Frugal Fridays, and an Easy Chocolate Pudding from My Childhood

There are so many chocolate pudding recipes out there. Quite a few of them are rich, tasty, and require the use of numerous bowls and the tempering of egg yolks. Well, I’m here today to free you from all that. Today, I introduce you to the chocolate pudding recipe of my childhood, which I made throughout my teenage years. And I found it on the side of the Argo cornstarch box all those years ago.

This is sooo easy, and you can use any combination of milk that you like and have on hand:  milk, half-and-half, some cream (don’t make it with only cream).  You can mix it up in one pot, and you’ll only have to clean some measuring cups, spoons, and a strainer, besides the pot and spatula.

Your family will not care that it didn’t take you an hour to make this, because it will taste better than those packaged pudding mixes, and you’ll be able to sit down and enjoy it with them, instead of washing a bunch of dishes!  And who couldn’t use a little chocolate now and then?

Want to join me for Frugal Fridays?  See the instructions, here.  Recipe after the jump . . . .

Easy Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from the Argo Cornstarch recipe

Prep Time:  15 minutes
Chill Time:  2 hours
Yield:  3 cups

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup Corn Starch

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (Dutch processed works best here, but use a good brand to get the most flavor)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk (or a combo of milk, cream, and half-and-half)

2 tablespoons butter OR margarine

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Take a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan, and rinse it out with water.  This will help reduce the chance of scorching the pudding.
2. Combine sugar, corn starch, cocoa and salt in the pan saucepan. If your cornstarch and/or cocoa are lumpy, you may want to sift them into the pan. Gradually stir in milk a bit at a time until smooth – don’t do it too fast, or lumps will form.
3. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.  And if you don’t want lumpy pudding, strain through a sieve.  I like lumpy pudding.  I know, weird.
4. Pour into serving bowls. If you don’t want a film to form on the pudding (my favorite part!), then press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding.  Refrigerate.  Serve with a little whipped cream, if you like.