Making deserts with black sapotes are so fun and versatile. I love using them in place of chocolate pudding in any recipe. Sweetened with a little honey and some cocoa powder, it’s instant vegan, chocolate pudding. It sure does make it easier than making regular chocolate pudding!
Black sapotes are really in the persimmon family. If you have never eaten one, they taste like a bland fig with undertones of chocolate. They are not overly sweet and have a rather pudding-like consistency.
This recipe calls for mostly raw ingredients but some baking is needed to brown the crust. If your making your own toasted shredded coconut, check out my blog; How to shred and Toast Fresh Coconut.
Too learn more about this interesting fruit, check out my blog on them: Black Sapote, The Chocolate Pudding Fruit.
Black Sapote Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Bars
Ingredients
Chocolate Black Sapote Pudding:
- 2 ripe black sapotes
- 4 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp of vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp of honey
- 1/4 c of coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp of sea salt
Peanut Butter Layer:
- 3/4 cup of natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup of black sapote chocolate pudding mix (above)
- 2 tbsp of coconut oil
Crust:
- 1 c of uncooked 5 min. oatmeal
- 1 tbsp of coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp of honey
- 1/4 c of mashed/finely chopped macadamia nuts
- 1/4 c of shredded roasted coconut
For the black sapote pudding:
Cut two ripe black sapotes in half and scoop out the pulp into a bowl and mix with a spoon until smooth. Add cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, honey and coconut oil and continuing mixing. If your coconut oil is solid, melt until liquid and then add.
For peanut butter layer:
Add 1/2 cup of the black sapote pudding into a mixing bowl along with peanut butter and coconut oil. Mix together until smooth.
For crust:
In an oven pan or cast iron skillet, mix oats, coconut oil, cinnamon, honey, mac nuts (any nuts will do) and shredded coconut together and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until slightly browned about 15 minutes. While baking, pull out and mix every 5 minutes to evenly roast.
Place crust in a 6″ x 4″ serving dish and pushed down with the back of a spoon. Add the peanut butter layer and then add the black sapote layer last. Top with roasted shredded coconut. Place into refrigerator until cold and then serve.
Honey is not always considered vegan, I am one who chooses to not eat it. is there an alternative ingredient you suggest? Also, what is your opinion on honey being considered not vegan?
Honey isn’t considered vegan. I’m not vegan. I am a beekeeper. That’s your choice. Honey is made from bees who collect nectar from flowers, they ingest it in their honey storage stomach, not the stomach they digest food in. Then they regurgitate it. The enzymes from their stomach or bodies give the nectar what in needs (so to speak) to make honey. So there is a chemical reaction from their bodies to produce the honey and they help evaporate the nectar to make the honey with constant temperature regulation–their wings beating to dry the nectar. So, being vegan apparently, also means not using animals or insects to get food. Pollination in itself is in disagreement with this. As without them there would be little choices in the fruits available for vegans to eat. Hmmm. Perhaps, vegans can eat honey.