Raspberry Almond Chia Pudding with Coconut Crunch

For busy weekday mornings, getting out the door by 7 means there is no time or thought to spare for food prep. On the other hand, who wants to spend their whole weekend preparing food for the week? Enter chia puddings. I love them - not because it feels like eating dessert for breakfast. Not because they are full of nutrition. (Okay, partly for those reasons.) But mostly because they take FIVE MINUTES to prepare! Wooo! High five chia seeds, you are da bomb!

Ahem.

Anyway, raspberry and almond became a quick favorite flavor combination after I followed a recipe for raspberry ice cream made with marzipan. And it being the end of raspberry season, I finally have truckloads of raspberries to use up. So here we go.

Ingredients:
(makes four servings)
3 cups almond milk
2 tsp almond extract
3 TBS honey or agave, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 TBS chia seeds (or 9 TBS)
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup instant oats
1 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:
Takes ONE MINUTE: Combine almond milk, almond extract, 2 TBS honey/agave, and chia seeds in a one-quart container. Cover the container, shake vigorously for about 10 seconds and put in the fridge overnight.

Takes FOUR MINUTES*: Combine oats, coconut, and remaining honey/agave until sticky. (I didn't actually measure any of these things. It cut down on time and it's pretty forgiving.) Spread it into a thin layer on a piece of foil sprayed with cooking spray and stick it in a toaster oven at 350 for about three minutes, or until browned on top.
*If you do not have a toaster oven, you can use a regular oven - heat to 450 and bake 5 minutes or so. Obviously this means it will take a bit longer, especially since the oven will need to preheat.

Should look something like this:

Crumble loosely with your fingers.

That's it! You're done with the prep! All that's left is to plop it all in a bowl and top with a bit more honey/agave to taste! Or you can layer them and make them look fancy shmancy like I tried to do here, but if you're going to be eating this at 6:30am, chances are you don't care what it looks like. Unless you're one of *those* people who are good at mornings. ~Glare~

If I were do do this again, I'd probably blend the raspberries with the chia pudding and make it easier to gauge how much sweetener to add. But that would be more work and more dirty dishes.

Enjoy!