Chocolate pudding used to be a regular thing for me as a kid and also for my kids before we cut out all highly processed food. We used to “make it” ourselves. By that I mean we would mix milk together with some mystery powder out of a box. I just thought that was how it was done. I can’t believe I even managed to find this picture of my now 11-year-old (soon to be 12) daughter during one of our many pudding making moments back in the day! She was hamming it up for the camera (and yes, it was an actual camera back then, not my phone, haha).
My daughter when she was two in 2007! Back when we ate processed pudding…
Once we made the switch to real food, though, it meant saying goodbye to things like highly processed instant pudding (and for good reason!). Come to find out, it’s full of artificial additives, preservatives, and other unwanted ingredients. Not to mention it contains way more sugar than necessary to taste great. And here’s the funny thing – the box lures you in by saying it’s “instant” pudding. But the real made-from-scratch version only takes all of 5 minutes to make. You’re really not saving all that much time in the end. So this recipe for Homemade Chocolate Pudding (which does contain regular sugar and refined corn starch and is therefore considered a special treat) is definitely worth it!
Sponsor Shoutout: Enjoy Life
For this recipe, I used our favorite chocolate chips from Enjoy Life! Since their chips are only made with ingredients that are supposed to be in chocolate, they’re also allergy friendly (which, let’s face it, can come in handy these days) as well as vegan and paleo. And they taste great, too. I loved adding the mini chip version as a garnish on top so you’d still get plenty of pudding in every bite. I also melted some right into the recipe. Trust me, this is a good one! :) And be sure to check out what’s coming soon – Enjoy Life chocolate chips in little snack pack sizes. I know my girls would flip out if I surprised them with this treat in their lunch one day!
Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, I very much prefer the extra dark variety
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips, + extra for garnish if desired (I used Enjoy Life brand)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- whipped cream, optional garnish
Instructions
- In a wide-bottomed sauce pot, whisk together the milk, sugar, corn starch, cocoa powder, and egg. Set it over medium heat and whisk until the mixture begins to bubble up. Turn the heat down to medium-low and keep whisking until thick and creamy, less than 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla. Divide among 4 or 5 bowls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture cools and is set, about 2 hours.
- Garnish with whipped cream and more chocolate chips, if desired, and serve. YUM!
Recipe Notes
*We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
**With a few substitutions this recipe can be made dairy-free and allergy-friendly.
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I was so excited to make this but unfortunately in never set up. Has anyone else had this problems? Any ideas on what went wrong? Thanks!!
Any suggestions for making this into banana pudding?
Lauren, did you try making it banana pudding? If yes, how did it work out? I’m looking for a good dairy free banana pudding recipe for my son’s birthday treat.
Hi there. That is not something we’ve tried. If you give it a go, let us know how it turns out.