Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

Dessert for breakfast anyone? Yes, please.  This recipe is sweet and indulgent enough to be served as a dessert.  And it’s also healthy enough to be eaten for breakfast—between the almonds, almond butter, almond milk and Chia seeds it’s packed with protein so you can start your day off on the right foot! 

Serves 2 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup almonds* 
• 2 tablespoons almond butter*
• 12 dates
• 1/2 teaspoon agave
• 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas 
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Chia seeds

*Depending on personal preference, you can either use roasted almonds and roasted almond butter or raw almonds and raw almond butter for a fully raw recipe.  

For the Vanilla Wafers: 

Directions: 

1. Place almonds in a blender or food processor and blend until ground into a powder.  Remove from blender and set aside.  
2. Place almond butter, dates, agave and 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract in a blender and blend until combined.  
3. Add almond powder back into blender and blend with almond butter mixture.  Process until combined.  
4. Transfer contents of blender to a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a log.  
5. Refrigerate overnight. 
6. To serve, remove from refrigerator, unwrap and slice carefully into discs with a very sharp knife.  If you're knife is not very sharp, the cookies will crumble.  This is okay for this recipe, but in order to keep them in tact for other use, you must make sure your knife is very sharp.  

For the Banana Pudding: 

Directions: 

1. Place bananas, almond milk, maple syrup, remaining vanilla, and cinnamon in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Transfer mixture to a jar. 
3. Add Chia seeds to jar and stir to combine.  
4. Refrigerate overnight.
5. To serve, remove from refrigerator, stir, and top with crumbled vanilla wafers.