These rich and creamy chocolate parfaits feel like a decadent dessert but are surprisingly light. Made with homemade chocolate pudding using semi-sweet chocolate, milk, vanilla, and cornstarch, they’re layered with a touch of whipped cream for an indulgent yet airy treat.
Chocolate Parfaits
Forget the store-bought mix—this homemade chocolate pudding comes together with just a handful of ingredients: sugar-free semi-sweet chocolate, milk, egg yolks, vanilla, and cornstarch. The result? A velvety-smooth, deeply chocolatey pudding that tastes luxurious without being overly heavy. Perfect for Valentine’s Day or date night! I tested this out with dairy-free milk and it worked great too!
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Parfaits
I first made these years ago and I couldn’t stop eating them, they are so good! I personally like to use sugar-free chocolate and sweetener here, but feel free to use whatever you prefer. Although they do take a little time, it’s worth it. Here’s why they work!
- Light yet Indulgent – These parfaits have that rich chocolate flavor you crave for about 200 calories.
- Easy to Make – A simple homemade stovetop pudding, a little layering, and you’re done. No fancy techniques required.
- Perfect for Entertaining – Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or just want a special treat, these parfaits look elegant in glass jars or dessert cups.
Chocolate Pudding Parfait Ingredients
This homemade chocolate pudding comes together with just a handful of simple ingredients (see recipe card below for exact measurements):
- Milk – The milk creates a silky-smooth base. (Dairy-free alternatives work fine too.)
- Sweetener – Monk fruit sugar substitute adds sweetness without refined sugar, but you can use your preferred sugar.
- Vanilla Extract – Enhances the chocolate flavor with a warm, aromatic touch.
- Cornstarch & Egg Yolks – Work together to thicken the pudding, giving it a rich yet light texture.
- Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate – I used Lily’s sugar-free chocolate for a deep, indulgent flavor.
- Whipped Topping – Tru Whip or any whipped cream of your choice for a light and creamy finish.
- Optional: Top with chocolate shavings or raspberries.
How to Make Chocolate Parfaits
Here’s how to make the chocolate pudding from scratch, see recipe card below for printable directions.
Cook the Chocolate Pudding:
- In a medium non-stick saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and cornstarch; whisk well and simmer on medium-low heat, whisking constantly until mixture has slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl whisk egg yolks. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture through a mesh sieve to the yolks, whisking in about a tablespoon at a time to temper the egg so the egg doesn’t cook.
- Once the eggs are tempered, whisk in the remaining milk through the sieve then return to the sauce pan.
- Melt the chocolate squares in the microwave 20 seconds at a time, up to a minute, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. Pour melted chocolate into the sauce pan, whisk well.
- Add vanilla; simmer on low for 15 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Transfer the chocolate pudding into a large bowl, cover with wax paper, touching the pudding so that it doesn’t allow a film to settle on top.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Layer with Whipped Cream
- Once cooled, spoon the pudding into serving glasses.
- Add layers of Tru Whip or your preferred whipped topping.
Chill & Serve
- Let the parfaits set in the refrigerator before serving.
Storage
Refrigerate up to 4 days.
More Dessert Recipes:
If you’re looking for more low calories treats like this, check out my Healthy Desserts category for more light and delicious recipes plus these 5 recipes:
- Strawberries Romanoff
- Dark Chocolate Nut Clusters
- Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
- Homemade Chocolate Cake
- Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
Chocolate Parfaits
Ingredients
- 3 cups fat-free milk, dairy-free milk works too
- 2 1/2 tablespoons monk fruit sugar substitute, or sugar of your choice
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 large egg yolks
- 4 ounces Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, I used Lily's sugar-free (use DF chocolate for dairy-free)
- 1 1/4 cups Tru Whip Whipped Topping, or whipped cream of your choice
Instructions
- In a medium non-stick saucepan, combine milk, sugar, and cornstarch; whisk well and simmer on medium-low heat, whisking constantly until mixture has slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl whisk egg yolks. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture through a mesh sieve to the yolks, whisking in about a tablespoon at a time to temper the egg so the egg doesn't cook.
- Once the eggs are tempered, whisk in the remaining milk through the sieve then return to the sauce pan.
- Melt the chocolate squares in the microwave 20 seconds at a time, up to a minute, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. Pour melted chocolate into the sauce pan, whisk well.
- Add vanilla; simmer on low for 15 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Transfer the chocolate pudding into a large bowl, cover with wax paper, touching the pudding so that it doesn’t allow a film to settle on top.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, it will further thicken in the refrigerator.
- To make parfaits, when chilled, place 3 tablespoons of the pudding into each glass, then add 2 tablespoons of whipped topping in each, then 2 tablespoons more pudding and top with a dollop of Truwhip.
Last Step:
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Nutrition
Hi my name is Jane this recipe to make the healthiest cake first You need it milk and then flowers and eggs then if you want to add food colouring and if you have it’s okay then you need to blend it and then get some fruits out or you have to put the fruit in and then blended
so many compliments on this dessert , my dad thought it was ice cream, kids loved it, I served with strawberries and it was delicious and refreshing.
So happy to hear!
These were loved by the whole family! I was worried at first that it would not thicken but the texture became more pudding-like from chilling in the fridge.
I have yet to try a SkinnyTaste recipe – sweet or savory – that I wouldn’t make again and this chocolate pudding is yet another great one. I was surprised to see it only had 1 rating, so I thought it was about time I left a review and a big thank you to Gina! This is an easy & delicious recipe – just the right amount of chocolate and sweetness. I did mess with the recipe just a bit because I just can’t help myself – I used whole milk and poured the pudding into a pre-baked pie crust to make a delicious chocolate cream pie. I was looking for a home-made version of the pie my mom would make as a kid with a boxed mix, and this was perfect without being too fancy, overly rich or fussy. Thank you, Gina!
Yummy!!
I used an ice bath to cool it instead of putting it in the refrigerator, and that only took about 20 minutes, if that.
Hi Gina,
I can't have the sugar in the tru whip. Do you have another option? Thanks Debbi
You could make whipped cream from heavy whipping cream, nothing says you have to sweeten it, but you could add splenda or monk fruit to the cream the same as you would granulated sugar/powdered sugar.
I currently have almond milk at home, do you think this would work instead of the fat free regular milk?
Doubling made about 10 small servings. Very rich chocolate flavor, so small serving is perfect. I did use real whipped cream. Elegant! Adding a splash of Kahlua or other liquor over each serving would be even more exotic – except for the additional points.
i love this recipe and have made it several times. the other night however i tried to double it, and it never formed pudding, but rather stayed liquid. any idea what i did wrong? by doubling ingredients, was i maybe supposed to also double the cooking time? thanks gina!
Not sure?
This was very yummy! Another skinny taste win!
Mine thickened! 🙂 I followed her recipe exactly, kept whisking for 20 minutes after I mixed the chocolate with the milk. I kept it in the fridge for 4 hours before serving. Problem was there were some lumpy pieces in there, not sure if this is because I didn't put in the fridge long enough. Any ideas? Would love to make this again wihout the lumps. We still ate it, we mixed kahlua with it 🙂
~Princy
This looks delicious! I am a huge fan of chocolate and always want to try out new things. This is definitely something that I have to prepare some time. Thanks for the recipe!
Attempted to make this two nights ago to take to a dinner date with friends. I followed directions as specified but my pudding never thickened either. 🙁 I plan to retest later this week to see if I went wrong somewhere.
I re-made this as per your comments, and I had the same results, perfect. I added the thicken time in my directions to help. The end results were very much like a pudding after it cooled in the refrigerator.
I had this made in 15 minutes (plus setting over night)and if I had realised how easy it is to make chocolate mousse I would have tried it years ago. Everything was perfect and thoroughly enjoyed by hubby and myself as a Valetines treat with some strawberry's.
Mine never set correctly either, and I'm not sure if I didn't let it thicken long enough on the stove or if I didn't leave it in the fridge long enough. It was still warm coming out of the fridge, so I imagine that was it. I'd like to try it again but I don't want to end up with runny pudding again, so I'll be watching the comments for suggestions!
Mmm…delicious! Thanks so much!
I followed the directions closely and did everything correctly, but unfortunately the pudding mixture never set in the fridge even overnight. What did I do wrong? I did as the recipe said simmering it for 15 minutes should I have cooked it longer to get the pudding to be thick like I did with the milk/cornstarch.
I tried making this last night and unfortunately, it just didn't come out right. The milk and cornstarch mixture never thickened, I had it on the stove for about 1/2 hour…should I have cooked it even longer?
That's odd, I made this several times and even had someone else make it to test. Did you change anything?
Your pudding looks so thick, creamy and full of chocolatey delight! I've never tried covering pudding with wax paper and I love this idea because ever time I've used plastic wrap, I've ended up with drops of moisture on top of the pudding. gorgeous!!
I would love to know if this would work as well with almond milk. We religiously use vanilla (sweetened) almond milk. I imagine it would be fine since it's sweet and we use it in place of milk anyway in other recipes.
I wonder if the temp in the begining when thickening is actually suppose to be medium high. Mine would not thicken until I cranked up the heatg.
YES! ^^ this person read my mind! lol I LOVE your rainbow whisk! and the dessert looks yummy 🙂
I'm not sure if this would be any "lighter" for a topping but what about meringue?
okay everyone is tempting me with cocolate right now, this looks scrumptious but really I came to say… i love your whisk lol
Do you think this would work with Almond milk?
I think it would.
This looks amazing and pretty easy to make! I may have to give it a try!
Do you think I could use arrow root instead of cornstarch?
I think it would work out fine.
Fabolous dessert!!! I just love chocolate parfaits!!
Look so good! check out my blog @ http://moussiekitchen.blogspot.ca/
I think I would just try this without the egg yolk. Looks tempting!
Can you give us a homemade alternative to tru whip? Alot of your subscribers are not from USA & aren't able to buy the pre made products you have in your recipes.
It's pretty easy to make your own whipped cream with whipping cream. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Whipped-Cream/ Then you don't have to worry about any additional ingredients either!
I meant a low fat version! I think most of us know how to whip cream 🙂
what is the point value without the Truwhip?My new thing is to add a touch of vanilla creamer to ff greek yogurt and use it as a topping
Without the Truwhip it's 5 pts plus each.
This looks soooo good! Wish I would have seen this recipe before I went to the grocery store this morning. I don't have any chocolate sqaures, but I have semi sweet chips. Would those work?
well….of course they would…if it's chocolate and can be melted..it will do.
Those little dessert cups are an awesome find! They are perfect for a parfait!
I know! Score!
Def looks AMAZING. YUM! Need to go get the ingredients asap!
This looks delicious! I will definitely have to try this one out for a healthy snack or even valentines day!
My son is allergic to eggs, any suggestions for substitutions ? Would love to make this on thursday !
thanks
Hmm, I think you can leave it out and add a 1/2 tsp more cornstarch
Gina – you are amazing!!
This looks so delish!
http://girlsnextbestfriend.blogspot.com
Can i use semi sweet chocolate chips instead? I have those on hand
As long as they melt ok, should work fine.
That looks DELICIOUS! Can't wait to try it 🙂
teapotsandtrinkets.blogspot.com
Looks yummy. Throw a few raspberries on top and I'm sold!
Yes!
I use cook-n-serve sugar-free chocolate pudding made with skim milk and layer with light cool whip. Half the points and taste great.
Looks Amazing!! Can't wait to try it!