Surely I can’t be the only one who craves good old fashioned vanilla pudding from time to time! I’ve created a creamy vegan almond milk pudding, flavored with real vanilla. This is a proper pudding that sets and develops a skin. It’s perfectly suited for festive holiday garnishes or a dollop of whipped coconut cream.
Thank you The Fresh Market for sponsoring this post. Visit a store near you to get everything you need for a memorable and delicious holiday!
Many classic pudding recipes already include cornstarch as a thickener, but also use egg to bind the mixture and add richness. In my trials I found that adding a little bit of tapioca starch and coconut oil did just fine for replacing the egg. I thought about whipping out the aquafaba for this recipe but honestly it’s just not necessary. This vegan vanilla pudding is already thick and creamy and sets up great to be enjoyed as-is or incorporated into other desserts. (For example, a version of this same custard is used in my pumpkin bread pudding).
Of course, swapping in almond milk for the dairy milk was an easy substitution to make. I purchased my almond milk, as well as all of the other ingredients for this pudding, at The Fresh Market. The Fresh Market is a gourmet supermarket chain with stores all across the USA. I headed to the northern Baltimore location this weekend and bought The Fresh Market private label almond milk, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla paste. The latter is the star ingredient in this vegan vanilla pudding, giving it a robust bourbon vanilla flavor and beautiful flecks of vanilla bean throughout. All of these ingredients, in addition to using them in the almond milk pudding, are staples that I use throughout the holiday baking season. You can learn more about The Fresh Market’s holiday offerings in their Christmas brochure.
I was particularly excited to make my vegan almond milk pudding using The Fresh Market maple syrup. There are actually some quite tasty vegan pudding cup brands available at stores in my area these days. But all of them are sweetened with cane sugar. I’m happy to report that my experiment with using a less refined sweetener, maple syrup, was a total success! The texture, flavor, and sweetness are all perfect.
If you have a The Fresh Market location in your area, check it out! It’s a great place to shop around the holidays. The inside of the store is warm and inviting and I found myself enjoyable browsing the holiday gift offerings and semi-prepared options. Some of the other vegan offerings include freshly-prepared zucchini and butternut squash noodles; pre-chopped mirepoix; a variety of vegan snacks, sweets and soups; and a selection of fresh produce. There’s also an excellent bulk snack section. You can check The Fresh Market’s store locator for stores near you.
I hope you enjoy this easy, 6-ingredient vegan almond milk pudding flavored with real vanilla paste! If you give it a try, let me know!
Vanilla Bean Almond Milk Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups plain almond milk divided (cold)
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (use refined unless you don't mind a mild coconut flavor)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Measure 1/2 cup of the almond milk into a small bowl and whisk in the cornstarch and tapioca starch until there are no lumps.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan heat the remaining almond milk and the maple syrup over medium-low heat. As soon as you see bubbles on the surface, add the cornstarch mixture and stir in well.
- Continue to cook the pudding, stirring occasionally, until mixture is beginning to thicken and reaches a gentle boil/steady simmer, 4-6 minutes.
- Reduce the heat slightly. Continue to cook the pudding, stirring occasionally, for another 4 to 6 minutes until thick. You can test this by dipping in a spoon and checking that the pudding falls off of the spoon slowly. Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut oil and vanilla bean paste. (It may take a few seconds of stirring for the coconut oil to melt completely).
- Divide the pudding into 4 to 6 jars or ramekins. If you want to prevent pudding skin, press a piece of plastic wrap into the surface. Otherwise, loosely cover the dishes. Transfer to the refrigerator and let cool completely before eating, about 3 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Brittany says
If I wanted to use an egg as a non-vegan version, would I simply omit the tapioca starch and coconut oil? In the past, when converting recipes to be vegan, I have replaced 1 egg with 1 tbsp arrowroot starch, 1 tbsp oil, and 1/4 cup of water (but have never made pudding before!) I have had a dairy allergy for nearly 20 years, and greatly miss a delicious vanilla pudding! Your recipe looks wonderful, I just wasn’t sure if it would work with an egg as well, and how best to incorporate it. Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Sorry, I have no idea how to use egg in this, but if you experiment let us know!
Angel says
Do you have a recipe for making our own vanilla bean paste?
None of my local stores sell this.
Thank you!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Sorry, I haven’t tried making my own yet, but you can substitute vanilla extract and the recipe will still come out well!
Nancy Abramson says
If I wanted to make chocolote pudding would I still use the maple syrup?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Nancy, I haven’t tested a chocolate version of this. I think it would depend on what sort of chocolate you add. If you’re using cocoa powder then you probably still need almost all of the sweetener but if you are using melted, semisweet chocolate then you would want to reduce the maple syrup. However, I’m not sure what the exact quantities would be. Do let me know if you figure it out!
Sarah Guiles says
Hi there, does this work without coconut oil?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I would recommend substituting a pat of vegan butter or some other type of saturated fat if you can… just a little bit helps it taste richer and firm up better in the refrigerator. I think you could probably make it without but it may be a little more watery.
Linda says
Can you make it sugar free and stevia free? For diabetics and allergies?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I don’t think there’d be much of a point in eating this particular recipe if it was unsweetened. A cold glass of almond milk would taste the same and be a lot less hassle 🙂
Alex says
I made this for dessert tonight, and the only changes I made were:
– reducing the syrup to 1/4 cup
– adding a pinch of salt
– using ground tapioca pearls because I didn’t have any tapioca starch
– I made mine chocolate by adding a few dark chocolate chunks
My wife is a real pudding afficionado and she LOVED this recipe! It never made it into 5 jars, we ate it warm straight from the pan! THANKS FOR THIS SHANNON! I’d rate it a 10 if there were that many stars!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your modifications!
Deb says
Made this today it is setting right now fingers crossed for me