velvety vanilla pudding

3 Pinches 1 Photo
Snellville, GA
Updated on Oct 10, 2025

I cook pudding in an unconventional way. It always turns out smooth and velvety, no matter which flavor. The number of servings depends on the serving size. "Normal" serving size will probably yield 8. My wife's and my servings are... bigger. We get 4. :-)

prep time
cook time
method Stove Top
yield

Ingredients

  • 6 cups milk
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup white sugar, or more/less to taste
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons butter (no margarine!)

How To Make velvety vanilla pudding

  • Step 1
    In a 3-qt saucepan, combine sugar, corn starch, and salt. Pour in 4 cups of milk. In the measuring cup, whisk egg yolks into the remaining 2 cups of milk, and add to the saucepan.
  • Step 2
    Turn the heat to medium, and whisk the mixture to dissolve the sugar. As you are whisking, if you see tiny bits of egg floating, as eggs don't always completely mix into milk, remove them with a fine sieve (I use a tea strainer.)
  • Step 3
    Continue to cook and stir until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. If it starts to boil, remove from the heat immediately.
  • Step 4
    After removing from the heat, whisk or stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into serving bowls and chill, if desired. My wife likes it warm.
  • Step 5
    This is a good basic pudding recipe. You can vary the flavor by using different extracts, citrus zests, spices, and crumbled cookies (when stirring in butter and extracts). Be creative! I put vanilla wafers on the bottom of each bowl before pouring this time. Add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder with the other dry ingredients for chocolate.

Discover More

Category: Puddings
Ingredient: Dairy
Culture: American
Method: Stove Top

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