Easy Chocolate Pudding

My mom used to make boxed, chocolate pudding when I was a little girl. I can remember many times waiting for a fresh batch to cool. Most times we were too impatient to wait the four hours it took to really chill the pudding and we ended up eating it warm instead, blowing on steaming spoonfuls and sucking in air quickly when the too-hot pudding hit our tongues.

Recently, I decided to make homemade chocolate pudding as a valentine treat for Brad. I found a recipe in my cooking magazine that looked super easy and I was hoping it tasted good too.

The recipe only contains a few steps...combine dry ingredients, add dairy and bring to a simmer, add chocolate chips and whisk until thick. Easy.

And its taste did not disappoint. The recipe may be nearly "instant" but the flavor is not. The recipe uses milk chocolate chips as well as cocoa powder, for a robust chocolate flavor that is definitely not one-dimensional. It is rich, yet not too rich. Satisfyingly sweet, but not too sweet. The texture is smooth and silky, gliding over your tongue and pleasantly chilling your insides on its travels to your stomach. It is a delicious little treat, and so easy that I will never turn to the "box" again.

Easy Chocolate Pudding

Serves 4

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 T. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

3 T. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

2 3/4 cups milk (they suggest whole, but I used 1%)

1/4 cup cream

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan.

Whisk together.

Add milk and cream and whisk into cocoa mixture. 

Be sure to measure the dairy exactly or your pudding may not thicken correctly.

Add the delicious, milk chocolate chips to the saucepan. Bring the cocoa milk mixture to a simmer, whisking occasionally, over medium heat.

Reduce heat to low and simmer pudding for 2 - 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until large bubbles begin to form and mixture is thick and velvety. 

Off the heat, stir in vanilla.  

Pour pudding into heat-proof dishes (aren't these pretty?) and put plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. This will keep an icky skin from forming on the pudding. 

Refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours, until cold, and serve plain or with whipped cream. 

If you are dying to eat pudding and don't want to wait 4 hours: spread pudding in a 9 x 13 pan, place plastic wrap directly on its surface and place in the freezer until completely cool, at least 45 minutes or up to an hour. 

(This may defrost some of your veggies but at least you will be able to eat that chocolate pudding!)

This recipe is from Cook's Country magazine.