How to make chocolate pudding out of Vanilla mix

Making vanilla pudding mix chocolate!

Ever want Chocolate pudding and only have vanilla mix?

Well, we did, and I had already promised my daughter she could help make a pudding pie which is just not as good with vanilla (in my opinion anyhow). So... We improvised with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. This was an experiment but hey, it was worth it and was a definite hit. The kids ate 2 pieces (sharing) after eating a big supper and for my kids who are not the biggest on sweets to begin with that was allot!

Here is what we did, simple and quick!

1 lg box vanilla instant pudding

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1tbsp powdered sugar

2 1/2c milk

Yep, that's all you need! Mix all the dry ingredients together really well and then mix as the directions on the box tell you too! Now, you may have a great scratch pudding recipe you like to use but for a quick "let the toddler help cook" I love instant pudding and jello it is quick and easy for them to do.

We poured into a chocolate graham cracker crust we made too, you can find the recipe HERE. 

If you prefer, I have also posted a recipe for an original graham cracker crust HERE.

Or, one of my favorites an Oreo/Graham crust, that recipe is HERE

Enjoy... I know a typical pudding pie has whipped cream on it but my daughter really wanted sprinkles!

Graham cracker crust

Graham cracker crust:

2 2/3c Crushed Graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter melted

Mix the graham crumbs and the sugar together in the pie pan. Melt the butter and pour into the crumb mixture in the pan pressing it all together to moisten all of the dry mix. Then, press to the sides of the pan about 1/4inch thick and the to the bottom making sure to press around the edges good. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or if your pie recipe calls for a pre-baked crust you can go ahead and fill and then bake according to the recipe.

We also like to make a chocolate one too you can find that recipe HERE. And for another variation we do oreo/graham crust, who doesn't love that combo? You can find that recipe HERE.

Oreo & Graham cracker pie crust

Oreo and Graham crackers combined in an amazing pie crust?... Ummm, yes please!

2c crushed graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

3/4c crushed oreos (into fine crumbs)

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter, melted

Combine dry ingredients into pie pan, melt butter and then add to dry mixture. Press together to moisten all the dry ingredients. Press to the sides of the pan first and then to the bottom, being sure to press it well to avoid crumbling. Bake at 325 for 15minutes or fill and bake according to pie recipe.

HERE is an original graham cracker crust recipe (my grandmothers very best). 
 And HERE is a chocolate graham cracker variation too. Enjoy!

Chocolate graham cracker crust

Here is a variation of graham crust we enjoy especially with a chocolate pudding pie!

2 2/3c crushed graham crackers (into fine crumbs)

2tbsp cocoa powder

1/4c sugar

3/4 stick butter

Mix dry ingredients well in pie pan, then melt the butter and pour into dry mix. Pressing and mixing together to ensure the dry ingredients are all moistened. Press to the sides of the pan first then to the bottom being sure to press well to avoid crumbling. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or fill and bake according to pie recipe. 

Also, I would like to share our original graham cracker crust HERE and our oreo/graham cracker crust HERE. Enjoy!