Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding

I’ve been experimenting with recipes again. I came away with this delicious blueberry chia seed pudding. 

Blueberries and dried elderberries simmered slowly with raw honey, cinnamon and just a touch of lemon juice; then layered with crisp homemade graham cracker crumbs. 

Blueberry mixture: 

1 1/2 cups of blueberries - fresh or frozen

1/8-1/4 cup of raw honey 

1 Tablespoon fresh or dried elderberries 

1/4 cup water 

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

dash of sea salt 

Crust:

3-4 * graham crackers 

3-4 dates 

Liquid: 

2 cups plant based milk 

Thickener: 

1/2 cup chia seeds 

Instructions:

Blueberry mixture:

Place blueberries, honey, elderberries, water, cinnamon, lemon juice, and sea salt in a small pan. 

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool until lukewarm. 

Crust:

Place graham crackers and dates in blender. Blend until mixture resembles fine crumbs that sticks together. Add more dates if needed. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. 

Liquid: 

Place the plant based milk in a blender, add cooled blueberry mixture, blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a medium sized bowl. 

Slowly add chia seeds. Mix together until well incorporated. 

Whenever I am working with chia seeds, after they are stirred into the liquid, I leave the mixture sitting on the counter until it has thickened quite a bit. 

I stir the mixture every 15 minutes to ensure the chia seeds absorb the liquid. 

When the blueberry mixture is thickened, begin layering in your dish, with graham crackers and then the blueberry mixture.

Continue until you have blueberry mixture on top, then sprinkle with a layer of the graham cracker mix. 

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This gives a good amount of time for the chia seeds to set nice and firm. If you can wait overnight, that's even better. 

* For the graham cracker crumbs you can use store-bought or these homemade one's right here.