I was recently at the grocery store and was appalled at how much processed junk food I saw in somebody’s cart as they walked by. One a positive note though, I did get a good idea. They had several boxes of pudding cups. In the past I have made pudding for the boys for their lunches or for when we go on picnics. It was time to make some again!
Pudding is so incredibly easy to make and the ingredients are likely already in your house. Why would you ever want to buy those nasty pudding cups when you could have them made from scratch and know exactly what is in them?! Okay, they still aren’t “healthy”, but at least there are no mystery ingredients!
Sean is my chocaholic so in his honor I made chocolate pudding, and because I made it on Cinco de Mayo I added cinnamon. It was my mexican twist on the pudding. Frankly, some cayenne pepper would be good too, but I didn’t think Jack would appreciate that!
This recipe will look very familar. It is similar to my chocolate peanut butter pudding. After all, once you have a good basic chocolate recipe why mess with it, there are infinite twists you can put on it and that is what I am doing now!
It is a rich and creamy chocolate pudding with a nice cinnamon flavor. I toned it down a little, the cinnamon was a bit strong when I first made them. I love cinnamon but am not sure everyone is quite as generous with it as I am! I put the pudding in four individual jars and packed it along with black bean quesadillas for the boys Cinco de Mayo dinner at the gym before swim lessons. They certainly enjoyed it, I hope you do too!
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Cinnamon Chocolate Pudding
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 c. 2% milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt together in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan. Add the milk and cream and whisk well. Over a medium heat whisk often and just bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate chips. Return pan to heat and just barely bring to a boil again, it should take less than a minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Pour into 4 bowls, jars, or glasses. Place plastic wrap directly over the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Chill well before serving.
Yields 4 servings
Feeding My 3 Sons 
love how you packaged these–brilliant! Looks and sounds divine. A note on packaged pudding: my oldest convinced me to buy a few packages of the plastic tub stuff as it was on sale. She took one bite of one tub and said I should throw the rest away. Waste of food, yes (though I can give the unopened to a food shelf, right?), but I was proud of her for having good taste! I know she’d flip for your recipe 🙂
It’s good to know kids develop good taste and dislike processed foods! Mine would still gladly eat store bought pudding if I ever got it. They do know homemade tastes better though. I’m hoping someday they will stop settling for anything! The jars, boy I love using them for so many things! I am just starting to make flavored sea salts and they are good for that too. Don’t let me near the canning area of any store! Have a great Mother’s Day!
This looks delicious and it’s even cuter in the little jars! I bet the boys loved it!
Thank you so much. The boys certainly enjoyed it. I love putting puddings in jars, so portable. Great for school lunches and picnics.
What a lovely idea in the jars. I haven’t made ‘Schokopudding’ (as we call it in German) for ages. That will be a surprise treat for dessert tonight. I’ve got a 5 ingredient version on my blog and will go with your idea of the extra chocolate chips 🙂
Looks really delicious, I am going to have to try your recipe! 🙂
Let me know how it goes, hope you enjoy it.
This is great! I can’t wait to do this for my kids. I always feel so guilty when I give them pudding cups. And cayenne pepper = YES PLEASE! I put cayenne and pumpkin pie spice in my mocha every morning. Mayan mocha baby!!
If I liked coffee that would be the way to go!
Ha ha! I can imagine you looking at the other person’s cart and grimacing in awe at the amount of junk food they’re happily pushing around. I love the addition of cinnamon and addition chocolate chips, too. And by the way I also have a lot of basic recipes that I use all the time. Have a pleasant weekend!