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Light 'n' Easy Chocolate Pudding | ![]() |
A Quick & Low-Calorie Recipe for Chocolate Pudding
Some times, we just gotta-have-chocolate-now but don't want to suffer the consequences. This quick low-calorie chocolate pudding recipe calls for just five pantry ingredients. It's sweet and satisfying but won't ruin your diet.
COMPLIMENTS!
- "... we loved it! Very chocolate-y and delicious ..." ~ Nupur
- "This pudding is excellent ..." ~ Anonymous
- "... so good—creamy and chocolate-y. ... My son loved it!" ~ Donna
- ".. use almond milk and splenda ... still soooo yummy!!!!!!!" ~ Meaghan
- "... great pudding!" ~ Libby
- "HOLY SMOKES! This is FANTASTIC!" ~ Jessica
- "I can't make pudding to save my life, but I made this just fine thanks to your "new cook" tips." ~ Kahana
- Light 'n' Easy Chocolate Pudding Made Both Lists!
- Best Recipes of 2005
- Kitchen Parade’s Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes, just one recipe per year since 2002
Having Our Cake and Eating It Too
Like every modern weight-conscious woman, I want it all. It’s our 21st century version of both having and eating our cake.
Yes, I want to feel and look slim. Yes, I want to feel and be healthy. And I want ALL this – and still enjoy wine with supper and dessert after!
To achieve satisfying weight and health objectives, however, most nights we must, at best, choose between wine and dessert or, at worst, sacrifice both.
LIGHT ‘N’ EASY CHOCOLATE PUDDING helps. More than once, when supper’s seemed a little skimpy, I whip up a batch and within a few minutes, feel indulged and satisfied but know I’m eating virtuously.
The trick is the fat-free but flavorful cocoa powder. Like low-fat buttermilk and egg whites, cocoa powder is an ingredient to seek out in recipes if you, a thoroughly modern woman, or man, watch your weight.
With a winner like this for every day, it’s an easy decision, then, to occasionally splurge on some cream- and egg-rich chocolate mousse.
Or yes, please pass the cake.



About "Alanna-Sizing"
Since starting to write Kitchen Parade in 2002, I've made a concerted effort to make over recipes to make them more healthful.
My friends call it "Alanna-sizing". This is how I do it, you can do it at home, too.
- First I create reasonable portion sizes (yes, they're smaller than has become "normal")
- Then remove unnecessary fat and sugar
- Increase low- or no-calorie ingredients that add bulk and flavor.
It's that simple. And there's no sacrifice because it just tastes so good.
This chocolate pudding is a perfect example. It's not a rich chocolate mousse to serve at a fancy dinner party. (Ha! That said, people lap up every single bite when I do fancy up the pudding a bit to serve for friends and family, often with a little diced banana and a little half & half, sometimes a drizzle of Homemade Chocolate Sauce In-a-Flash. Sooo good!)
But it is one to make every week, fast, simple and satisfying.
I hope you love it!
LIGHT ‘N’ EASY CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Time to table: 25 minutes
Makes 2 servings (may be doubled or tripled)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir together the sugar, cocoa powder and cornstarch in a medium saucepan until thoroughly mixed. Slowly whisk in the milk.
Cook until thick over medium heat, stirring regularly with a whisk or wooden spoon, especially as the mixture gets hot when it's best to stir continuously. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into two small dishes and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to continue the thickening process.












More Recipes for Light Desserts
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~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
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Thanks! I'm always happy to find a new pudding recipe, esp. chocolate. Delicious and light--my kind of dessert.
ReplyDelete1/19/2007
I love pudding and this way I can eat it and not feel guilty. Thanks for that!
ReplyDelete1/20/2007
Susan & Sher ~ Tis lovely yes and even better, no guilt!
ReplyDelete1/20/2007
I can't believe it: what a simple recipe for a rich-looking comforting dessert. I think I will make it sometime this week as an unexpected treat for V.
ReplyDelete1/21/2007
Alanna, I did make this pudding last night, and we loved it! Very chocolate-y and delicious, and it took all of 5 minutes to make in the morning. Perfect weeknight dessert.
ReplyDelete2/15/2007
This pudding is excellent I recommend covering the actual surface of the pudding with plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge to prevent a skin from forming...
ReplyDeleteThis really was so good—creamy and chocolate-y. What I really liked is that the pudding tasted so fresh! My son loved it!
ReplyDeleteI assume evaporated skim milk would also work and maybe even create a creamier consistency without added fat?
This is nearly identical to the chocolate pudding I make -- I just use a little more cornstarch (1 1/2 T) and 2% milk. I cook it on the stovetop or in the microwave. 2 minutes on high, stir, then about another 30 seconds. I cook it in a 4 cup measuring cup then pour into serving dishes. Yum!
ReplyDeleteIf you use Almond milk and splenda you can cut the calories in this recipe in half and its still soooo yummy!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAlanna, this is a great pudding! I like to add a little instant coffee (or Kahlua)--not enough to make it taste like a mocha, but just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this week, I made a large batch (with 5 cups of milk) and poured it into 10 little ramekins to keep in the fridge for the week. The recipe scaled up just fine and the pudding keeps well in the fridge. My husband loves to take one to work with his lunch, and it's a nice sweet something to enjoy after dinner. Thanks for the great recipe!
HOLY SMOKES! This is FANTASTIC! I poured it into 2 bowls. 1 made it to the fridge. I ate the other straightaway. It was like eating the 'guts' from a lava cake! I can see curling up with this and watching the snow fly! (in a few months! It's only October!)
ReplyDeleteThis pudding turned out perfectly, but I did not like it. I'd rather have a 2 pt piece of good chocolate candy.
ReplyDeleteI can't make pudding to save my life, but I made this just fine thanks to your "new cook" tips. The pudding was delicious and was just the way I wanted it; nice and thick and an excellent substitute for icing on a chocolate cupcake! I split it into 4 servings (2oz apiece) for each mini cake. Worked like a charm. I suspect I will be applying another batch to brownies (made with chia seed "eggs" and applesauce) as icing.
ReplyDeletePS. I wonder what it would taste like if you added a tablespoon or so of peanut butter at the end while it was still hot (so as to melt the peanut butter evenly throughout the pudding). Definitely would not be low calorie then!
ReplyDeleteKahana ~ Great news! And such a creative way to use it too! And I adore the peanut butter idea, I’m gonna try that with my 90-year old dad who has a sweet tooth that doesn’t end and loves peanut butter. Thanks for writing!
ReplyDelete