Chocolate pudding is so comforting and evocative of childhood. Learn how to make chocolate pudding with egg yolks, semi-sweet chocolate and milk, making it the easiest and most delicious homemade treat.
Who doesn't have a photo of themselves eating chocolate pudding by the handful as a baby? Well, if you don't you may soon have an adult picture like that!
But, instead of seeing it smeared in your hair, you will want every drop of this lovely homemade version sent right to your taste buds!

Jump to:
The best chocolate pudding recipe
Take a moment if you will and imagine a spoonful of this magic hitting your tongue. Then come back to reality and take in the fact that it could be yours in less than 30 minutes.
Yes!! Oh my goodness it's easier than you think. A one pot dessert that might lead to expressions of love and immense gratitude from all those around you.
Listen, you've probably got all the ingredients in your cupboard (if you're a baker like me). It's just chocolate, sugar, milk, eggs, butter, a pinch of salt and some cornstarch. No fancy instructions, and a few stirs of the spoon.
The chocolate and egg yolks make the pudding silky and thick, and using milk makes it the perfect texture and not too rich.
This is an easy chocolate pudding recipe
Chocolate is of course the operative word here. It's all lusciousness.
The steps for making this classic homemade dessert are super simple.
- Add the cornstarch, sugar, salt, chocolate and milk to a saucepan.
- Stir over heat until chocolate is melted and mixture thickens.
- Whisk some of the mixture into the egg yolks.
- Add everything to the pan, including the butter and cook until just boiling.
What kind of chocolate do you use in pudding?
You could use chocolate chips to make this super easy. But they typically have additives to help solidify the shape and extra ingredients for various other reasons.
I like the pure stuff for pudding. Oh baby this Scharffen Berger chocolate is to die for, and I love that it comes in chunks so it's easy to melt (no chopping) and I can use any extra in my chocolate chip cookies!
Vintage chocolate pudding recipe
This recipe comes from a collection of my friend Susan. Isn't she the cutest thing stirring the pudding in this picture?
She has a vintage recipe collection that's out of this world. You can see a ton of her recipes on her site, A Cake Bakes In Brooklyn. Don't miss her Pecan Cookies posted on TaraTeaspoon as well.
She said: "This recipe really appealed to me because it calls for egg yolks-they give pudding a wonderfully rich texture. It's from an all-dessert collection I bought on eBay, which came in a beautiful wooden box with the name A.E. Peterson etched inside. The recipes date all the way back to 1932."
Make this easy stovetop pudding:
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
- 2½ tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 cups milk
- 2 large egg yolks, (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan combine cornstarch, sugar, salt, chocolate and milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until well combined and mixture has thickened, about 8 min. Reduce heat to medium low and whisk constantly until very thick and smooth, about 18 min.
- Stir a little of the pudding into yolks in a bowl, then add yolk mixture back to pan. Add butter and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 min more
- Serve warm, or divide into small cups and chill before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Speaking of delicious chocolate, try my Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting "smeared" on your favorite cupcake!
And OH! Those Double Chocolate Muffins are a great treat or breakfast.
Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Recipe shared by Susan LaRosa, Photographs Seth Smoot, Food Styling Cyd Raftus McDowell
Originally published LHJ March 2012
Mary Bench
This Chocolate Pudding is to die for! Trust me!
Brittany Smart
Chocolate pudding is a classic! Love this recipe 🙂
Anne Marie Miller
I love chocolate pudding! Can't wait to make this.
Tara
Oh you're going to love it! It's a homemade chocolate experience like our chocolate mousse at Cafe Fiorello!
Moriah
My kiddos love chocolate pudding and they were over the moon excited about this recipe. They'll never eat premade pudding again.
Jay
I had trouble getting this to solidify. I think all the stirring made the temp too low to thicken.
Tara T.
Hi Jay, the pudding won't solidify per se, it will thicken. Both the eggs and cornstarch help with that. The mixture needs to bubble (simmer or boil) in order for either to activate. If you didn't see big slow bubbles forming as you stirred, they would not have been hot enough to activate.
Without seeing your pudding, I'm not sure of other trouble shooting to work on. I hope this helps! Tara