Homemade chocolate pudding is a creamy and decadent dessert. It’s silky and smooth and oh so easy to make!

Devilishly delicious pudding, whipped and ever so slightly warm, makes people’s eyes go wide. This delightful pudding is always a treat. For more treats to wow, try Cream-Filled Hostess Style Cupcakes, Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pie, and No-Bake S’mores Pie.

A Delicious Chocolatey Dessert

I LOVE chocolate pudding. It is one of my favorite treats! While I will not turn down a plastic pudding cup, homemade is definitely the way to go. It is even richer and creamier with a heavenly chocolate flavor.

Another bonus? It’s actually easy to make. All it takes is a little love, and arm power for whisking!

I have so many wonderful memories eating this sweet treat with some little munchkins. The kids go ga ga over this homespun goodness. This creamy and satisfying dessert is love in a bowl. It is sure to be a family favorite!

How to Make Chocolate Pudding

COMBINE. In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt. Pour in the milk and cream, whisk together.

WHISK. Set saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk frequently as the mixture warms. After 3 minutes, turn heat up to medium. Continue whisking for 3-4 minutes until the mixture thickens.

BOIL. Let the mixture come to a gentle boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and continue whisking. Add the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla.

WHISK. Immediately add the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

COOL. Pour the pudding into a medium size bowl. Let the mixture cool at room temperature for 20 minutes, whisking every 5 minutes or so. (You can speed up this process by putting this over and ice bath)

REFRIGERATE. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Place in the refrigerator to cool for 4-5 hours before serving. Top with homemade whipped cream and sprinkles or chocolate shavings, if desired.

Ingredient Tips:

Milk. 2% milk will give your pudding the best consistency. If you use a thinner milk, you could risk having too thin of a pudding that doesn’t set correctly. Using diary alternatives won’t boil and thicken correctly.
Cocoa. This recipe calls for both cocoa powder and melted chocolate. For the melted chocolate, you can use milk chocolate or bittersweet dark chocolate shavings/chips.
Cornstarch. The cornstarch acts a thickener and stabilizer for the pudding. Some recipes use flour instead of cornstarch. When incorporating either you need to whisk your mixture very well, and even consider turning your cornstarch into a slurry by combining it with the water the recipe needs. This decreases the chances that you will have chunks of dry cornstarch in your pudding!

Tips, Variations, & Storing

Here are some tips to make sure your pudding has the perfect texture:

How to keep from getting a skin? You can place a piece of plastic wrap/wax paper right on top of the pudding while it cools to prevent it from getting a “skin”. This means the pudding will keep its deliciously smooth texture without getting any dried out layer on top.
Extra creamy. To get an almost custard like texture you can add in 2-3 whisked egg yolks. This will give it more richness and depth.

Additions/Variations

Whipped cream: top with either homemade or store-bought whipped cream
Fudge sauce: drizzle fudge sauce over the pudding
Raspberries: create a lovely parfait with pudding, whipped cream, and raspberries
Chocolate shavings: top with the same chocolate shavings that you used in your pudding. This will give a nice change of texture to your pudding

Storing: Homemade chocolate pudding needs to be refrigerated, preferably with a piece of plastic wrap/wax paper on top of it for up to 3 days. If you need to chill it quickly I recommend pouring it onto a sheet pan and then covering it. The less depth the pudding has the quicker it will cool.

Freezing: Chocolate pudding freezes amazingly well into pudding pops! Place the pudding into ice cube trays or popsicle molds with a wooden popsicle stick and freeze until solid. Don’t try to thaw frozen pudding. The cornstarch in the mix doesn’t allow it to thaw back to a normal consistency.

Make ahead: You can easily make this ahead of time as long as you store it correctly. Keep the plastic wrap tightly on the top of the pudding and make sure to serve it within three days of making it.

For delicious pudding-filled recipes, try:

For more delicious chocolate recipes, check out:

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