Nutrient-Dense Vanilla Pudding

When I was a child, my mother would make chocolate or vanilla pudding as a treat.  I'm pretty sure that it came from a box, but it was rarely "instant".  The chocolate pudding of my childhood was thick and creamy with a wonderful "skin" on top.

I recreated this treat from scratch for my own children a couple of times, but the amount of refined sugar that my recipe called for made homemade pudding a health-robbing treat instead of one that supported optimal health.  After a couple of tries using natural sweeteners, however, I was able to come up with pudding recipes that are both delicious and healthy.  

Keep in mind that even natural sweeteners are to be used in moderation.  Natural sweeteners should comprise no more than 5% of your caloric intake.  

In addition, to ensure that this recipe is truly nutrient-dense, you must use quality ingredient such as grass-fed, whole milk, pastured eggs, Grade B maple syrup, etc.

Here is my recipe for nutrient-dense vanilla pudding.  Check out my recipe for nutritious chocolate pudding, as well.

___________________Vanilla Pudding____________________

What You'll Need:

2.75 cups of milk 

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup of maple syrup

4 tablespoons of arrowroot powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of vanilla

STEPS:

1.  Wisk together the milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, arrowroot powder and salt in a large saucepan and heat over a medium heat.

2.  Stir continuously as the mixture thickens.  This usually takes about 7-10 minutes.  Do not overheat or burn the mixture!

3.  When the mixture coats the back of a spoon, remove it from the heat.

4.  Stir in the butter and vanilla.

5.  Pour the pudding into containers and eat it while warm or put in in the refrigerator to cool and form a wonderful "skin".

This post was shared on Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday.

Photo Credit:

Worth the Wisk