Recipes Everyday Cooking Quick and Easy Quick and Easy 35 Ways to Turn Pudding Mix into Top-Rated Desserts By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on April 20, 2020 Close Photo: Mackenzie Schieck Busy home cooks appreciate time-saving shortcuts. And when it comes to desserts, a very popular shortcut ingredient is pudding mix — both the instant and the cook-and-serve varieties. After all, they're a quick and convenient way to add flavor and texture to cakes and cookies, and to make creamy custard fillings for pies and trifles. Here are 35 of our favorite ways to use the most popular pudding mix flavors in top-rated dessert recipes. 01 of 36 Too Much Chocolate Cake View Recipe Amber Dehn-Koenig "This cake won me First Prize at the county fair," say recipe creator Denise. And with more than six thousand 5-star ratings, this is one of the most popular chocolate cakes on Allrecipes. Home cook Ellen E. says, "This chocolate cake is phenomenal! I have been making this for about two years now for many, many different occasions, and it always gets rave reviews." 02 of 36 Giant Ding Dong Cake View Recipe Christi Doehrer Bob Filanowski "Wow, this was such a great idea! I made mine into cupcakes and used a pastry bag to fill them for a birthday party, and people were begging for the recipe," Brandy says. 03 of 36 Death By Chocolate III View Recipe Allrecipes Magazine Four ingredients are all it takes to make this five-star phenomenon. "This is so easy it is always a little embarrassing to hear all of the raves when I serve it to friends," says chellebelle. "To add even another chocolate punch, try drizzling hot fudge sauce from a jar between the whipped topping and brownie layers." 04 of 36 S'mores Popsicles® View Recipe The Gruntled Gourmand "My 13-year-old daughter created this recipe for a quick yummy summer snack. Easy for anyone to make and enjoy." —Beilerfam 05 of 36 Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie View Recipe EmmasMomma "I added a layer of thinly sliced banana between the peanut butter and chocolate pudding and sprinkled the top with chocolate chips. Very, very yummy!" —BN61079 06 of 36 Easy Chocolate Cookies View Recipe Jodie Biesenthal "These cookies rock! They are so simple to make and are super chewy and chocolaty. I like to make cookie sandwiches with them by spreading buttercream frosting between two cookies." —lynnmarie 18 of Our Most Chocolaty Chocolate Cookies 07 of 36 Ultimate Chocolate Turtles® Cheesecake View Recipe Christina "Made it exactly as written. Wouldn't change a thing. It was fantastic. Already sharing the recipe. Real crowd-pleaser." —mobaker 08 of 36 RumChata® Pudding Shots View Recipe Soup Loving Nicole "Made these with vanilla cheesecake pudding and chocolate as well. Won the best drink trophy at a friends' party. So simple and so good!" —Grandma Ham 2 09 of 36 Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies View Recipe Pictured: Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies by bd.weld. bd.weld "Everybody wants this recipe when I take them in for a carry-in. To make them award winning, my daughter, Tegan, made them for a cookie baking contest and won a red ribbon! You can use any flavor pudding you like for this recipe," Debbi Borsick says. More Top-Rated Cookie Recipes 10 of 36 Cinnamon Rolls III View Recipe Jesse Raschk "I had never made cinnamon rolls from scratch before this weekend when I tried this recipe. These are great and easy even for a beginner like me!" —Louise Maxine See our entire collection of cinnamon roll recipes here. 11 of 36 The Best Banana Pudding View Recipe DHUNTER9 "This one is a keeper!! The only thing that I did differently is that I used the cook 'n serve pudding and let it cool. This was much creamier than the instant pudding." —JRP-DLP 13 Best Banana Pudding Recipes That Would Even Impress Grandma 12 of 36 Golden Rum Cake View Recipe Photo by Tricia. Tricia "I've used this recipe quite a number of times and have experimented with many different rums. The best is actually a combination of two different kinds. For the cake, use Bacardi Dark/Select or Myers. For the glaze, use Appleton Estates. If you can't find Appleton Estates, use the Bacardi or Myers, but the Appleton really makes the glaze sweeter and almost tangy," says Lindsay W. 13 of 36 No-Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake View Recipe Angela Thompson "Only difference was out of necessity: I used half and half for the pudding mix as I was out of milk. So very rich and creamy! My husband said this was the best dessert I have ever made," says Crystal S. "Rave reviews by all who sampled!" 14 of 36 Cream Puffs View Recipe MRSJPVAN2 "so easy with such elegant results. I've made this recipe more times than I can count and haven't changed a thing." —MommyFromSeattle 15 of 36 Heath Bar Pie View Recipe Amy Young "My family could not believe I made this. It was so good. I could not tell you about leftovers — there were none. The only change I made was I used a package of Heath Bar pieces instead of breaking my own," Kathy Fulop Chamberlain says. More Pie Recipes 16 of 36 Pumpkin Pie Pudding Shots View Recipe TINATED "Spiced rum helps to create a not-so-traditional addition to your table or a fun adult treat to hand out Halloween night. These pudding shots are extra delicious with a layer of graham or spaced wafer crumbs." —TINATED Pumpkin Desserts That Make Pie Jealous 17 of 36 Margarita Cake View Recipe sarahwalker "This cake was a hit at two different occasions I made it for. I could not find orange cake mix, so I substituted with white cake mix and added 1 tablespoon of grated orange rind, squeezed some juice from the orange and added 2 teaspoons of orange extract. I also made extra glaze and coated the cake again before serving," Kim D. says. 18 of 36 Berry Trifle View Recipe MELLYGIRL23 "This recipe is always a huge hit. One word of advice: After you put the first layer of cake and berries down, pour half the 'pudding' mixture over the top, then finish with another layer and pour the rest of the pudding mixture. The mixture is too thick to reach the bottom layer if you only pour over the top," Abby Zollinger Schultz says. Top-Rated Trifle Recipes 19 of 36 Lemon Poke Cake II View Recipe MomTo6 "So lemony and so delicious! I used the lemon cake and lemon pudding mix. I also doubled the amount of glaze to go on top, and basically bathed it in glaze, letting it soak up into every inch of the cake. It turned out amazingly tasty!" —yummywife 20 of 36 Key Lime Cake II View Recipe sweetserenade "More of a lemon cake than a lime cake. The cupcakes were still very good and incredibly moist. I chose to make a lime cream cheese frosting. I used one of the lemon cream cheese frosting recipes from this site, and just subbed lime in place of the lemon. These were very popular at the get-together I took them to." —mominml 21 of 36 Copycat of Starbucks® Lemon Bread View Recipe Yoly "This was amazing! And virtually identical to Starbucks lemon loaf. I accidentally used instant pudding...but I added a little more liquid and it came out perfect. I brought it to work to share and it was gone in an hour! I would recommend this to anyone and will for sure be making this again," Kate says. 22 of 36 Lemon Pudding Cookies View Recipe Kriss Morton "This is a great quick recipe, and surprisingly good cookies if you like soft cookies, which I do! I plan to experiment with other pudding flavors," Stephanie says. Tip: You can make an easy glaze with lemon juice and confectioners' sugar. 23 of 36 Outrageous Lemon Berry Trifle View Recipe nantothedob "It was delicious and a hit. I will definitely be making it again this summer. Very refreshing." —codenamejag 24 of 36 Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins View Recipe catherine.drew "They were so quick and easy! The only thing I changed was adding a little bit of glaze made with powdered sugar, the juice of one lemon, and the zest of that same lemon. My hubby thought they were amazing and he's not much of a muffin man," Deanna Rebman Sommers says. 25 of 36 Lemon Lush View Recipe Mackenzie Schieck "This is a definite family request at our holiday get togethers and all our summer picnics! It tastes just like a cool and creamy version of lemon meringue pie but better." —MANOPA Pucker Up for Our 21 Best Sweet/Tart Lemon Desserts 26 of 36 Butterscotch Pecan Cookies View Recipe Karen Dean Covington "Mmm! I love butterscotch and these are great. Very easy to make, too." —sweetiepeaz 27 of 36 Butterscotch Pudding Pancakes View Recipe Tammy Lynn "It's a little bit sweet and a whole lot of yummy, especially when there's a pile of crisp bacon served on the side. I came up with this variation looking to spice up the regular routine. Serve with sautéed apples and maple syrup," Leslie Kelly says. How to Make the Best Pancakes From Scratch 28 of 36 Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes View Recipe Dianne "Hit of the party. I had someone say, 'These are to die for!' The guests at the party also said that these were easily better than a local cupcakery that charges a small fortune for a cupcake," Julie says. 11 of the Easiest Pumpkin Desserts You'll Ever Make 29 of 36 Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies View Recipe Mrs. Dr. The Ivan "Incredible! I must say, I was wondering what all the fuss was about, but after trying them, I quickly found out. I made three batches: lemon pudding with white chocolate chips, vanilla pudding with butterscotch chips, and butterscotch pudding with milk chocolate chips." —KRANEY 30 of 36 Quick and Easy Monkey Bread View Recipe chef jai "This is the best cinnamon roll monkey bread recipe I have ever tried. Everyone loves it. This is a keeper. I did find that I like to dip each bun in melted butter before assembling, though. It seems to make it more gooey." —A Baker's Dozen More Monkey Bread 31 of 36 Apple Snicker Salad View Recipe Makayla Lynn Frye "Great recipe as is. Butterscotch pudding is what makes this recipe great. To make breaking the candy bars easier, freeze candy bars ahead of time. When ready to put the bars in, put them on a solid surface and hit with a hammer. Breaks them into nice small pieces." —scot 32 of 36 Banana Trifle View Recipe kayleighkathleen "Marvelous! I made this recipe exactly as stated. It gave such a nice presentation. I crushed the vanilla wafers by putting them in a zip lock bag and using a rolling pin. When I dished the dessert out, I sprinkled the top with extra crushed vanilla wafers I had set aside. It was the hit of the night." —SHORECOOK We have a bunch of banana recipes here, too. 33 of 36 Easy Banana Pudding Cake View Recipe cookinggirl "My family loves this cake. I add three or four sliced bananas over the top before I put the whip cream on," says Diane Culifer Akerman. "Yummy!" 34 of 36 Banana Cream Pie Made Easy View Recipe ph4hawks "SUPER EASY, and delicious. also left the ice cubes out and it had a wonderful texture...could see the same method for chocolate cream too!" —idagal 35 of 36 Fast and Easy Creamy Ice Cream View Recipe kennalou5 "Using only two ingredients, this ice cream recipe consistently produces thick, creamy ice cream. It can be made fat free or sugar free in any flavor available in a pudding mix." —Andi 36 of 36 More Inspiration happyschmoopies Pudding mix is like a secret weapon for creating all kinds of delicious treats! Check out these recipe collections for loads more ideas: Pudding Mix Frosting Recipes How to Turn Pudding Mix Into Frozen Desserts Get Cake Recipes Made With Pudding Mix Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit