Chocolate Wonder

I hope everybody had a wonderful and merry christmas! We had a very relaxing and quiet christmas this year, we missed our family and friends like crazy but we still had a good time just the 3 of us.  We drank lots of hot cocoa, watched lots of christmas movies and had a HUGE feast on christmas.  We have been eating leftovers ever since and will continue to eat ham for awhile longer :)

This dessert goes way back in my family and my husbands family.  It is such an easy dessert to throw together and it is always a crowd pleaser.  I normally top the dessert with chocolate shavings (but The Hubs had a hayday making all sorts of different kinds of Smore's and used up all my chocolate bar. A story for another time :) so I opted for these delicious cadbury mini jingle bells. I must say they still got the job done.

Recipe:

For the Crust:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick softened)

1 cup flour

1/4 cup Walnuts (chopped into small pieces)

For the Cream Filling:

1 (8oz) cream cheese (softened)

1 cup powder sugar

1 cup cool whip

For the Pudding Layer:

2 (4oz) boxes of Instant chocolate pudding

4 cups of cold milk

For the Topping:

1 (8oz) container of Cool Whip 

Chocolate Shavings or any sort of chocolate candy (you can use holiday assorted candies to make it festive)

Or chopped up walnuts

Soften the stick of butter in a medium bowl, then mix in the cup of flour and chopped nuts till well incorporated.  Press firmly into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at *350 for 10-13 minutes.  Let cool completely before topping.
Next, soften the cream cheese (I put mine in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds) then using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese till smooth.  Mix in the cup of powdered sugar. Fold in the cool whip.  Spoon the filling over the crust and smooth with a spatula till even. 
In a large bowl, mix together the pudding packets and milk and whisk together for 2-3 minutes then allow the pudding to set up about 5 minutes in the fridge.  Layer the pudding over the cream cheese mixture and smooth with a spatula.
Lastly, I top the pudding with the cool whip and chocolate shavings right before I serve it.  Allow the dish to set up in the refridgerator a couple of hours before serving. Enjoy!

(SIDENOTE: YOU CAN SUBSTITUE THE CHOCOLATE PUDDING FOR BANANA PUDDING AND ADD A LAYER OF FRESH BANANAS INBETWEEN THE CREAM AND PUDDING LAYERS)