Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Okay, I know I've said it a zillion times before, but I am going to say it again......"This is one of my favorite recipes". I guess I have a lot of favorites, when it comes to cooking. This too, is one of my recipes that has a formula which allows you to make variations in order to suit your own personal tastes and dietary requirements. If you're not a fan of chocolate pudding, why not turn this into Vanilla Pudding??.........Simply omit the cocoa and reduce the sugar to 3/4 of a cup. How about giving your Vanilla Pudding a boost or two??.........add a cup of Coconut with the dry ingredients and turn it into Coconut Cream Pudding. Anybody up for some Creamy Rice Pudding?? Just stir a Cup of cooked, white rice into your Vanilla pudding when you remove it from the stove.

If you have to reduce your fat intake, simply use skim milk and leave out the egg yolks. On the flip side, if you have to increase your fat intake use milk with a high fat content and 4 or 5 egg yolks.

The sugar is something you can make adjustments to as well, to suit your personal needs. Honey works great in place of the sugar in this recipe.

If you have kids who don't care much for milk, this is a great way to get some milk into them. Decorate your pudding and make it fun........add whipped cream with sprinkles, or grated chocolate, or chopped nuts, mini M&M's, toasted coconut, slices of fresh banana, etc. The sky's the limit.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Yield: six servings

3 Cups of Milk (Skim, 2%, Whole, Soy, Almond, Goats, etc.)

1/2 to 1 Cup of Sugar or Honey

1/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour

4 Tablespoons of Cocoa

1/4 teaspoon of Salt (May be omitted if you like)

3 Egg Yolks Beaten and Tempered

2 Tablespoons of Butter or Margarine

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

Blend sugar, flour, salt and cocoa together in a large saucepan. Stir in one cup of cool milk. Blend until smooth. gradually stir in the remaining two cups of milk which has been scalded.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken. Temper beaten egg yolks and add to pudding. Continue stirring until mixture is thickened. remove from heat. Stir in Vanilla and butter.

Please watch video demonstration for more complete instructions. Enjoy!