Pea Protein Tahini Chocolate Pudding

Low-GL, high-protein take on the viral boiled egg pudding – egg whites swapped for a pea-protein agar fluid gel, yolks swapped for tahini, almond milk base, honey at 35g with salt doing the balancing.

Ingredients

  • Pea protein isolate, unflavored (24 g)

  • Water (140 g)

  • Agar powder (1.2 g)

  • Tahini, well-stirred (45 g)

  • Cocoa powder, Dutch-process if you have it (18 g, plus 5 g for the re-blend)

  • Unsweetened almond milk (120 ml)

  • Honey (35 g)

  • Vanilla extract (9 g)

  • Fine salt (3/4 g)

Preparation

  • Whisk the pea protein into the water and let it stand 10-15 minutes – skip the hydration and the pudding turns chalky.

  • Meanwhile, whisk the agar into the cold almond milk in a small pot. Agar disperses cold only; hit it with hot liquid and it clumps.

  • Add the protein slurry, honey, and salt to the pot. Bring to a full rolling boil and hold it there 1-2 minutes, whisking – under-boiled agar will not set, at all.

  • Pour the hot mixture into a blender with the tahini, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Blend until completely smooth, with the lid vented and a towel over the gap – a sealed lid on hot liquid builds pressure and blows off.

  • Move fast from here: agar sets at roughly 35-40°C, and nothing can dawdle between boiling and pouring. Pour into a flat container and refrigerate until set firm, about 45 minutes.

  • Break up the set gel, return it to the blender, and re-blend into a smooth, creamy pudding. Straight agar sets brittle and short; the re-blend is what makes it pudding. Thin with a splash of almond milk if too thick.

  • Add the extra 5g of cocoa here and blend it in – treat it as part of the recipe, not a rescue. Cocoa and tahini mask pea’s beaniness reasonably well, and the extra nudge finishes the job. Taste; if it needs sweetness, add allulose to taste.

  • Portion into four ~98g servings (ramekins or small jars) and refrigerate at least 2 hours. It tastes better cold. Keeps up to 4 days covered.

Variation: skip the re-blend and pour the just-blended hot mixture straight into four ramekins to set. Faster, but honesty requires saying it reads firmer and more panna-cotta than the original – the fluid gel is the version that eats like pudding.

Notes

Serving size: 4 portions of ~98g each (about a standard ramekin), roughly 135 kcal, 7-8g protein, ~8g net carbs per serving – the pea protein carries slightly more calories than the whites did, but it stays within spitting distance of the original. Almond milk drops the lactose sweetness, so taste at the re-blend stage – if it needs more, add allulose rather than honey to keep the GL flat.