Vegan Chocolate Pudding with Hazelnuts

With just a few ingredients, you can whip this easy vegan chocolate pudding up super fast. Perfect for when you need a quick & comforting dessert, or when those chocolate cravings come calling!

This delicious and dairy free chocolate pudding has just five store cupboard ingredients - plant milk, cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch and dark chocolate. You can enjoy it warm or cold, and it’s loved by both adults and kids! 

The addition of caramelised hazelnuts on top of the chocolate pud elevates it to the next level of deliciousness! Plus, I just love the contrast in texture. Silky smooth pudding + sweet crunchy top = YUM!

What is pudding?

The word ‘pudding’ can have rather different meanings depending on where you come from! 

In Austria, where Paul is from, pudding means a type of sweet, creamy dessert made from milk, sugar, a thickener and typically flavoured with chocolate or vanilla.  If you are from the US, Canada or Germany then that’s probably what pudding means to you too! 

But to an English person this kind of “pudding” would be more likely to be called custard or blancmange! 

In the UK, where I (Sophie) am from, the word pudding is a generic term for dessert - as in “What’s for pudding?”. It can also be used to describe a type of steamed sponge cake aka Sponge Pudding. And it’s even used to describe some savoury types of food like Yorkshire Pudding, just to confuse you even further! 

Whatever you call it, this vegan chocolate pudding is thick, creamy and totally yummy for dessert (or pudding!)

Step by step 

Step 1 - Whisk together the dry ingredients - the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch

Step 2 - Add some of the soy milk (¼ cup from the 2 cups) and mix until you have a smooth, chocolatey paste

Step 3 - Heat the remaining soy milk in a saucepan

Step 4 - When the soy milk is just reaching boiling point, remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly as it goes in. 

Step 5 - Return the pan to the heat and let the mixture bubble up for 1 minute. Keep whisking as it thickens. 

Step 6: Remove from the heat and stir in the dark chocolate. 

Top tips

These helpful tips will help you keep you pudding smooth and lump free! 

• Whisk together the dry ingredients really well before you add the liquid.
• Heat the milk gently, so it doesn’t catch at the base of the pan
• Before you mix in the chocolate mixture, take the pan off the heat. This stops it thickening up as soon as you add it and making lumps. (Yes, I learnt this from experience!)
• To get super smooth, silky pudding - whisk, whisk, whisk! 

How to caramelise nuts

If you’ve never caramelised nuts before it’s actually quick and easy and takes less than five minutes.  The most important thing is to keep a close eye on them and stir regularly so they don’t burn. 

First lightly heat the nuts in a pan, then add the sugar. You can use white or brown sugar, we just prefer the slightly more caramel flavour of brown sugar.

The sugar might seem at first like it will take ages to melt, and then it can turn quite suddenly, so watch it carefully. Stir well to coat all the nuts in the molten sugar. 

Pour them out of the pan into a bowl and they will harden as they cool down. Stir them through occasionally, so they don’t stick together. Soak the pan immediately in water to make it easier to clean. 

Serve them

You can enjoy this vegan chocolate pudding either warm or cold. When it’s chilly or I’m feeling impatient, I love to eat it warm before it’s fully set. 

To serve them cold, chill the pudding in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Top with the hazelnuts, just before serving. This keeps their caramelised texture nice and crunchy.

The pudding will naturally form a skin as it cools. If that bothers you, you can leave the pudding to cool in the pan, and whisk it frequently as it cools. Alternatively, cover the surface with greaseproof paper to exclude the air. 

Substitutions and variations

• If you don’t have any vegan dark chocolate, simply substitute it with equal amounts of cocoa powder and sugar. So if you leave out the two tablespoons of chocolate, simply add an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder, and an extra tablespoon of sugar at the beginning. 

• Arrowroot can be used in place of cornstarch/cornflour. 

• We’ve had the best results using soy milk. Oat milk works too, and nut milk will probably be tasty as well! Try it and let us know. 

• No hazelnuts? Almonds are a tasty alternative. If you can’t eat nuts - then why not try caramelising cocoa nibs. Or just adding some extra grated chocolate on top! 

• Don't you think it would be yummy topped with fresh fruit too?! So many ways to enjoy this chocolate pudding!

Looking for more tasty vegan desserts that are simple to make? 

Vegan Rice Pudding - it's creamy and a great way to use up leftover rice

This Easy Vegan Tiramisu is so quick and indulgent

And how about our Vegan Skillet Brownie that you can bake over a campfire?

📖 Recipe

Thanks for visiting Vegan on Board! We hope you enjoyed our pudding recipe 🙂

Sophie & Paul

More vegan chocolate recipes to enjoy!