Chocolate Pudding with Bananas

The bananas are buried on the bottom of this pudding, for a fun surprise!

Heat 2 and 1/4 cups plain soy milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat, until tiny bubbles form around the edges, but don't let it come to a boil - it's best to use a thermometer, since this step will happen somewhere between 160 and 180 degrees.

While the soy milk heats, combine 1/3 cup raw sugar, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/8 tsp. salt, and 2 ounces finely chopped dark chocolate in a large bowl. Gradually pour in the soy milk, stirring with a whisk. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Once it is thickened and bubbly (which should take about 5 to 10 minutes) remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Arrange 1 and 1/2 cups sliced banana in the bottom of a 1 and 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spoon the pudding over the bananas. You can serve this warm if you like, or cover the top of the pudding with plastic wrap (so it doesn't form a skin on top!) and chill.

1/2 cup of pudding is 190 calories. I thought this turned out exactly like the soy pudding snack packs from Zen Soy, which made my quite proud.

Here's the pudding after chilling, and before anyone spooned into it!


Cost:
plain soy milk $2.49
dark chocolate $3.99
banana $0.52