More Pudding, Please...

     I love pudding!  Whether chocolate, vanilla or banana, this simple fare is one of my favorite dessert categories.  And I do not consider the stuff that comes in plastic cups as pudding.  (Seriously, I challenge you to eat brown -chocolate?- and white -vanilla?- blindfolded and see if you can taste any real difference!)  My mom often made "just" pudding when she didn't want to fuss with making a pie shell for a cream pie.  It wasn't until I made banana pudding myself that I understood that the banana flavor came only from the sliced bananas!  

     For the first 20 years or so of making pudding I used the same technique as my mom which entailed cooking the milk mixture and tempering the egg (or yolks).  A decade or more ago I switched to a streamlined version that starts milk and egg out together and more recently, I've also tried to streamline the fat and calories, too.  Of course the original with more butter and egg yolks tastes the best but I am willing to compromise in order to enjoy pudding without breaking my Points Plus bank.  If you are a Jell-O pudding person, well, you've probably stopped reading already!

Vanilla pudding with summer berries.

Vanilla Pudding

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup Egg Beaters (or an egg - add an extra PP)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

 Putting it Together: 

     In your saucepan whisk together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl whisk together Egg Beaters and milk (if using an egg, beat it until there are no clumps of white -those turn into bits of cooked egg white in your pudding).  Set out butter and vanilla.

I use a coated whisk to stir the pudding in my non-stick saucepan.

    Pour about a 1/4 cup of the milk-egg mixture into the combined dry ingredients and whisk out any lumps.  When smooth, whisk in the remaining mixture and place over medium-high heat.  Stir/whisk constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles which usually takes me about 10-15 minutes.  

Thickening and and ready to come to a boil.

     You can tell the pudding is getting close to done when you tilt your pan and see that the bottom looks coated - keep up the stirring!  Turn down the heat and cook for one minute after it comes to the boil - and beware of pudding explosions!   

Butter and vanilla go in once the pudding is done and off the heat.

      Add butter and vanilla, stir to combine.  Pour into dessert bowls over sliced bananas or fruit, if desired.  I chose to pour the cooked pudding into one large bowl so that I could have berries one night and bananas another.  I knew the berries would release juices and I did not want the pudding to get watery.  To keep a pudding "skin" from forming press plastic wrap directly onto the pudding's surface.  

Plastic wrap pressed on the surface right after cooking prevents pudding "skin" from forming.

     Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder estimated a total of 15 Plus Points for the entire recipe.  Divided into 5 approximately 1/2 cup servings would  give each serving a PP value of 3; divided into 7 approximately 1/3 cups servings (which was plenty over the berries) would be a value of 2 PP each.  If you are not concerned with counting Points I would recommend not using fat free milk, I would use a whole egg or two yolks and double the butter.  But for me this recipe is a compromise I can live with and enjoy.

Banana pudding, a family favorite.