Who needs pudding cups when you can make your own chocolate pudding from scratch in under 15 minutes? This pudding is outrageously easy to make! It’s creamy, silky, chocolaty, and absolutely delicious!
* This post was updated with new photos. The recipe is the same 🙂
Chocolate pudding used to be my go-to childhood snack. I would say I was a tad bit obsessed
… just a tad.
You can just imagine my excitement when I learned how to make my own pudding at home. It’s so, so easy to make yourself, and it turns out incredibly creamy and silky every time! It’s pretty much fail-proof!
I wish I could take some back to 10 year old me. But I guess I’ll just have to eat enough for the both of us from now on.
What is chocolate pudding made of? Chocolate pudding ingredients:
To make chocolate pudding, you’ll need 7 ingredients total:
• granulated sugar: for sweetness
• cornstarch: thickens everything once it comes to a boil
• cocoa powder: for chocolaty flavor and color!
• salt: to round out all of the other flavors
• milk: for liquid, flavor, and richness
• unsalted butter: for shine and richness! It also helps the pudding set once cooled
• vanilla extract: for a hint of vanilla flavor. It is optional, but I always like to add it to desserts just because I love vanilla flavor!
FAQs:
Can chocolate pudding be frozen?
To be honest, I hate freezing chocolate pudding, mostly because it never thaws well. Freezing throws off the texture and waters down the mixture too much for my taste!
Can chocolate pudding go bad?
I actually get asked this a lot, so I figured it deserved its own section!
You may have noticed that store-bought pudding cups usually last crazy long. Homemade pudding, on the other hand, has fresh dairy in it. So it won’t last too, too long.
Storage Instructions: Homemade chocolate pudding does keep well for about 1 week in the fridge. If you plan on putting warm pudding in the fridge, make sure to cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface of the pudding to prevent skin formation.
The good news is that pudding rarely lasts more than a day in my house. So if you’re like me, you’ll just need to worry about when you plan on making more pudding!
Can chocolate pudding be made with almond milk?
For sure! Chocolate pudding will set with almond milk just as well as it does with regular milk. It’ll also add a really nice nutty flavor to the pudding (chocolate + almonds = delicious!)
You don’t need to do anything special to make pudding set with almond milk. If you do make your chocolate pudding with almond milk, the rest of the recipe is the exact same.
If you also swap the butter out with an equal amount of vegan butter, you’ll have yourself a dairy-free and vegan chocolate pudding!
Is chocolate pudding gluten free?
Yes, this pudding recipe is gluten free! I can’t speak for other puddings out there, but this is a gluten free pudding. Just be careful when buying your ingredients.
While all of the ingredients used here don’t naturally have gluten in them, some manufacturers may produce their foods in factories that make it possible for the food to come in contact with gluten. Just make sure you check the label before buying anything if you or anyone is allergic!
How to avoid pudding skin:
For those of you that may not know, pudding has a nasty habit of drying out on the surface as it cools, which creates a layer of skin (like milk when you boil it and let it sit).
To avoid pudding skin, I like to leave my pudding to cool slightly, mixing occasionally to avoid skin. When you mix it, the part of the pudding that’s exposed to air constantly changes. So that helps keep your pudding from forming a skin.
Once the pudding is cooled slightly, I cover it with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding, and refrigerate if not serving any time soon. After the pudding has cooled completely, you don’t need to have the plastic wrap touching the surface. Pudding only forms a skin as it cools.
If you liked this chocolate pudding, check out some of these other chocolate recipes!
• no bake chocolate biscuit cake
• no bake chocolate cornflakes cookies
• crunchy no bake chocolate cups
• chocolate cupcakes
Easy Chocolate Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 & 1/4 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium sized sauce pot, combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, and cocoa powder. Whisk together until the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Gradually add your milk to the dry ingredients, whisking well after each addition to avoid clumps.
- Place the pot on your stove top set to medium heat. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it comes to a boil and thickens (about 10 minutes). You'll know the pudding is done when it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Take the pan off the heat. While the pudding is still warm, add your butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter melts into the pudding and everything is fully incorporated.
- Transfer the pudding to your serving dishes. Pudding can be served warm or cold. If you choose not to serve the pudding right away, cover it with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding (to prevent it from forming a skin) and refrigerate until ready to serve. It'll keep for up to 1 week in the fridge.
Video
Enjoy!
I would love to hear any tips you’d like to add to this post and how your chocolate pudding turned out in the comments below!
Have any questions? Any ideas to improve this recipe? Feel free to comment for that as well.
Is there a recipe you want to see us make? Comment below and let us know!
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