Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Like most kids of the 70's and 80's, I grew up eating Jell-O pudding from the box. I do believe my mom had to actually cook it, though.  We loved chocolate pudding and I still remember the little Tupperware bowls with lids that she'd put the pudding in for dessert later.

While I haven't actually looked at the ingredient list of a Jell-O pudding box in ages, I'm fairly certain it's not a whole foods, whole living kind of list.  I was also pretty certain that homemade pudding could not be that hard to make.

With the idea of making our own "pudding pops", the newly turned 5 year old donned her brand-new Star Wars apron from Aunt Mimi and we set to work.  The texture of this pudding is a bit different from the boxed stuff, but my kids don't seem to care (probably because I've never made the boxed stuff for them).

I don't know where she gets these poses from!

(Arrowroot powder is a substitution for corn starch. You could probably use corn starch, but I haven't tried it. I do, however, substitute arrowroot for corn starch all the time.)

Homemade Chocolate Pudding
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sucanat
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons butter

In a medium saucepan whisk together milk, sucanat, egg yolks, arrowroot and cocoa powders and salt.  STIRRING CONSTANTLY, heat over medium heat just until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth and creamy (mine had some texture at first, but keep stirring and they'll go away!). Add butter and vanilla and mix.  Serve warm, chilled, or frozen.

Recipe from Heavenly Homemakers.