Easy & Egg Free Pudding Recipes

Occasionally I have looked at the grocery store for the packaged butterscotch pudding mix that you have to cook.  I haven't been able to find it.  I do find the instant puddings, which I don't like.  I guess demand has just dwindled to the point that they no longer make it, perhaps due to the convenience of prepared puddings in cups.

I LOVE butterscotch pudding.  Chocolate comes in third, after tapioca.  What's strange though is that I like pudding HOT.  Once it's cold I don't like it.  I think I get this from my Dad.  He used to have his pudding, hot or warm, with cream on top.  Not whipped cream, regular cream.  Yum.

Anyway, one day I was looking for a recipe for pudding that I could make without eggs (Journey is allergic) to use as a pie filling.  I found a recipe for "Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding" in the 1976 version of Joy of Cooking.  This particular recipe called for a double boiler set up and a lot of time.  I didn't want to go to all that trouble, but this was the only egg-free recipe I could find. 

I thought about those packaged mixes.... they don't require a double boiler and the cornstarch is already mixed in.  That's why they're so quick and easy.  I figured I could adapt this recipe to work without a double boiler. 

I first made the chocolate version for the pie, then later came up with a butterscotch recipe.  They're both good, but I like the butterscotch best.  Here are the recipes.

Easy Egg Free Chocolate Pudding

In a medium saucepan, mix together:

3 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups milk
1 Tbsp. butter

In a separate cup/bowl, stir together 1/4 cup milk and 3 Tbsp. cornstarch.  Mix well.  Set aside.

Heat cocoa/milk mixture on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, till it comes to a boil.  Pour in the milk/cornstarch mixture.  Stir well.  Bring back to a boil, continue to cook and stir for about 1 minute more.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp. vanilla (optional).   Pour into four bowls.  Makes about four 1/2 cup servings.

Easy Egg Free Butterscotch Pudding

In a medium saucepan, mix together:


1/2 cup BROWN sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups milk
1 Tbsp. butter

In a separate cup/bowl, stir together 1/4 cup milk and 3 Tbsp. cornstarch. Mix well. Set aside.

Heat milk/sugar mixture on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, till it comes to a boil. Pour in the milk/cornstarch mixture. Stir well. Bring back to a boil, continue to cook and stir for about 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Pour into four bowls. Makes about four 1/2 cup servings.