I don’t know about you, but the region I live in has been unseasonably hot and dry since the beginning of March. With the warmer weather, and knowing that several more months of hot days are coming, I’m making a lot of no-heat desserts like this chocolate chia mousse.
If you love chocolate but your habit is a bit out of control (me) this is a healthy-ish way to eat all the chocolate you like, at any time of day. Sweeten with dates for a surprisingly filling and wholesome breakfast, or use maple syrup or honey for dessert. You can’t say no to chocolate mousse for breakfast.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can eat all three servings yourself, if you’d like, and still feel pretty good after. So if you want to go wild and keep it all to yourself, feel free. Unlike a regular egg yolk and sugar mousse, it should give you more energy not less!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Sweetener: maple syrup and honey can be used interchangeably, as usual, but make sure you don’t use honey if you’re serving this to vegans. I haven’t tried with agave (don’t like it) but other liquid sweeteners are probably fine, so use what you prefer.
- Milk: other types of milk could be used instead of coconut milk, but I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Stick to a really high fat, creamy milk, that’s what makes it mousse instead of blended chia pudding – the coconut milk almost whips as it’s blended.
- Vanilla: cardamom is my go-to alternative and excellent here, but so is cinnamon, coffee spice, or gingerbread spice. Use your favourite.
Recipe Notes
I go between my immersion blender or food processor for this, but if you have a high powered blender, it’ll make the smoothest, creamiest mousse and that’s ideal. With a lower-powered machine it’s not quite as smooth, but still delicious.
This recipe is adapted from my chocolate chia parfait, which is sweetened with dates. If you prefer to sweeten with fruit, also use a quarter cup, about 40g, of soft dates. I like dates when I want to have this more as a snack or breakfast as they add extra fibre and nutrients.
How to Store
Storage: after blending, this can be refrigerated in a sealed container for a couple of days. I recommend storing it without strawberries, but something like a few frozen raspberries do quite well.
Freezing: chia pudding can be frozen, and I don’t see why this wouldn’t be any exception to that, but I haven’t tested it for this recipe.
Newsletter
Cocoa or Cacao
For this mousse, you can use them interchangeably and it doesn’t matter much in terms of flavour. Raw cacao is a bit stronger and bitter, whereas cocoa powder is milder. Don’t mix this up for hot cocoa drink mix, which is neither, but cocoa mixed with a sweetener and often milk powder.
Cacao powder has some additional health benefits, which you can read a bit more about in my raw chocolate recipe, so I usually mix the two to get the best of both worlds. Cocoa will make the mousse darker in colour than reddish cacao will.
More Chia Recipes
Tahini Banana Bread
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Rhubarb Chia Pudding
Olive Oil Granola
If you make this Chocolate Chia Mousse or any other dairy-free chocolate recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Chocolate Chia Mousse
Ingredients
- 400 ml canned full-fat coconut milk
- 50 grams chia seeds
- 60 ml maple syrup or honey*
- 25 grams cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
To Serve
- Coconut whipped cream
- Fresh berries
Instructions
- At least two hours before you want to eat the mousse, mix the coconut milk and chia seeds in a bowl or dish that can be covered. Whisk well to suspend the seeds throughout the milk and break up and clumps.400 ml canned full-fat coconut milk, 50 grams chia seeds
- Refrigerate the chia seed mixture for at least a couple of hours, ideally longer if possible.
- Once the chia has set and the mixture is quite thick, add it to a blender or food processor fitted with the blade attachment.
- Add the maple syrup, cacao, and vanilla, and blend on high speed for 3-4 minutes, or until very smooth.60 ml maple syrup, 25 grams cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Split the blended mousse equally between three glasses or small bowls. If the mousse warmed up during blending, refrigerate again for at least half an hour.
- Serve the mousse cold with coconut whipped cream and fresh berries or your preferred toppings.Coconut whipped cream, Fresh berries
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
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