This quite possibly could be:
- The easiest dessert in the world to make.
- The best dessert in the world to eat.
- A crowd pleaser EVERY time.
- A substitute for birthday cake (if you're my youngest son, per his request).
To prove #1 above, I offer the recipe:
I scribbled the recipe on a Post It note & it's been attached to the inside pocket of my tattered recipe book for about 18 years!
It doesn't sound like it would be that spectacular. I mean, come on…pudding and Cool Whip? But EVERY time I make it, I'm asked for the recipe and no one believes it's as simple as it is.
Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Ingredients:
- 2 pkgs French Vanilla Jell-O Pudding
- 8 ounces Cool Whip (okay to use more 🙂 )
- 3 cups milk
- Almost a whole box of graham crackers
Mix together the pudding and milk; then gently stir in the Cool Whip. Using an ungreased 9×12 glass casserole dish, line the bottom with graham crackers; evenly pour half the pudding mixture over them. Add another layer of graham crackers then the remainder of the pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.
Clearly, this is a "forgiving" recipe…you just slop in everything and it magically binds together into pure unadulterated deliciocity.
The final layer, prior to adding chocolate topping.
Note: Use any recipe for the chocolate topping–even canned if you're in a hurry–but the following is what I always use:
- 2 squares bakers chocolate, melted
- 2 Tblsp butter, melted
- 2 Tblsp corn syrup
- 1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
- 2-3 Tblsp milk
Mix together, then spread over top layer of grahams.
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP: Refrigerated at least 8 hours before serving or the graham crackers will be too crunchy; which would be a culinary catastrophe and we can't have that on MY watch!
Enjoy~
Your turn: If you have an easier/best-i-er recipe you're willing to share, please leave a link or the recipe itself in comments…it can even be an archived post, just as long as it's yummy!
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This is one of our absolute favorites!
Wow…it looks so pretty when it’s all set up! I’ll have to give this a try!
Thanks for sharing – but now I want a big ol’ piece for breakfast! 🙂
MMmm. My cousin makes that for holidays and it’s soo good!
Here are a few embarassingly simple things I make often:
Party Food
I love this! My aunt gave me the recipe years ago and it’s always a hit!
Ok. I have one that’s even easier. And you won’t BELIEVE the comments, ooh’s, ahh’s, and NO WAY’s that you’ll get when people eat it.
It doesn’t even have a name. It’s a dip for strawberries, but I much prefer a bowl and a spoon. KIDDING. Sorta.
Ingredients:
1 LARGE container Coolwhip
1 KING SIZED Butterfinger (or 2 regular sized ones)
Put Butterfinger in a Ziploc bag and hit it with something (can good, hammer, rolling pin…) to crush it. Don’t use your hands b/c 1) it’s too hard and 2) the chocolate will melt. Then mix the crushed Butterfinger into the Coolwhip and refrigerate overnight.
The flavors will “marry” overnight and you won’t be able to tell it’s a Butterfinger. People will RAVE over it but won’t know what it is! When you put it on strawberries, it could be considered a religious experience. 🙂
Try it. You won’t believe it.
My in-laws make a similar cake (in our family called “No-Bake Eclair Cake” or, more often, “Cracker Casserole”) but they use saltines rather than graham crackers. The saltiness of the crackers is completely gone by morning. Yum!
I looove this dessert – and you’re right, it’s so easy! I always use canned frosting, which makes it crazy fast and simple. But, still…YUM!!!
We have been making this recipe for 16 years. It is our favorite dessert. I could easily eat the whole pan myself, but I don’t. I was at Tasty Kitchen today and someone posted it on there with only 2 cups of milk, the cool whip, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. I would think the powdered sugar would make it way too sweet. Oh Lord, I could go for a piece of this right now! Salivating….
Might I add, as you said, it has to be refrigerated for hours before eating. We always make it a day ahead, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
we’ve been making this recipe for a few years now and we love it. two things we have found is that you can NOT cheat and use generic in this recipe. You really have to use the Honeymaid crackers and Coolwhip. Makes a huge difference.
Also, I use a can of chocolate frosting and microwave it for less than 30 seconds. Then I can just pour it on and refrigerate.
This is one of those “somebody please hide this for me” desserts. I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I cannot make it often – I’d be in sooooo much trouble!
Can’t wait to try this out!
Here are a couple of my favorite easy recipes:
Strawberry Slushies
Mix frozen strawberries (~1 cup) with Sprite (~ 1/2 can) in a blender. Adjust the amount of strawberries and Sprite until you get the consistency you like. (And I use diet Sprite so that it’s a low cal treat as well.) My kids LOVE this on hot summer days.
Thai Salmon
Mix 3 tablespoons Thai peanut sauce and 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce. Brush on salmon and bake or grill, basting occasionally. Very yummy and very, very easy.
YUM! Going to put one of these together TONIGHT!
A dessert with an 8 hour wait time is definitely cruel & unusual punishment!
Thanks for sharing. This looks wonderful.
Reminds me of a very simple Tiramisu recipe….which I haven’t made in a while
I have been making that same thing for over 20 years. It’s FANTASTIC!
Another yummy way to enjoy it??
Put it in the freezer until just frozen…..it is amazing!
You’re gonna love it!
oh, yum. I can see dressing it up for our Chocolate Weekend in Feb. and watching the guests swoon.
This looks great, I will have to try it.
My simple, go-to recipe is for Ramen Noodle Frittata (which is funny because I don’t like eggs or Ramen noodles, but I like this): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ramen-Noodle-Frittata/Detail.aspx
I have added shredded or diced chicken if I have it and I don’t try to turn it over in the skillet (well, I tried to once, but it wasn’t pretty). Instead, I use a cast iron skillet and simply put it under the broiler to firm up the top. This is a great meal with a salad and would be even better with this dessert! LOL Less than 20 minutes start to finish and I don’t even have any left-overs.
yu-um
I’ll definitely try this!
If I say “get thee behind me…” (insinuating that you are tempting me beyond belief, will you take offense?
If I eat it that’s where it will end up, too.
I have had this and it is very delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Robin,
The Chocolate topping seemed awfully thin…are you sure the measurement of powdered sugar is not more????
Terri
Wow. That looks great. I have tasted this before but never made it. It looks like a simple fix. Blessings.
It IS one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make, and surprisingly delicious! My youngest son (now 12) always requests this instead of birthday cake; he could literally eat the entire thing in a single sitting if I let him! Hope you enjoy…and you can always "lighten" it up w/skim milk, diet Cool Whip, etc. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
OMG that looks too good for words!
Yum-) will have to suffice!
I made this today and cannot wait to dig in tonight after dinner. 🙂
I had this many years ago and never knew what to call it to find the recipe. Yay for stumbling on things like this bloggy post!!
WHOAH. You just blew my mind. 😉
I saw this link at the bottom of the apple pie post, and I HAD to click on it because I lurve chocolate eclairs!!
That looks so yummy and easy too!
Wow that sounds really good. (visitin from (in)courage linky party 🙂 )
My mom makes this dessert and I will testify that it is AMAZING! Always a crowd-pleaser.
I have tried this recipe at several different faculty get-togethers, and it is ALWAYS awesome. Thanks for posting it! Stopping over from (in)courage today! 🙂
Hi!
I stumbled upon this recipe from (in)courage.
Can I just say YUUMM!!
I printed this out and told my husband that it looked delicous (eclairs are my favorite!!) and he surprised me with it on Sunday after I got home from running some errands! So- I just wanted to say thanks!!!
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super yum!!
this is really the BEST dessert to bring to ANY party….people just fall over it!!!! It’s amazing to see their reactions!!! Funny too! I’m making this for a company picnic this weekend and going to try one with chocolate graham crackers and one with chocolate pudding…oh hell how about chocolate all the way around????
Add 1 cup of peanut butter to the pudding mixture and substitute chocolate Graham crackers. So delicious…..