in studies to lower depression (a natural antidepressant) , and help protect against inflammation and asthma.
Like matcha, they’re also high in antioxidants, as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc. With all of those nutritious benefits, it’s no wonder that chia seeds are often called a “super food.”
All of these reasons and more, are why I love matcha chia seed pudding!
Almond Matcha Chia Seed Pudding
The next day your chia seed pudding should be ready to eat. You can eat it plain, add berries on top, other fresh fruit, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, or anything else you like!
I decided to layer my almond matcha chia seed pudding cups with equal amounts of SO Delicious Whip.
It’s dairy free, and soooo good! I bought this as a special occasion, because I was feeling like it that week. It’s actually very low sugar, so I like it for that reason, but I still don’t buy it all the time, just as a treat. This almond matcha chia seed pudding is perfectly tasty without it though, so no worries there! Also, for anyone that’s never had chia seed pudding before, it has such a fun texture to it! If you’ve ever had bubble tea, or boba tea, it’s similar to that. It’s like eating tiny bubble/pearl shaped gummy balls that roll around in your mouth and are fun to eat. It’s actually kind of hard to describe, haha, but what I’m trying to say is that chia seed pudding has a really unique texture to it that is fun to eat!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this recipe post, and maybe learned a little bit about the health benefits of matcha and chia seeds. I think the combination of matcha and almond extract gave this dessert a really unique and tasty flavor, so I’m happy those two ingredients worked so well together. It’s slightly nutty, yet also very light tasting because of the green tea flavor. Both of them were subtle and not too overpowering, so I think it was a really good combination.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe post, and if you try it out please leave a comment below! I’d love to know what you thought. Until next time!
Almond Matcha Chia Seed Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 4 cups unsweetened plant milk
- 4-5 dates
- 2 tsp matcha powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
Instructions
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Blend the dates and plant milk in a blender on high until it is smooth
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Add the matcha powder, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the blender and blend/mix on low for a few seconds
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Pour the liquid mix into a large container and mix in the chia seeds
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Cover and refrigerate overnight
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Serve with toppings such as fresh fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, SO Delicious Whip, etc.*
Notes
* To make a chia seed pudding cup like what is pictured, layer a few spoonfuls of the chia seed pudding in a cup, then add a layer of SO Delicious coconut whip, and top it with another layer of chia seed pudding to finish it off.
