Around the holidays, or just any time, many of us have stress balloons floating in and out of our lives. How I cope with this? By creating (then eating) delicious vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free concoctions.

As a child, I had a Williams and Sonoma “Kids Cookbook” and one recipe in particular got made very often—Creamy Dreamy Chocolate Pudding. One of the best chocolate puddings I’ve ever tasted and my dad loved it as well, so I wanted to create something similar, but elevated. My father is an incredible home chef and chocolatier with very discerning taste. As I’ve gotten older and left the Christmas-Coupon-for-Pudding phase, my main goal in the kitchen is always to make a dessert in which my dad wants seconds.

Well with this recipe, I hit the freakin’ jackpot! The happy sounds coming from my dad as he ate the first, second, third, every bite of this tart was the highest endorsement I could have ever wanted. So even if none of you ever make this recipe, MY DAD LOVED IT.

The Crust:

To make the crust, begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Then in a food processor, add 1.75 cups of nuts of your choosing (I used salted almonds, macadamia nuts, and walnuts), along with 0.25 cup of honey, and 0.25 cup of melted coconut oil. Now this next direction is a bit tricky. You must try to grind the nuts down into small pieces, but not over-grind them so they turn into nut butter—I ended up picking out big pieces afterwards and chopping them up. This is normal, though incredibly irritating. Once the nut mixture has reached the desired “grind level,” stir in 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour (I used brown rice flour-just what I had available) with a wooden spoon or spatula. Now this amount of nut tart base is not quite enough to fill a whole pie pan, so I used 4- 5 inch tart dishes, if you have a medium size tart dish or pie pan, this would work as well. Using your fingers, press the nut mixture into each dish until walls form and is an even thickness- about ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Place tart bases in freezer for 20-30 minutes until solid, then bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown. Let cool on counter top for 10 minutes, then return to freezer until pudding is done.

The Pudding:

This pudding recipe is quite simple, despite my memories as a child of standing at the stove for absolute ages waiting for my pudding to thicken. In reality...5 minutes. Begin by adding 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to a medium size pot or saucepan. Then whisk in 1.5 cups of 72% dark chocolate chips and 2.5 cups of coconut cream. Place on the stove at medium heat, stirring continuously (very important!) until consistency is thick and glossy. If the mixture at any point seems to begin to start clumping, reduce heat and whisk briskly until smooth. Once the pudding has reached the desired thickness (about 5-8 minutes), remove from heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Let cool on counter, stirring every five minutes or so to prevent a film from forming on top. Once pudding reaches room temperature, remove tart bases from freezer. Spoon pudding into crusts. Return to fridge for 2-4 hours or until pudding sets and is no longer jiggly.*

Pudding can also be eaten on its own! No crust needed.

When ready to eat, remove tarts from fridge and top with coconut whipped cream.**

Coconut Whipped Cream:

I like to use Trader Joe’s brand of coconut cream, always tastes good and works well. Place a can in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Remove from fridge and pour into bowl. Using an egg beater or whisk, beat until soft peaks form. Spoon on top of tarts.

Then smash your face in it. Not really...unless you’re into that! But do enjoy!

*If you like a more pudding like texture to your chocolate cream pie, then remove from fridge much earlier.

**Serving size of tart is up to you! It is rich, but not overly since there is no added sugars.

Chocolate Cream Tarts

(Vegan/Gluten Free/Refined Sugar Free)

Makes approx. 4-12 servings (serving size is really up to you!)

Ingredients

Crust:

1.75 cups nuts of choice
0.25 cup honey
0.25 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbsp gluten free flour

Pudding:

3 tbsp cornstarch
1.5 cups 72% dark chocolate chips
2.5 cups coconut cream
1 tsp vanilla

Coconut Whipped Cream:

1 can full fat coconut cream

Directions

The Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, add nuts of your choosing, honey, and melted coconut oil.
Grind the nuts down into small pieces, but don’t over-grind them so they turn into nut butter.
Once the nut mixture has reached the desired “grind level,” stir in 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Using 4- 5 inch tart dishes, or if you have a medium size tart dish or pie pan, press the nut mixture into each dish with your fingers until walls form and is an even thickness- about ⅛ to ¼ inch thick.
Place tart bases in freezer for 20-30 minutes until solid.
Then bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown.
Let cool on counter top for 10 minutes, then return to freezer until pudding is done.

The Pudding:

Add cornstarch to a medium size pot or saucepan.
Then whisk in dark chocolate chips and coconut cream.
Place on the stove at medium heat, stirring continuously (very important!) until consistency is thick and glossy. If the mixture at any point seems to begin to start clumping, reduce heat and whisk briskly until smooth.
Once the pudding has reached the desired thickness (about 5-8 minutes), remove from heat.
Stir in vanilla extract.
Let cool on counter, stirring every five minutes or so to prevent a film from forming on top.
Once pudding reaches room temperature, remove tart bases from freezer. Spoon pudding into crusts.
Return to fridge for 2-4 hours or until pudding sets and is no longer jiggly.
When ready to eat, remove tarts from fridge and top with coconut whipped cream.

Coconut Whipped Cream:

Place a can in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Remove from fridge and pour into bowl.
Using an egg beater or whisk, beat until soft peaks form.
Spoon on top of tarts.

ENJOY!