Chocolate Lush Dessert
If you're a lover of all things chocolate then this Chocolate Lush Dessert is a must-make dessert recipe with three layers of creamy chocolate goodness. Classic chocolate lush starts with a buttery graham cracker crust, sweet cream cheese layer, chocolate instant pudding layer, and whipped topping for the final layer.
Servings 18
Ingredients
Oreo Cookie Crust
- 2½ cups Oreo cookie crumbs
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted
Cream Cheese Layer
- 1 bar (8 oz) full-fat cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
Chocolate Pudding Layer
- 1 box (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding
- 3 cups half and half
Whipped Cream & Garnish Layer
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- chopped Oreo cookies or chocolate shavings (additional garnish options)
Instructions
- Oreo Cookie Crust : Combine the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter in a mixing bowl and stir until the crumbs are evenly coated in the butter. It should look like wet sand. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of a rectangle 9x13 baking pan. Cover the pan with foil, plastic wrap, or a lid and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes while you prepare the other layers.2½ cups Oreo cookie crumbs, 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- Cream Cheese Layer : Using a mixing bowl and electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add in the Cool Whip, and continue beating on low speed until combined. Set aside.1 bar (8 oz) full-fat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 8 ounces Cool Whip
- Chocolate Pudding Layer : Add the dry instant chocolate pudding mix and half and half into a mixing bowl. Whisk together for 1-2 minutes until it starts to thicken. Let the bowl sit for 5 minutes so it can thicken even more.1 box (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding, 3 cups half and half
- Assemble Chocolate Lush/Fridge Time : - Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture over top the Oreo crust. Make sure to spread it all the way to the sides of the pan to ensure the layers stay intact. - Evenly spread the chocolate pudding layer over top the cream cheese layer. Again, make sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the pan. - Spread the remaining 8 ounces of Cool Whip over top the pudding layer for the final layer. Cover the pan with a lid, plastic wrap, or foil and place it in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours, or overnight is even better.8 ounces Cool Whip
- Serve : Right before serving, sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over top and cut into slices. For big servings cut into 12 large squares OR I find that it's best cut into 15-18 squares for smaller servings.1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, chopped Oreo cookies or chocolate shavings
Notes
Oreo Cookies : It takes approximately 26 whole Oreo cookies in order to get the 2 1/2 cups of crumbs called for in the recipe. I find it easiest to use a food processor or food chopper to crush the Oreo cookies into fine crumbs. The finer the crumbs the better for a cookie crust. If you don't have a food processor or food chopper, then place the Oreos into a heavy-duty Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin or meat pounder to crush the Oreos into fine crumbs.
Variations : Use any Oreo cookie you want (like chocolate for extra chocolate goodness!) and/or use any instant pudding mix you want (make sure it's the larger 5.9 oz sized box).
Don't Want To Use Cool Whip? : If you don't love the idea of using Cool Whip then make your own. It will require about 5-8 minutes of extra prep time, but it is a tasty substitution if wanted. To equal 16 ounces of Cool Whip you will need to add 3 cups of heavy whipping cream + 1 cup of powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until stiff peaks form. Start at low speed and increase speed as needed. It will take about 4-6 minutes to get it where it needs to be (stabilized and stiff peaks). Use half of it in the cream cheese layer and the other half for the final whipped cream topping layer.