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).
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. So we’re loving this tasty homemade recipe for Homemade Chocolate Pudding, which does contain regular sugar and refined corn starch and is therefore considered a special treat!
My Go-To Chocolate Chips: 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
This Homemade Chocolate Pudding only takes 5 minutes to make and it's not full of artificial additives, preservatives, and other unwanted ingredients.
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.
Nutrition Facts
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I grew up on homemade chocolate pudding. I still remember trying store-bought pudding for the first time and thinking how awful it was! I have recipes for vanilla and butterscotch pudding as well. All are favourites with my family!
Love this recipe! My go-to for a chocolate snack with my daughter.
Hi there. That is not something we’ve tried. If you give it a go, let us know how it turns out.
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.
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!!
Just tried this and it was exactly what I needed. Thank you for this article. I am looking forward to similar ones that are informative and helpful on a daily basis.
Has anyone tried maple syrup instead of sugar? Or agave nectar? Love this website and your cookbooks!
Hi. Well, we do not use agave but in developing recipes, Lisa usually tries honey or maple before going with granulated sugar.
This may be a silly question, but does the raw egg end up fully cooked by the end? I’m asking bc a pregnant woman will be eating this and I don’t want to put her at risk by the chance of any raw egg being in there!
Hi Jen. Well, I would think it is heated to a point of being fully cooked but if you are concerned, you could leave it a bit longer on the higher heat. I’m definitely not an expert on Listeria, though, so check with your OB. :)
Thank you for this awesome recipe. Made it for guests and everyone including myself loved! I doubled it and would say it took about 15 minutes before it thickened but this will be my go to recipe from now on!
Do you have any suggestions for making this without the egg? My son is allergic.
Hi. You might give a flax egg a try: http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/.