This homemade chocolate pudding recipe uses cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate for a supremely rich flavor. It’s creamy, delicious, and easy to make from scratch!
Despite my love of baking, one of my favorite desserts requires no baking at all: homemade chocolate pudding. If you’ve never made chocolate pudding from scratch, I assure you this rich, creamy, and EASY concoction is one of the dessert world’s best simple pleasures!
Reasons to Love This Chocolate Pudding Recipe
- Better than a box. Chocolate pudding is a fairly quick recipe that’s quite easy to master. Once you do, you’ll never want to make pudding out of a box again. For a rich, luxuriously creamy pudding, it simply has to be homemade.
- Two types of chocolate. My pudding recipe uses cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate for the utmost fudgy, chocolatey flavor. It’s unmatched!
- Easy to make. Making chocolate pudding is actually very simple, so it’s really the kind of recipe that relies on quality ingredients and the right technique. Luckily, both of these are more than within reach! I’ll walk you through just how easy it is.
What You’ll Need
While instant pudding is convenient, it has nothing on from-scratch pudding when it comes to taste and texture. These are some notes on the important ingredients you’ll need to make this pudding recipe happen. Scroll down to the recipe card to find the printable ingredients list with quantities and recipe instructions.
- Granulated sugar – You could also use light brown sugar.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Be sure to use cocoa powder, not hot cocoa mix.
- Cornstarch – Used as a thickener.
- Salt – A bit of salt helps bring balance to the recipe.
- Milk – Choose milk with a higher fat content for a creamier pudding. See below.
- Bittersweet chocolate – Bittersweet chocolate typically contains 50 to 60 percent cacao, although some brands may have as little as 35 percent. The higher the cacao, the darker the chocolate.
- Vanilla extract – Store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.
- Unsalted butter – I like to use unsalted butter. See my guide on unsalted vs. salted butter in baking.
What Milk Is Best for Pudding?
Whole milk is best for pudding. You’ll get the thickest, creamiest texture by using whole milk instead of a variety with lower fat content or a dairy-free alternative.
How to Make Chocolate Pudding
If I have one complaint about making pudding, it’s that it needs to chill for a couple of hours before you eat it. There’s no chance of instant gratification, but just plan ahead a bit and soon enough you’ll be enjoying a bowl of amazing chocolate goodness. Follow the steps below, and scroll to the recipe card for printable instructions.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Stir together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy saucepan.
- Add milk. Set the saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat. Pour in about 1/2 cup of milk and whisk to combine.
- Bring to a boil. Slowly pour in the remaining milk and continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture just starts to boil. Continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla until it all melts together.
- Chill. Transfer the pudding to a medium bowl or divide into individual servings using glasses, ramekins, or your choice of serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
How Long Does Homemade Pudding Take to Set?
Pudding should take about 2 hours to set, although this depends on the temperature of your refrigerator and the portion size. Smaller ramekins of pudding will take less time to set than one big bowl.
Tips for Success
- Prep your ingredients. Have everything measured and ready to go before you start. The culinary term for this is “mise en place”, which simply means putting in place. It’s a good habit for all of your baking and cooking, but it’s especially important here. Having all your ingredients and equipment ready makes the process go much more smoothly.
- Use high quality chocolate. Long-time followers of Bake or Break will know my staunch stance on quality ingredients, especially chocolate. This pudding has both cocoa powder and solid chocolate. Your pudding will only be as good as the chocolate you put into it. With the flavor focus being so heavily on chocolate, this is the time to break out the good stuff.
- Love pudding skin? It’s certainly not everyone’s thing, but if you have fond childhood memories of relishing that “skin” that forms on the top of pudding, you can loosely cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap instead of pressing the plastic onto the surface of the pudding.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve your double chocolate pudding as-is, or garnished with a dollop of vanilla bean whipped cream and chocolate shavings. It’s also delicious topped with fresh raspberries or strawberries when they’re in season, or raspberry coulis. You can also dust the whipped cream with cocoa powder, espresso powder, or even a bit of cinnamon. Or, give it a drizzle with caramel sauce or hot fudge sauce!
How to Store
- Keep refrigerated. Store this homemade chocolate pudding covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze. You can freeze your chocolate pudding in a pinch, but note that the texture may change upon thawing, so it’s not ideal. To freeze, wrap the pudding tightly or place it in a freezer bag and store it for up to 2 months; thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
More Custard and Pudding Recipes
Chocolate Pudding
This homemade chocolate pudding recipe is made with cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate for a supremely rich flavor. It's ultra-creamy and so easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (473ml) milk
- 4 ounces (113g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Stir to combine.
- Place the saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat. Add about 1/2 cup of milk. Whisk to combine with the sugar mixture.
- Gradually add the remaining milk and continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture has thickened.
- Remove the pan from heat. Add the chocolate, butter, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, placing the wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Serve with sweetened vanilla bean whipped cream if desired.
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24 Comments on “Double Chocolate Pudding”
Whoa….it has been WAY too long since I’ve had pudding! And this recipe looks like the perfect, luscious, chocolatey way to break that dry spell!
You hit on one of my favorite eating desserts…pudding. This one looks awesome and easy. Thanks for the tips!
I agree with Kayle – it’s been way to long since I made pudding – and I LOVE pudding! This looks incredibly yummy, thanks for sharing!
OK, who doesn’t like dark chocolate thanks Jen.
A few options if you dare..Try inserting a pieces or two of dark chocolate inside the pudding for a little extra surprise a tip I learned from Darden.
I also use almond extract been pondering almond liqueur next time around as I’m a risk taker instead of the vanilla or hey try them both as almond and chocolate compliment each and for some reason it makes people smile.
Tom, I actually love using liqueurs in chocolate pudding! A hazelnut liqueur is just amazing.
If you sub with liqueur is it the same amount as the vanilla?
Hi, Janelle. I’d start with a tablespoon and adjust from there if needed.
I love chocolate pudding! This looks fantastic 🙂
Pudding is awesome, tapioca is my favorite but chocolate is definitely one of my favorites too! 🙂
As usual great recipe! Now if only I can resist for 2 hours while it cools…
Chocolate pudding is one of my absolute favorite treats! It is the ultimate comfort food to me. Love this homemade version!
I’ve been on a pudding bender lately, this recipe looks like it will be made next on my stovetop!
This is the best!! I made it yesterday using Callebaut 55% cocoa chocolate. I make candy and this is my go to chocolate. I used the pudding and some broken macaron shells to build individual trifles in wee glass jars. Soooooo good!! Here’s a tip: don’t wait until the pudding is chilled to build the trifles. The hot pudding macerated the macaron shells in less than an hour. This way you don’t have to wait until the next day to eat it! Not that I could have waited that long anyway…..
Thanks, Jennifer for the excellent recipe!!
I love making chocolate pudding from scratch. It makes me feel like I’ve gone back in time.
Chocolate mousse and chocolate pudding are definitely 2 of my faves! Love that this has both cocoa and melted chocolate!
Made this today and it didn’t set up! Followed advice online about reheating it! Hoping that works…..good flavor though!!
Put unset pudding back in saucepan and heated back up with low heat and some stirring until I noticed it thickening!!!! It worked. Great flavor
My favorite food! Does this work with non-dairy milk option (I’m allergic to milk)? Can it work with rice dream?
I’ve never used Rice Dream, so I can’t give you a definitive answer. I would be hesitant to use it because of the large amount of milk in this recipe. But again, I have never used it and am not familiar with how well it serves as a substitute.
I used Silk Soymilk and it seems fine. Funny that people were talking about liqueur — I was out of vanilla extract and used Baileys Salted Caramel liqueur instead. I may never buy vanilla again!
Salted caramel liqueur?!? Sounds amazing!
Looks great! I will try it for sure
Please list some quality brands ok. Of cocoa powder and semisweet dark chocolate. i don’t have clue what are some of the quality brands. Thanks.
Hi, Gayle. There are lots out there, but some of my favorites are Guittard, Ghirardelli, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, and Callebaut.