Homemade Chocolate Pudding & Pie Filling

Skip the boxed pudding mix and make your own. This dry chocolate pudding mix uses just four pantry ingredients: unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisked together and stored in a sealed container, it keeps for three to four months and is ready to go whenever a chocolate craving hits.

The cornstarch is what thickens the pudding when you cook it with milk. The ratio here produces a filling thick enough to set in a pie shell or soft enough to spoon into bowls, depending on how long you cook it down. More cocoa than a typical store-bought mix means the chocolate flavor is deeper and more intense.

Making your own mix also means you control the sweetness and can use high-quality cocoa, which makes a genuine difference in the finished pudding.

Kitchen Tips

• Sift the cocoa before measuring. Cocoa clumps easily, and unsifted cocoa throws off the ratio.
• Whisk the dry ingredients thoroughly so the cocoa, sugar, and cornstarch distribute evenly. Uneven mixing leads to lumpy pudding.
• When cooking, whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Cornstarch can settle and scorch on the bottom if you walk away.
• Label your container with the date. The mix is good for 3-4 months, but the cocoa gradually loses potency after that.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of instant espresso powder to the mix for a mocha version.
• Stir in a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne for a Mexican hot chocolate-style pudding.
• Use this mix as a base for chocolate pie filling: cook it down thicker, pour into a baked crust, and chill until set.