Pudding is comfort. Pudding is simple. Pudding is just that, nothing but pudding. And if you add some graham cracker crumble, well you got yourself a pudding parfait. And a pudding party of sorts, if you need one.
Now do you, like me, think about grade school when you see pudding? Or how about Billy Madison. Oh hell yeah, definitely watching Billy Madison, in grade school, with a snack pack. HA. Those were some days right there. And with all the littles being homeschooled these crazy days, I figured why not bring in a bit of the grade school feeling into the routine and make some pudding for an after lunch or after “school” snack. For the routine purposes and also as a form of a bribe. Yes. You can bribe your children with pudding. Or your partner. The mr got his pudding too, just after he dealt with the recycling on the porch.
And plus. Oat milk. You got a stash? Yeah? Well use it in this pudding. It will make you glad you panicked bought 10 cartons and hid them under your mattress. Right next to all the canned beans of course.
Now to the pudding!
The stuff. Oat milk (use any milk you want or have), cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, brewed coffee (optional), vanilla extract, graham crackers, coconut oil, and a little salt.
Start with a pot. Mix in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and corn starch, and pinch of salt. Add in a little milk and coffee if using and mix around until its a thick paste and everything is incorporated.
Now add in the rest of the milk and place on medium heat on the stove. Heat up for about 3ish minutes and once it starts get hot and you see a bubble or two, start whiskingand don’t stop. Whisk all around pot, all over the bottom, so no spot start to burn. Whisk whisk whisk, until it thickens to pudding consistency. Should take 3-5 minutes.
Once thick and pudding like turn heat off and add in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Whisk until completely melted and incorporated.
Silky and smooth. Hot pudding.
Pour the pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge to set. 1- 2 hours.
In the meantime, graham cracker crumble. Smash up the crackers into a bowl, (big chunks are good) and add in the melted coconut oil and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Mix around until evenly incorporated
Dump the crumbs onto a baking sheet and stick into the oven to toast up for about 10 minutes.
And now you assemble. Graham crumble on a vessel, topped with pudding, more crumble, and whatever whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream situation you might want to top it with.
Pudding. All for you to eat.
-C
Chocolate Pudding Pie Parfaits
make 4-6 serving
2 cups oat milk (can use any milk you have on hand)
1/3 packed cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional but makes it a little more deep and chocolatey)
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Graham Cracker Crumble
6 full sheets of package of graham crackers
2 tablespoon melted coconut oil or vegan butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
In a medium size pot mix together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Add in the coffee if using, and about 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is kind of pasty. Place pot on stove on medium heat and add in the rest of the milk . Let mixture heat up for a few minutes and once it starts to warm, start whisking. Whisk consistency until the mixture heats up and thickens to a pretty thick pudding consistency. Remove from heat, add in the chocolate chips and vanilla and keep whisking until the chocolate completely melts it.
Pour pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge. 1-2 hours to cool and set.
In the meantime make the graham cracker crumble. Preheat oven to 350. Crush up crackers into a bowl (some big chunks are good) and mix in the brown sugar and melted coconut oil. Mix around until the crumbs are evenly moisten. Dump the crumble onto a baking sheet and place into oven for about 10 minutes or until the crumble is a nice deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once the pudding is set and the crumble is toasted, it is time to assemble. Scoop some crumble into a bowl or jar, add in some pudding, then top with more crumble. If you want, top with a dollop of something creamy like whipped cream, yogurt, or even ice cream.
Eat.
IF there is pudding and crumble left over, store the pudding I the fridge (will last a few days) and the crumble separately at room temperature in a airtight container.