Chocolate Nutty Delight

I was trying to remember where I was when I got this recipe. I think it was at a baby shower in Okinawa, Japan while we were serving there in the Air Force. I knew right away it was a keeper for our family and it is with us still, some 30 years later. It's just one of those desserts that everyone loves. We have all made this for countless functions and it makes an appearance regularly at family get togethers.

This recipe is for a 9"x13" (regular size) oblong cake pan. *
Preheat oven to 350º.

Crust:

• 1 stick (1/2 C.) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 C. pecans chopped small (Walnuts can be used) (no nuts can be used and it's still good)
  
• 1 C. Flour

In a small bowl, cut flour into softened butter. When the texture is mealy, mix in pecans and turn into a 9x13 pan. Press into bottom of pan and put into oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove and allow to cool.

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 2-8 oz. Cream Cheese softened
• 2 C. Powdered Sugar
• 2 C. Cool Whip or stabilized whipped cream

In a small bowl stir ingredients together until smooth. Mixture should be very easy to pour onto crust. If it is too sticky it will pull up the crust, so be sure and get it about the consistency of cake batter. I soften the cream cheese in the microwave. Spread over cooled crust and refrigerate until cream cheese has firmed up. Food coloring can be added to this layer for seasonal purposes. I usually make this layer green or pink.

Pudding Layer:

• 1 sm. Box Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 1 sm. Box Instant Chocolate Pudding
• 3 C. cold milk

In a medium bowl combine instant puddings and milk. Stir together with a wire whip until smooth. Donʼt wait for pudding to completely thicken in the bowl. Pour over cream cheese layer and refrigerate.

Whipped Cream Layer:

• 1 Large container cool whip or stablized whipped cream (the non-dairy whipped topping mix in the refrigerated case at Smart & Final works well too)
• Mini chocolate chips or chocolate curls

Spread cream over top of pudding. Sprinkle chocolate chips or chocolate curls to garnish. A grated Hershey with Almonds bar makes a great garnish too. Refrigerate. Serves 12-15

For a Christmas version Candy cane chocolate kisses chopped in the food processor are a yummy addition to the mini-chips or chocolate curls on top.

*If you are doubling this recipe in the big cake pans we love in this family, only do one and a half the recipe for the cream cheese layer.

I have made this in individual servings in clear, plastic 8 oz. cups. I got Pecan Sandie cookies for the crust as they just fit in the bottom of the cups. You could also make several pans of crust and crumble it into the bottoms to keep the recipe more true. I put the cream cheese layer in by loading a pastry bag with it, using a large hole tip. Nana always had large pastry bags around and a wonderful array of tips to choose from. I did the same with the pudding layer and the whipped topping. It made the cutest little parfaits and they are so delicious. A little more work, but serving them was really fun. No cutting and plating and no pan to wash.