Chocolate Delight

The name of this dessert sure puts a tag on its age. Yep, its been around for decades. There was a time when adding the word “delight” to a recipe title was quite common; a quaint term, don’t you think?

Chocolate Delight made appearances at many of our various holiday dinners when I was growing up. It especially showed up a lot at our Easter dinners. I would always eat my piece slowly so that I could make it last as long as possible. Only one piece per person if you sat at the kid’s table. In our personal opinion, the adults were savages when we saw them getting seconds on dessert.

As you can see from the recipe, this dessert has four layers. The bottom layer is essentially a shortbread-style crust. I could eat it all by itself – I LOVE shortbread and more shortbread!

The next layer up is a mixture of cream cheese (oy!), Cool Whip, and powdered sugar. Again, what’s not to love?

And then there’s the chocolate pudding layer. This is the easy, no-cook style pudding – oh, yes. The wonderful thing about the pudding layer is that it can be changed according to your favorite flavor. Here are some options:

• lemon pudding with some lemon zest in the cream cheese layer and a maybe some more lemon zest on top for color
• butterscotch pudding with chocolate shavings on top instead of the pecans
• banana pudding with toasted coconut sprinkled on top instead of the pecans

That last pure white layer on top? Well, that’s just Cool Whip. It can be dressed up with toasted pecan pieces or shaved chocolate or whatever else makes your mouth water.

Now go forth, and make this for people who love you or maybe for people whom you want to love you. Trust me, they’ll love you. 🙂

Print Recipe

Chocolate Delight

Layers of cream cheese, chocolate pudding and whipped topping have made this vintage dessert a family favorite for generations. 

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Refrigerate1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 15

Author: Terri @ that's some good cookin'

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans + more for garnish

For the Cream Cheese Layer

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 12 ounce container Cool Whip, divided

For the Pudding Layer

• 2 3 1/2 ounce packages instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3 cups milk

Top Layer

• remainder of Cool Whip from the 2nd layer
• remainder of pecans from the crust

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

For the Crust:

• Mix chopped nuts, flour, and melted butter. Press evenly into the bottom of a 9- x 13-inch baking dish or pan.
• Bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees, take out and cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Layer

• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
• Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip. Spread on cool crust.

For the Pudding Layer

• Mix chocolate pudding with milk.
• Beat for 2 minutes until smooth and beginning to thicken. Spread on top of the second layer. Return to refrigerator and allow to set for 20-30 minutes. This gives the pudding layer time to thicken and soft set.

For the Top Layer

• Top with remaining Cool Whip, and sprinkle with nuts on top.
• Cover and return to refrigerator. Allow to chill at least 1 hour before serving.
• For serving, slice into approximately 15 squares, depending on desired serving size. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Notes

Use any pudding flavor of choice for the pudding layer. Chocolate was the original pudding flavor, but butterscotch would also be a great flavor. Avoid vanilla because it doesn't carry enough flavor diversity from the other ingredients.