Jennifer Garner's Go-To Healthy Dessert Recipe
As a mother-of-three and the co-founder of organic baby food brand Once Upon a Farm, Jennifer Garner seriously cares about what her kids eat. But that doesn't mean her little kiddos have to pass on dessert. By making a simple tweak to a classic recipe, Garner whips up a deliciously healthy dessert in no time.
What's even better is that her post-supper treat is "the easiest" to make and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen. "Today we're talking pudding, people," the actress shared on her Instagram. "Basic, delicious chocolate pudding. It's easy to make, relatively healthy, and you will absolutely love it. Your kids will love it."
In a quick and super entertaining video post (seriously, you have to watch this), Garner demonstrates how to make her favorite chocolate pudding recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
She starts off by combining the cornstarch with sugar and salt in a saucepan, admitting that she doesn't use quite a half-cup of sugar. (We're also fans of low-sugar snacks here at Eat This, Not That!)
Then, she whisks in the milk, humorously advising her followers to make sure all the cornstarch lumps are freed from the pan's corners. Jen then consults her pet dog about what the next step is before moving onto stirring in the milk slowly. (Her canine clearly gives good advice.)
After the milky mixture has thickened, Jennifer tosses in chocolate chips, thoroughly folds it all together, and then strains the blend—an optional step that you may want to spend a few extra minutes doing if you want lump-free pudding. If you're lactose intolerant or just dairy-averse, Garner encourages experimenting with different plant-based milks to find your perfect combo.
And that's where the Insta video ends. If you want to see the glorious results of all that whisking, her tutorial continues on her Facebook page. Here's what goes down: In an ode to Ina Garten, Jennifer adds vanilla extract to the mix to enhance the chocolate's flavor notes. She then transfers the batch into ramekins and shares a pro tip: "If you dislike pudding skin (🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️): put plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating," adding that the dessert will take two to three hours to fully set. And we think that's definitely worth a no-bake cocoa indulgence.
