Recipe: Vegan Orange Cream Pudding

Have you noticed that I don't have like.. well.. any... desserts posted? It's not that I don't love them. I DO! I just want to post fun, easy, healthy, and (most of the time!) single serving desserts so that we don't all get ourselves into trouble with a huge pan of brownies. 

See, I'm not impressed with people that can use "vegan butter" or cups of oil in a dessert and call it vegan. Don't forget friends, vegan does not equal healthy. 

So I decided that I would finally start working on some fun plant strong desserts that are within my own personal guidelines. It is WORK too, by the way. It's not that easy to make a dessert that is universally appealing that doesn't contain gobs and gobs of fat. 

Oh and I had one other thing I wanted to work around in at least some of the desserts. Allergies. More that that though. The Mr. is allergic to CHOCOLATE. WHAT!!! I know, right? Worst allergy ever. So I made this yummy pudding just for him. 

It's lightly sweetened and tastes a lot like those orange creamcicles that we ate as kids.  Well, the more adult version anyhow. You could add some food coloring to make it bright orange if you feel the need. I don't need to. A bit of orange zest and everyone knows what you're having.

Oh, I haven't tried to freeze it yet but if anyone else wants to try to throw some in a ice pop mold and tell me how it turns out I would LOVE to hear about it. It may need more sugar for that though. I'll get back to ya on that.

Recipe notes...

* Using SILKEN tofu is a MUST here. You cannot substitute regular tofu for this. It will taste bad. That goes for any other time I call for silken tofu in a recipe. It's totally different stuff, guys! Silken tofu is mild and should not taste "beany" at all.

* You can use whatever sweetener you'd like for this recipe. If you use a liquid one it will be a bit softer in consistency but it will still taste yummy!

Vegan Orange Cream Pudding

4 servings

1 package lite silken tofu (Mori-nu brand suggested)
3 Tablespoons sweetener of your choice (organic sugar, sugar substitute, agave, etc)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional but suggested!)

Blend together until very smooth. Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to set.
Serve with fruit, granola, or on top of pancakes!

Nutritional information per serving : Serving size: 1/4 recipe (calculated using organic granulated sugar)
2 WWPointsPlus, 67 calories, 0.7g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 10.4g carbohydrates, 0g fiber, 9.8g sugar, 5.3g protein