Fans of smooth, chocolaty desserts may enjoy chocolate pots de crème or chocolate mousse. Both are delicious but require effort to make and can’t hang around the fridge too long. With these frozen pudding pops you can simply open the freezer anytime for a rich chocolate treat on a stick.

Special equipment: You will need freezer pop molds for this recipe. We used these molds, but any kind will work. If yours don’t come with sticks that attach securely, you can buy wooden sticks and insert them 1 hour into the freezing time.

You will also need an instant-read thermometer for cooking the pudding.

This recipe was featured as part of our Make Your Own Pudding Pops project.

  • Yield: About 10 (2-ounce) pops
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 30 mins, plus about 3 hrs freezing time

Ingredients (7)

  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 cups cold half-and-half
  • 2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Place the chocolate, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir often until the butter and chocolate have melted and the sugar has dissolved, about 6 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, place the half-and-half in a medium bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface. Let stand without disturbing until the gelatin softens, about 3 minutes (it will start to look wavy and wrinkled).
  3. Slowly whisk the gelatin mixture into the chocolate mixture and whisk continuously until smooth and incorporated. Heat, whisking frequently and checking the temperature occasionally on an instant-read thermometer, until the gelatin dissolves and no longer feels grainy, about 10 minutes. (Do not let the mixture boil or go above 170°F, or the gelatin will not set properly.)
  4. Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the vanilla. Remove the small cap from the blender lid (the pour lid) and cover the space with a kitchen towel (this allows steam from the hot mixture to escape and prevents the blender lid from popping off). Blend until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely incorporated, about 15 to 30 seconds.
  5. Divide the mixture among the pop molds and freeze until frozen, about 3 hours. Alternatively, to serve as pudding, divide the mixture among ramekins and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. (To avoid the skin that forms on the surface of pudding, cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and make sure it’s directly touching the pudding.)