Homemade Chocolate Pudding

I made pudding today for dessert. And I don't mean Jell-O brand either. I did a search, and most of them required a double boiler and/or a sieve. I didn't feel like dealing with that. I found this recipe through a printout I had from the Alabama Cooperative Extension and it can be found here: Weekly Menu Ideas for the Family . It was very easy and tasty. And the pdf has a lot of easy recipes, btw- nothing fancy.

Chocolate Pudding

1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp sugar
dash of salt
1 cup nofat dry milk
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 egg, well beaten
2 cups water
2 Tbsp margarine (I used butter)

Combine sugar, flour, salt, dry milk, and cocoa in saucepan. Stir until well blended. Combine beaten egg and water. Gradually add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring as you add. Continue stirring until thoroughly mixed. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add margarine and stir until melted. Cover to prevent a tough surface from forming. Chill.

Serves 4.

The success of tonight's pudding makes me want to try these:

Vanilla Pudding Mix

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Stir the ingredients together until well mixed. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place. Makes enough mix for 24 servings.

Variations:
Chocolate Pudding Mix - Add 3/4 cup cocoa and 1/4 cup more sugar to above ingredients before stirring.
Caramel Pudding Mix- Substitute 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar for granulated sugar.

To Make Pudding (from Mix)

1 1/4 cups pudding mix
2 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
1 egg, beaten

Combine mix with water in top of double boiler. Place over boiling water and cook
until thickened, stirring constantly. Cover and cook 5 minutes longer. Add the butter or margarine. Remove from heat and beat half of the hot mixture into the egg. Blend slowly into the remaining hot mixture. Cook over hot water for 1 minute. Stir in vanilla and chill. Serves six.

These recipes came from Ohio State Co-Op Ext.

The thing with the newer recipes is the fact that they call for a double boiler and I wonder if I could just cook as I did tonight's without any ill effects. And looking around the net (mostly from astray) I have a few more variations I could add:

To make chocolate without having to make a whole chocolate mix: Add 3 Tbsp to the vanilla when I make it
Rice Pudding: Add 2 cups cooked rice into cooked vanilla pudding. Add raisins and nutmeg if desired
Peanut butter: Add 1/3 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup chopped peanuts to hot prepared vanilla pudding and chocolate chips when it's cooled if desired
Coconut, Banana and any other fruit: Add 1/2-1 cup fruit to prepared vanilla pudding before chilling - can add extract in place of vanilla too.

All of these recipes with flour make me wonder about the ones with cornstarch instead of flour. I imagine the ones with cornstarch would be a bit clearer and not quite so gummy and I guess I'll be trying those too. The big thing with these is that it calls for milk when you make them so you are getting a double dose of calcium (not that you couldn't use milk to make the flour ones) and they don't call for a double boiler. There's also no egg. So - just so I'll have them in one place:

Vanilla Pudding Mix

3 cups nonfat dry milk
4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all except the vanilla, and store in an airtight container. To prepare, mix 1/2 cup of mix to 2 cups milk. Heat and stir constantly while boiling. Cool, then add 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Chocolate Pudding Mix

2 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
5 cups sugar
3 cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa

Mix and store in airtight container. To prepare, add 2/3 cup mix to 2 cups milk. Heat and stir constantly while boiling. Cool, then serve.

Coconut Cream Pudding Mix

3 cups nonfat dry milk
4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups cornstarch
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Mix the extract and the shredded coconut in a small bowl until the extract is absorbed. Add the coconut to the other ingredients and store in airtight container. To prepare, add 2/3 cup mix to 2 cups milk. Heat and stir constantly while boiling. Cool, then serve.

Butterscotch Pudding Mix

2 cups nonfat dry milk
5 cups brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups cornstarch

Mix and store in airtight container. To prepare, add 1/2 cup mix to 2 cups milk. Heat and stir constantly while boiling. Cool, then serve.