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Need a chocolate fix? This chocolate snack tastes rich and chocolaty, but it’s just Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, and maple syrup, and it only takes 2 minutes!
Want a chocolate fix? Here’s one I invented by chance, and it’s not really even a recipe! I stir it together when I get an impromptu chocolate craving. Here’s the great part — it tastes just like dark chocolate pudding! But it’s only Greek yogurt, dark cocoa powder, and maple syrup. So, you get the protein and probiotics of yogurt and get your chocolate fix at the same time.
Even better, you can make it in 2 minutes! My mom tried it recently and said, “You have to share this recipe!” If you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, keep reading for this irresistible, healthy dessert.
My chocolate snack obsession
This post is oddly personal because I eat this a lot as my “secret” late-night snack. I was absolutely not going to share it here on my professional recipe website. However, my mom was visiting and saw me whipping this up. I love dark chocolate almost as much as she does, but she eats it every single day. When she tried this, she could not stop talking about it.
“You have to share the recipe!” she urged me. “People are going to love this!” It’s more of an idea than a solid recipe, and I never measure it. But I’m going to share my secrets so you can get your dark chocolate fix, too! If you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, let me know if you try this healthy chocolate pudding and what you think.
What’s makes it healthy?
First, what does the term healthy even mean? I used this word to describe this chocolate snack because it’s more nutritious than most normal chocolate treats, but healthy is hard to define. If you really want a healthy recipe, eat a salad! But if you need your chocolate fix, this pudding is healthier than most. Here’s why:
- It has a lot of protein (8 grams per serving). This is why I prefer this snack over eating a bar of chocolate or chocolate cake. I’ve been working out more, and protein is super helpful for building muscle and staying strong.
- Yogurt is full of probiotics. The probiotics in yogurt are helpful for gut health — which you won’t get from a cupcake!
- It’s about 200 calories per serving (or eat half for less!). I don’t count or restrict calories, but I wanted to make sure my “healthy” chocolate snack wasn’t adding 500 calories in the evenings. To cut down more, you can eat half, and it’s still enough to satisfy the craving.
- It’s naturally sweetened, but still contains sugar! This pudding is sweetened with maple syrup instead of refined sugar, which I prefer for a more natural option. So keep in mind that this chocolate snack is not sugar-free.
The cocoa powder you use is important!
Here’s the most important thing about this chocolate snack recipe. YOU MUST USE DARK COCOA POWDER! Please tell me you read that? I’ll repeat it just in case. You must use dark cocoa powder, also referred to as Dutch process cocoa powder, or Dutched cocoa. The package may also say “100% cocoa”.
What is it? Dutch process cocoa powder is essentially like a dark chocolate version of cocoa powder. It’s been treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral, giving it a darker color and milder flavor. I’ve tried it with regular cocoa powder and it almost tastes fruity. The dark cocoa is what combines with the maple syrup to create the delicious chocolaty flavor.
Where to find dark cocoa powder
You should be able to find dark chocolate or Dutch process cocoa powder for this chocolate snack at your local grocery store, next to the regular cocoa powder. Here are the two brands I’ve used and enjoyed:
- Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder: This one is easiest to find at most grocery stores.
- Ghirardelli Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: This one is much more expensive, but I tried it when I ran out of Hershey’s once, and WOW! The flavor is vibrant and delicious! If you have the budget, use this one for the highest quality chocolate snack experience.
Dietary notes
This chocolate snack recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and refined-sugar-free. I do not recommend trying it with vegan yogurt; try this Vegan Chocolate Pudding instead.
Healthy Chocolate Pudding Snack
Need a chocolate fix? This chocolate snack tastes rich and chocolaty, but it’s just Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, and maple syrup, and it only takes 2 minutes!
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Healthy
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dutch process or dark cocoa powder (not regular cocoa powder)*
- ½ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt**
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Mix everything together in a bowl. It will be very thick at first, but it smooths out once the cocoa powder incorporates. If your yogurt is very thick, you can add ½ to 1 tablespoon water to get a bit lighter texture, but all yogurts vary. (Also, you can always add a little more cocoa powder or maple to adjust to your own taste.)
Notes
*The secret to this recipe is the dark cocoa powder! Use Dutch process cocoa powder, which is found at most grocery stores. Regular cocoa powder does not produce the same flavor!
**I have not found a dairy-free yogurt I like, so I don’t recommend trying a vegan version of this recipe. Try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse for something similar.
More chocolate recipes
Here are a few of my favorite chocolate recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth:
- Chocolate Lava Cake: Showy and decadent, with a molten lava center!
- No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies: These no-bakes are a step above the rest.
- Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies: Wholesome cookies, with a bit of real chocolate.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups: These homemade peanut butter cups are truly perfect! They’ve got a glossy sheen and make a mouthwatering peanut butter filling.
- Chocolate Covered Bananas: The perfect easy and healthy dessert! Store them in the freezer for whenever you crave a sweet bite.
- Ultimate Chocolate Mug Cake: This is the absolute best chocolate mug cake recipe — made in just 2 minutes!
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake: Super rich and chocolaty, it’s filled with zucchini to make it moist and chocolate chips.
- Easy Chocolate Banana Bread: This easy chocolate banana bread recipe is moist and rich. Perfect for brunch, a snack, or even dessert! Add dark chocolate chips for an even richer experience.
- Or if you’re just looking for decadent chocolate heaven…try Triple Chocolate Cookies or Flourless Chocolate Cake.
I make this all the time and love it!
Today, on a whim, I used raspberry preserves instead of maple syrup. it was a delicious alteration!
Boy, do I have a lot to say about chocolate !
I love it as much as you do.
One of my favorite healthy desserts is Hershey’s Chocolate pudding, made w/ half cocoa and half dark cocoa, and served over sliced banana and walnuts or almonds or pecans liberally sprinkled on top. Oh, and I reduce the sugar by at least half, some times by 2/3.
Thanks for quick snack idea.
And you don’t need to worry about non-dairy yogurt. All the other milks are simply watery solutions of calcium-inadequate foods with finely ground limestone/ chalk rock added for Calcium. It seems a poor use of family food $$ to buy oat milk that can be made by adding 20 cents worth of oats to water and then filtering out the fiber and adding calcium.
The world populations has been living with cows and their relatives and drinking their milk for thousands of years. The major difference is that nomadic tribes fermented their milk to make kefir and yogurt and became intolerant of lactose. That is understandable from genetics – lactose tolerance became unnecessary. But, yogurt and kefir are great milk sub. Filtered oat and coconut water with calcium are not bad, but also not necessary expenditures.
Instead of adding maple syrup, I use 1/4 vanilla yogurt to 3/4 plain, to get just a bit of sweetness.
I am trying to be healthier, but I still have so many chocolate cravings! This is so good! It was simple to make, satisfied my craving, and I felt less guilty afterwards! Thank you for letting your mom convince you to share your idea!
Haha you are so welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as I do :)
THANK YOU!!!! This is just the “instant” treat I was searching for. It is so smooth and DELICIOUS.
Yum, so so good! This has been on repeat this week. Thank you for this tasty,satisfying snack.
This will be on repeat.
The perfect indulgent snack 🍫 ❤️
This is SO good. I used buckwheat honey which is what I had on hand and it also pairs really well!
THis was very yummy even using Fage Greek Yogurt 0%. I’ve also done something similar using pumpkin purée, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. You can do so much with Greek yogurt!!!
What about cacao powder as a substitute for the Dutch cocoa?
I have not had good luck with cacao powder as a replacement for Dutch process cocoa. A source I found said the lack of alkalinity makes it a poor substitute in recipes that call for Dutch-process cocoa (see this link). But since this is such a loose “recipe”, you’re welcome to try it and see what you think of the flavor!
We always have an organic honey vanilla Greek yogurt we use on our granola. Would that work at all?
Yes, just reduce the syrup!
I just made this and it is AMAZING! I used 2% yogurt because that’s what I had. It tastes like pots de crème & is so rich & decadent that I felt like I shouldn’t be eating it. Absolutely delicious. I also added some blueberries but that is certainly not necessary. Thank you for another great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed!
This is a delicious healthy dessert recipe
I am trying to eat healthier and this sounds amazing. I haven’t tried it yet but definitely will. Very excited to try and please keep coming up with recipes.
Forgot to leave a star rating on my last comment, sorry!
Thrilled with how this turned out!
A lot of my healthier/refined sugar free deserts don’t taste quite right, but this was luxurious enough that it didn’t taste ‘healthy’. Will be making this a lot!
I used organic whole milk prebiotic yoghurt, and reduced the maple syrup to one tbsp.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Recipe was good, had to add some sugar and flavor was really strong.
Have you ever tried anything similar for lemon or banana pudding?
I like the ease of yogurt or any other simple,easy, healthy version of lemon pudding!
Thanks
I love the idea! We’ll have to add it to the list.
So easy. So chocolatey. So creamy – and as thick or as sweet as I want it to be! … or not ;)
My favorite part, of course, is knowing there are healthy probiotics filling my belly in lieu of of so much sugar. I found this recipe in desperation after multiple desserts night after successive night around the Thanksgiving holiday. This was perfect – not just for me but for my loved ones, too. Thank You!!
Glad you enjoyed!
I already had the Dutch processed cocoa powder on hand and I always have 100% pure maple syrup in my pantry being Canadian and I always have Greek yogurt on hand it’s a must a stable and most of my recipes I absolutely love this chocolate treat I love chocolate but I wanted to know when it says per serving how much is a serving is it all the ingredients mixed together is equivalent to one serving I guess I missed that one you can let me know I’d appreciate it thanks
Hi! Yes, the recipe is for one serving with all three ingredients (about 200 calories).
I wonder if this could be processed in an ice cream maker to make “ice cream”?
We haven’t tried it, but I think it’s a brilliant idea!
Hi,
Love this recipe! If I wanted to make a batch, how long would it keep in the fridge?
Emma x
Hi! I think it would last as long as the expiration date on the yogurt. Enjoy :)
Forager makes delicious cashewmilk yogurt: https://www.foragerproject.com/all-products/cashewgurt/
Could you make this with nonfat plain Greek yogurt?
Yes, it will just be a little less creamy.
Wal-Mart for Ghirardelli Premium Baking Cocoa 100% Cocoa Dutch Process Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 8 oz. $3.98.
I just saw the price with the link you have here with Amazon the price is outrageous Target and Wal-Mart has it at half or less . :-)
This is also good with cottage cheese instead of Greek yogurt! The cottage cheese can be blended if texture is an issue. No probiotics, but still a ton of protein!
Just made this for dessert this evening – such a great idea and so yummy! I made with non-fat Greek yogurt because that’s what I had but topped with a Tbsp of mini chocolate chips!
What about a dairy free option? Coconut yogurt?
Hi! We have a note in the post: we don’t recommend any dairy free yogurt because we haven’t found a brand we like! You are welcome to try it, but we’re not sure it would have the same flavor. We do have a vegan chocolate pudding if you’re looking for something like it: https://www.acouplecooks.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-mousse-4-ingredients/
This looks amazing!! Do you think raw cacao powder would work well?
We haven’t tried it, let us know if you do!