I’m traveling to Portland next week to join 200 other vegans who are invading the city for the 2nd annual Vida Vegan Con. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to see other fellow bloggers like JL, Gena, Dreena, Hannah, Hannah, Angela, Terry, Isa, Fran, Kate and many others.

When I feel overwhelmed with anticipation of events like this, all I want to do is eat celebration foods—you know the kind you don’t normally indulge in? The kind you eat when you are surrounded by people who make you happy and you feel like your life couldn’t get any better.

But I live by the mantra that you will feel good by eating well, so I decided to create a treat that is good for me but also satisfies my craving for something sweet.

Enter this easy-to-make, creamy pudding. The winning ingredient: chia seeds!

Of course, I’m not the first to come up with the idea of chia seed pudding, nor am I the last. Why? Because chia is a pretty amazing ingredient. Besides its incredible nutrition profile, one of the most magical characteristics of chia is how it can act as a thickening agent. When soaked in liquid such as almond milk, the seeds expand and soften, creating a thick, goopy concoction. I tend to use chia mostly as a thickener for smoothies or a vegan egg replacer in baking.

You may be familiar with pudding using whole chia seeds but I’m not a big fan of the texture, so I thought about the idea of grinding the chia and then blending with almond milk and a few other ingredients. The result was a creamy and delicious pudding—no pre-soaking required! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Smooth mocha chia pudding

Yield: 1 to 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup whole chia seeds
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp vanilla powder or extract
• 1/4 tsp espresso powder
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Grind the chia seeds in a high-speed blender until powdered (make sure the blender container is completely dry first). Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. This may take a couple of minutes. Be sure to stop and scrap down the sides and bottom of the container too, otherwise you might find globs of chia at the bottom!
2. Transfer the pudding to a container, cover and chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving.

Recipe inspired by Kiersten's recipe.