This gingerbread cheesecake chia pudding is the coziest breakfast you can make leading up to the holidays. Filled with warming spices for the most comforting bite.
Why You’ll Love This Gingerbread Cheesecake Chia Pudding
- An easy way to help hit your fiber goals in the morning. Each serving of this chia pudding contains 11g of fiber. See suggestions in “Expert Tips” if new to fiber.
- Simple to prepare. Just blend up your milk and stir in your chia seeds. Add the optional crumble on top for even more gingerbread vibes.
- Make ahead for breakfast on the go. Stores really well throughout the week, which can help make eating breakfast in the morning easier and more enjoyable.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chia Seeds: If you are not a fan of chia seeds in their whole form, a number of individuals who have tried my previous chia pudding recipes have suggested just grinding the chia seeds prior to use to help make the pudding smoother in consistency.
- Cream Cheese: Use your favorite brand. Most often I am using Kite Hill’s cream cheese as it does not contain as much saturated fat as other brands. Another I love to use is Philadelphia Cream Cheese’s dairy-free cream cheese.
- Yogurt: My go to is Silk’s Plain Soy Yogurt or Forager Project. I have also had success using yogurts from Kite Hill and Siggi’s. Just use the brand you like best.
- Molasses: Avoid using blackstrap molasses. I recommend unsulphured molasses for this recipe. It should help add a richer, warmer flavor to the chia pudding.
- Spices: I used a combination of warm spices including cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg.
- Milk: I use soy milk for the extra protein, but feel free to use the unsweetened plant-based milk you love most.
- Pecans: This is used both in the milk and crumb. I find this helps add a lovely buttery note to the pudding and crumb. If you are allergic to nuts, consider swapping the pecans in the crumb with the same amount of oats plus a tablespoon of a seed butter like sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- Dates: Medjool dates are best for the crumb.
How to Make Gingerbread Cheesecake Chia Pudding
Blend up the gingerbread milk: Blend together yogurt, cream cheese, molasses, syrup, pecans, milk, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt.
Combine with the chia seeds: In a storage container, whisk together the chia seeds and milk mixture. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before whisking again to break up clumps. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Make the gingerbread crumb: Add the pecans, oats, dates, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and a pinch of salt to a mini food processor. Pulse together until it becomes crumbly.
Serving: Layer a portion of the chia pudding with a portion of the crumbs in a bowl or jar before enjoying.
Expert Tips
- Adjust the sweetness. I feel that molasses adds a lovely sweetness on it’s own, so I end up not using as much maple syrup to this. However, if you feel you need it, add more or less based on your preference.
- To avoid clumps in your pudding, make sure to give your chia pudding a few good extra stirs. After initially stirring the pudding, I will leave it to begin gelling up for 10 minutes and then stir it well again to break up any clumps before refrigerating.
- Save on clean up. Prep your chia pudding in the same storage container you plan to store it in. Blend the milk mixture with an immersion blender in a tall jar mason/weck jar then stir in the chia seeds. Seal and store.
- If you are new to fiber, incorporate it in slowly. This recipe offers 11g of fiber per serving. You may need to start with a much smaller portion size to help better handle that fiber. Start with a much smaller portion of this recipe, for example 2-3 tbsp. Give it a few days, and if everything feels good, slowly add another 1-2 tbsp and repeat until you reach the appropriate serving size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Place the chia pudding and crumble in separate airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. When ready to assemble, layer the chia pudding with the crumble as you wish and enjoy.
This was purely for aesthetic, but if you want a little more gingery goodness, what I did was mix together a tbsp of maple syrup with a pinch of ginger powder, cinnamon, and salt.
When prepping, choose higher protein ingredients like soy milk/pea protein milk, higher protein yogurts like Forager Project Greek Style Yogurt, Soy Yogurt, or Kite Hill Greek Style High Protein Yogurt. Or, if you don’t mind the taste of protein powder, you can always add 1-2 scoops of your favorite vanilla flavored protein powder to the gingerbread milk mixture. Do note, if you do add protein powder, you may want to adjust the liquid in the recipe as it can be more absorbent. Essentially, just adjust as needed.
Grinding chia seeds does make some of the nutrients in chia seeds like omega 3s more absorbable. However, if you don’t like the texture when it’s ground, you can always leave it in it’s whole form. You will still reap the benefits of the soluble fiber it provides.
Make It Balanced
The chia seeds in the recipe help to provide both fiber and omega-3s. This in combination with the crumble help to provide a good portion of healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. To optimize the protein in this recipe, do choose higher protein options like soy milk and soy yogurt when preparing.
More Whimsy Chia Pudding Recipes to Try
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Description
This gingerbread cheesecake chia pudding is the coziest breakfast you can make leading up to the holidays. Filled with warming spices for the most comforting bite.
Gingerbread Chia Pudding
Gingerbread Crumble
- To a blender cup, add the yogurt, cream cheese, molasses, syrup, pecans, milk, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Blend the mixture until completely smooth.
- To a large storage container, add the chia seeds then pour in the blended gingerbread milk. Whisk the mixture together well, cover and let the mixture set for 10 minutes. Whisk again to help breakup any clumps that may have formed. Cover and allow to refrigerate for at least an hour (preferably overnight) before using. You can always adjust the sweetness of the chia pudding if desired by stirring in more syrup prior to serving.
- For the gingerbread crumb, add the pecans, oats, dates, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and a pinch of salt. Pulse the mixture together until it becomes crumbly in consistency.
- To serve, layer a portion of the chia pudding with a portion of the crumb in a bowl or jar. Then enjoy!
Notes
Adjust the sweetness. I feel that molasses adds a lovely sweetness on it’s own, so I end up not using as much maple syrup to this. However, if you feel you need it, add more or less based on your preference.
To avoid clumps in your pudding, make sure to give your chia pudding a few good extra stirs. After initially stirring the pudding, I will leave it to begin gelling up for 10 minutes and then stir it well again to break up any clumps before refrigerating.
Save on clean up. Prep your chia pudding in the same storage container you plan to store it in. Blend the milk mixture with an immersion blender in a tall jar mason/weck jar then stir in the chia seeds. Seal and store.
If you are new to fiber, incorporate it in slowly. This recipe offers 11g of fiber per serving. You may need to start with a much smaller portion size to help better handle that fiber. Start with a much smaller portion of this recipe, for example 2-3 tbsp. Give it a few days, and if everything feels good, slowly add another 1-2 tbsp and repeat until you reach the appropriate serving size.
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