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I hope you like coconut.
Because I sure do!
A friend of mine brought over a few fresh coconuts for us to enjoy while watching the Olympics last week, hoping I could demonstrate how to open them. Of course, I was happy to oblige!
Not that my method for opening coconuts is very professional… but it does get the job done.
I simply use a cleaver to whack around the middle until a “lid” is created, then open that lid using the cleaver as leverage. And I always, always keep my spare hand behind my back, to make sure I keep all of my fingers in tact!
We lucked out with this batch of coconuts– all three were in good shape!
Usually I buy at least two coconuts at a time, because you never know if one is going to be spoiled. Signs of spoilage include green edges around the white outer shell (though, this doesn’t always mean it will be bad inside), pink-tinted coconut meat, or sour-tasting coconut water.
Note: If opening a coconut intimidates you, you can now purchase frozen organic coconut meat and water in the freezer case at most Whole Foods locations. You can also usually find already-opened coconuts, or ask a nearby produce manager to open it for you!
With all this delicious coconut meat to use up, I decided that pudding was in order. Creamy, dairy-free pudding that’s naturally sweetened and ready in minutes!
And because I can’t make up my mind, I made two flavors–> starting with my old favorite, vanilla.
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Creamy Vanilla Coconut Pudding
serves 1-2
Ingredients:
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1 cup fresh coconut meat, from one young Thai coconut
1/4 cup fresh coconut water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raw honey, or 12 drops liquid stevia
pinch of fine sea salt
Directions:
Add the coconut meat, coconut water, vanilla extract, salt and sweetener into a blender pitcher, and blend until very smooth and creamy. For best results, use a high-powered blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec.
Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, then chill for an hour before serving. It will thicken up even more in the fridge!
*For quicker chilling, add 4-5 ice cubes while blending, and serve immediately!
Serve chilled, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh coconut meat , from one young Thai coconut
- 1/4 cup fresh coconut water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon raw honey , or 12 drops liquid stevia
- pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Add the coconut meat, coconut water, vanilla extract, salt and sweetener into a blender pitcher, and blend until very smooth and creamy. For best results, use a high-powered blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec.
- Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, then chill for an hour before serving. It will thicken up even more in the fridge!
- Serve chilled, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 317, Fat: 27g, Carbohydrates: 17g, Fiber: 7g, Protein: 3g
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If you prefer chocolate pudding, the following is for you.
This chocolate variation reminded me of the childhood classic– but without the sugar or preservatives of the boxed stuff!
–> Click here for the chocolate recipe.
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Whichever flavor you choose, I hope you enjoy it!
Reader Feedback: Do you like using young Thai coconuts? I hesitate to share recipes calling for them too often, since I know they can be intimidating to open or hard to find, but they really do make for some darn good creamy treats!
Mine definitely did not turn out like that… super grainy 🙁
Is it possible that you used shredded coconut, instead of fresh coconut meat? I’m not sure how you’d get a grainy texture, otherwise.
I blended and blended, but it never got creamy. Maybe the coconut wasn’t a Thai coconut or young… It was still crunchy. Not sure if that’s a good description but yours looks like pudding and mine looks like ground up coconut. lol I have just a regular blender, that’s probably it.
It sounds like maybe you used dried shredded coconut? This recipe calls for fresh coconut meat that is scooped out of a young Thai coconut, so that would make a big difference!
I had the same outcome and used a fresh coconut meat from Wholefoods, I’m assuming it wasn’t a young coconut
Same thing happened to me..never got smooth. Tastes ok but grainy. May try to blend again with some milk.
My mother-in-law from Thailand visited over the summer and bought a young coconut. In the past, I’d only seen regular brown coconuts in the store. The inside is definitely a different flavor and texture. The young coconuts have a thinner white meat section that’s almost gelatinous in it’s texture, whereas the older coconuts have white meat that is much more like shredded dry coconut in the flavor and texture. I’ve only seen the young coconuts in an Asian market. They’re usually cream-colored on the outside and have flat-cut sides, surrounded by plastic wrap. The older brown ones just have the dark brown hairy hull on the outside and are still round.
yum. i need some of this in my life!
So cool- what a dessert! Fun stuff, your whacking technique 🙂
If you don’t mind the coconut not being “raw”, you can use a screwdriver and hammer to poke the three holes, to drain the juice out. Then you can put the coconut in a warm over (250-300 degree) for an hour or more, until it starts to crack. Works well if the coconut’s not so young- those older shells can be very hard to crack! The meat starts to separate from the shell, making it much easier to deal with. Just a thought!
The young coconut is very different than a mature coconut. When you whack it open the shell is very thin and you scoop the meat out with a spoon and it is sweet. I do like your idea of how to get the meat out of a mature coconut though! I always fight with them.
Looks fantastic! I definitely have to try this recipe!
OMG it looks fantastic! I love coconut 🙂
This looks decadent! I’m loving your recipes. Last week I made coconut macaroons which I froze and now break up for a topping on yogurt…so good! Yesterday I made your cauliflower pizza crust and it was great. I used 5 cups of cauliflower rice and 1/4 cup of egg whites as well and it turned out perfect. Thanks for the yummy recipes!
it looks delicious
Oh gosh, this looks delicious!! I love coconuts.
I followed the recipes as suggested and used 1 Tbs raw agave nectar for the sweetner instead of honey. It’s fantastic with a clean fresh light coconut taste. And of course, the coconut water itself is just the best drink that can be found in nature.
It takes a bit of work to get all the meat out of the coconut shell but worth the effort.
Do you think it would be worth it to try coconut shavings if we can’t find whole coconuts? I am dying to try this but don;t want to waste my precious bag of coconut shavings if it will fall flat.
Thoughts?
Merci!!
I have no idea if coconut shavings will work! I’ve been meaning to try that myself, but haven’t gotten around to it yet… so you may want to save yours until then. I’d hate for you to waste them!
I love coconut! I would definitely like to try out the chocolate!