Homemade Pudding is one of the most simple desserts I can think of. Homemade Chocolate Pudding is also a dessert that young and old enjoy equally. There’s just something magical about the creamy, dreamy smooth texture of a perfectly chocolatey dessert. Who can resist it? Seriously.
Add a dollop of fresh whipped cream, use your vegetable peeler to shave a few sprinkles of chocolate on top and Homemade Chocolate Pudding suddenly becomes a special occasion treat. It’s SO easy. And, wow, is it delicious!
Ingredients You Need for Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Our first instinct is the familiar brown box with powder to stir into cold milk, but you won’t believe the difference when you make homemade chocolate pudding from scratch. Homemade pudding is creamy and indulgent. You control what goes into it and you are also the one who decides just how deeply chocolate you want it to be. Yum!
Grab sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, milk, butter and vanilla. They’re all you need, (along with your stirring arm and a little time), to create a heavenly dessert that will have your whole family clamoring for another chocolatey bite!
How to Make Homemade Chocolate Pudding
Put sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt into a 3-quart (or larger) saucepan. *Whisk them together. Stir in the milk and begin to heat your pudding mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly. This is the part that takes some time. On my stove top, set to medium (which is level 5 out of 10), it was about 20 minutes.
It’s important to stir constantly during this process. It’s easy to scorch milk and sugar, as you bring them to a boil, and stirring helps prevents that from happening. So keep your whisk moving across the bottom of your pan to prevent any sticking and create the best homemade pudding.
Once the pudding comes to a boil, large bubbles will begin to rise up around the edges of your pan and when you stir through with a spoon the pudding will have thickened somewhat. It will coat the back of a spoon. And, as you can see in the picture above, as it runs off the spoon the pudding doesn’t blend immediately back into a smooth pool, but is thick enough to begin sitting atop itself for a moment. It’s ready to come off the heat.
When Homemade Chocolate Pudding Has Finished Cooking
As your pudding cools, it will thicken to the creamy consistency you are familiar with. Pour it into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Push the plastic wrap right onto the surface of the pudding, to prevent a “skin” from forming over the top, as it cools. Pop it in the fridge and let it cool.
Within an hour it will probably be set to the perfect creamy thickness. It will probably still be warm, though, unless you poured it into a shallow bowl. You can certainly eat it right there for a warm, chocolatey treat. We prefer ours completely cold, so I usually wait more like four hours.
That’s it, my friend! Easy, chocolatey delicious dessert. Homemade Chocolate Pudding could be on your menu once or twice a month without any difficulty. And YOU? You’re going to be the famous, favorite chef at your house! Give it a try. You can definitely do it.
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Homemade Chocolate Pudding
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
Creamy, dreamy, chocolatey and luscious. Chocolate pudding is a simple dessert that resonates with young and old. You can freeze this in popsicle molds, too, for yummy pudding pop treats.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a 3-quart or larger *saucepan.
Stir in the milk.
Begin heating the pudding mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly. (Stirring constantly is necessary to prevent scorching as you bring the mixture to a boil.)
Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. (This process took about 20 minutes on my stove top.)
Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla
Cool slightly and then pour into a bowl to finish setting up.
Cover the pudding with plastic wrap, pushing the wrap right down onto the surface of the pudding. This prevents a “skin” from forming on top.
Chill in the fridge for at least an hour. To be cold all the way through, I usually wait about 4 hours.
Notes
If you like darker chocolate flavor, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder to your mixture.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
One final shout out to Imperial Sugar! Thanks so much for the sugar and sponsoring the #Choctoberfest event and our #Choctoberfest giveaway!
Be sure to check out all the other delicious #Choctoberfest recipes posted, below! And stop back tomorrow. I have a new recipe for you, every day this week. You won’t want to miss a single chocolatey one!
About Glenda
I believe cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and that YOU can do it. My simple recipes, tutorials, and cooking tips will help you get weeknight dinners on the table with less stress. Forget takeout or the drive-thru. Let me show you how to make homemade easy. Read more...
Just tried your wonderful,easy receipe. came out perfect thank you soo much!love home made not much chance to get to the store these days!
Veronica, thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This classic pudding recipe is reminding me so much of childhood. You are definitely bringing on the nostalgia here!
I feel the same way. The best family memories seem to revolve around being together while we cook or enjoy a meal.
I make homemade custards all the time to put IN things – like a chocolate custard pie, or banana custard with vanilla wafers, but I can’t remember the last time I made pudding just to eat as pudding. This looks so good and now I have such a craving for it. Pudding sounds so good and my kids would love it, too!
Aaah! Isn’t it weird how work distracts us from the simplest little joys? I hope you and your kids get to make some soon and that you love it! Have a wonderfully blessed weekend!
I love homemade pudding. Yours looks so creamy and rich. I don’t use the plastic wrap because I LOVE the skin on top of the pudding.
Thank you, Wendy! You’re the second person who has told me that about the skin on pudding. Now, I’m going to have to try it! lol Thanks so much for stopping by.