MINI CHOCOLATE PUDDING CUPS

Searching for a recipe to use up the yogurt cheese I made was a dead end. So I made my own recipe, and it turned out great. These mini chocolate pudding cups will be nice to serve at our next party. I froze them and will let you know if I have any trouble with them after they are thawed, but they should be fine. The crust is very tender. Alone it is nothing special -- there is no sugar in the crust. But put it with the chocolate pudding and it comes alive. The pudding and the crust are perfect marriage partners and are truly synergistic. The Half and Half makes the pudding creamier, but using fat free keeps it low-fat. Try this easy recipe and you won't be disappointed.

Mini-Chocolate Pudding Cups

INGREDIENTS: Crust: 1/2 cup pecans

3/4 cup All-Purpose flour (I used White Lily, which is really a pastry flour)

1/4 cup butter

2 Tbsp. yogurt cheese (or cream cheese)

Filling: 1 small package (3-3/4 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix

1-1/2 cups fat-free half and half

Topping: Redi-Whip canned whipped cream

Shaved chocolate or toasted sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS: Place all crust ingredients in work bowl of food processor. Pulse till combined. Put 1-1/2 tsp. crust mix each into wells of mini-muffin pan that have been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray first, pressing crust onto bottom and up sides. You should get about 22 crusts. (I think by increasing the flour about 1/4 cup and the cheese by 1 Tbsp., you could get 24.) Bake at 375 degrees F. for 12-13 minutes, or till lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool in pans for 5 minutes before placing crusts on cooling rack to finish cooling. Crusts are very tender, so handle gently. Give them about 1/2 hour to cool, then make filling.

To make filling: Pour cold fat-free H&H into medium sized bowl. Sprinkle pudding mix on top of H&H. With small rotary beater or hand mixer, whip for 2 minutes till pudding starts to thicken. Let it set for a few minutes, then spoon into crust cups, mounding pudding at top. Place in fridge till serving time. To serve, top each pudding cup with Redi-Whip, then with shaved chocolate or toasted sliced almonds. Please let me know if you make this and what you think of it.