Mocha Cinnamon Pudding

Wow it is already March 26. I know I haven't posted much but we were away for a week of skiing in Quebec and then I had a week of work to catch up on. We did some beautiful skiing at Mont Ste. Anne & Le Massif and now all the equipment has been put away for the season. It is now time to focus on dropping the winter pounds and get back to running. I have signed up at the Running Room for their 10 week 10k program which ends with a run in Mississauga on May 15. I am also signing up for the Scotia Bank Half Marathon in October.

We subscribe to the Runners World monthly magazine which is always full of interesting articles as well as recipes and this is where I found this delicious pudding recipe. Over the course of the winter we got into the habit of often having a dessert so if I want to continue feeding this sweet tooth I need to come up with healthier less fattening options. This pudding is less than 200 calories and it provides protein,calcium & cinnamon antioxidants. Everyone enjoyed it including Max & Connor.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
2 t instant coffee or espresso powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 cups 1% chocolate milk
70 grams dark chocolate finely chopped
1 t vanilla extract

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, coffee, cinnamon and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk in milk over medium heat, then cook for approx 5 minutes stirring occasionally at first, then frequently, and constantly in the end until mixture thickens to pudding consistency. Remove from heat, add chocolate & vanilla whisking until chocolate is smooth. Pour into 5 or 6 containers depending on the size you have. I used 6 ramekins. If you are not eating it immediately wrap with plastic wrap directly on the pudding surface to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate up to 5 days.

I topped mine with a small dollop of whipped cream and a sliced strawberry.

Calories per serving: 176 Carbs: 30G Protein: 3 G Fat: 6G
Recipe by Pam Anderson author of Perfect One -Dish Dinners