This delicious 4 layer chocolate dessert is simple, but so yummy. With chocolate pudding, cream cheese, whipped topping and pecans, you can’t go wrong with this dessert. It’s a crowd pleaser!
There are so many names for this delicious dessert that I grew up with, so you may have seen this one before, but it’s one I forgot about until recently and brought it out again to make for a get together recently and it’s as yummy as I remember. Mark knew about this one too, his mom used to make it (he calls it Chocolate Stuff) as well. It’s in a lot of church cookbooks , I have no doubt, it’s in our old church cookbook too and the author called it Chocolate Yum Yum so I will too. The versions online might have a little bit of variation, but they are all very similar. I’ll share the recipe I used based on the church cookbook recipe and ones I found online.
It’s a simple 4 layer chocolate dessert and it is pure yumminess on a plate! I didn’t take a picture of the pecan shortbread first layer, but it’s the start to this delicious dessert, with the cream cheese layer coming next (that’s the layer you see above).
You’ll need plenty of chopped pecans.
The chocolate pudding layer comes next, with whipped topping rounding it out. Some versions call for chopped pecans on top or shaved chocolate, but I used pecans on mine.
This is the finish to this yumminess and you’ll want to chill it for a few hours before cutting into it (if you have the time!). It was a big hit when I took it to a gathering recently and Mark had asked me to make it before this and I did. We enjoyed it also and it’s as yummy as we both remembered. He had remembered it from his mom making it and I said, I know just the dessert you’re talking about. We made it too!
I didn’t cut it into a perfectly beautiful square, but you can see how the layers look. It’s so good! Mark absolutely loves this one and so do I. I can’t believe I forgot about it, it was a staple growing up.
Here’s the recipe I used modified from our church cookbook. Some versions call for one chocolate pudding and one vanilla pudding mixed together, but I just go for all chocolate. Try it both ways and see what you think!
Chocolate Layer Dessert
Delicious 4 layer dessert with shortbread pecan crust, cream cheese, chocolate pudding and whipped topping layers.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Stick Butter (softened at room temp)
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
- 8 Oz Cream Cheese
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 8 Oz Whipped Topping
- 2 Small Instant Chocolate Pudding mix
- 3 Cups Milk
- 8 Oz Whipped Topping
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans or Chocolate shavings for top
Instructions
-
Bottom Layer:
Mix Flour, 1 Stick softened butter (pinch of salt) and 1 cup chopped nuts together into a soft paste, press into 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 325 Degrees until lightly browned, around 25 minutes. Let cool.
-
Middle Layer:
Beat cream cheese & powdered sugar until mixed and fold in whipped topping until all mixed together. Spread evenly across crust.
-
Top Layer:
Mix the 2 chocolate pudding mixes with 3 cups milk with electric mixer for 2 or 3 minutes until mixed completely.
-
After bottom layer cools, add the cream cheese layer, spreading evenly across crust. Then add chocolate pudding mixture, spreading evenly across cream cheese layer. Then add 8 oz. whipped topping for final layer and sprinkle chopped pecans or shaved chocolate on top of that. Chill and serve.
Recipe Notes
The hardest part for me is getting the pecan crust to smooth out properly in the baking dish. Your butter needs to be perfectly soft to mix with the flour just right and chopped pecans. It takes patience to press it all out on the bottom of the baking pan and you'll think there's not enough, but it needs to be pressed pretty thinly. Then getting the cream cheese layer across that can be tricky too, if you lift up your spatula too much it can pull up part of the pecan crust. I daub the cream cheese a dollop at a time all over the crust so that it can be smoothed out easily and all joined together. Those 2 things are the trickiest for me, but once you get it, it comes together pretty fast. Eat and enjoy!
Many years ago a coworker brought this to work one day. She called it “better than $ex cake.” 😄
I saw that mentioned online too, so that must have gone around back then. I think everyone in the country has had this dessert.
I got this recipe from my sister in law almost 40 years ago! She called it “To Die For” Chocolate Dessert. I haven’t made it in quite a while, but every time I made it in the past, it was a big hit!
My Mom would add a separate layer of vanilla pudding making it five layers!!!!
I have made this Chocolate Delight for my family for years. I would especially make it for special occasions such as Christmas gatherings…there were never any leftovers. lol However…just recently… I found a similar one that you can use the same way except use a Lemon Instant Pudding, or Butterscotch ( my husband’s favorite). My 2 adult children are crazy about this dessert. I truly believe it’s one that we’ve all had when we were growing up…we had just forgotten about it.
P.S. I recently used the Instant Banana Cream…it was so delicious …too!!
Those all would be good ones to try for different flavors.
I got this recipe about 46 years ago when I was a newlywed. It is one I have made through the years. It’s always a crowd pleaser!
I love that dessert! We call it 4 Layer Delight and it’s in every church cookbook.
Yes it sure is! I’d love to know where and how it originated.
I have made this dessert for years and we call it “Chocolate Lush”! I make a Lemon Lush at Easter and a Butterscotch Lush at Thanksgiving! I love them all! Thanks for sharing!
Those would all be good too!
It’s Chocolate Torte in my world! I forget about it, too. It makes so much and we are empty nesters but we manage to polish it off! Thanks for the memory/reminder, Rhoda!
We’ve managed to eat all the leftovers ourselves too!
I have made this for many years, and, like you said, it is always a hit. Another good one is Chocolate Eclair Cake…the name is a misnomer b/c it isn’t an eclair or a cake. But it is EASY to make and never fails to receive rave reviews.
We call ours Chocolate Delight and it truly is a delight when you take a bite! I use one vanilla and one chocolate when I make mine. One year my friend from SC brought her kids over and spent the week with us and I made this and she and I ate the entire thing without telling the kids we had it! lol
Hi, Nita, that’s a great plan! Ha!
We called it Chocolate Delite.. If you double the crust ingredients, it’s a lot easier to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan; plus you get a little thicker crust. Yummy! My aunt always made this for our family reunions or dinner on the ground at church. She did a variation that used 1 box chocolate pudding and 1 box butterscotch pudding separately layered. I just used all chocolate because my husband wasn’t a butterscotch fan, but I loved it that way. Either way, it’s a delite and never a bite left!!
Deana, that’s a great idea I think I’ll try that next time. Double the butter, can’t be bad, right? That part is the most challenging for me. The butter has to be just the right consistency.
We called it Choco-Delight too. We also made it with pistachio pudding and that was called Green Stuff. Lemon sounds divine! Thanks for the reminder. I rarely pass up an old church cookbook, they’re the best.
Could you please tell me the brand and name of your carpet on the entry stairs. Is the carpet wool?
Thank you.
Here’s a post all about it! I don’t think it’s wool. https://southernhospitalityblog.com/shaw-floors-carpet-runner/
We call it chocolate yum yum too. It was the favorite dessert of my sisters and I when we were growing up. My children and grands love it too. Mom often made it with lemon pudding in the summertime and sprinkled coconut on the top instead of pecans. That version is very refreshing on a hot day.
It’s so good! I love the idea of lemon in the summer.
My aunt Charlotte brought this every Christmas when I was growing up. It was my all time favorite dessert. I looked forward to it every year. It’s just the most delicious dessert!
I was just thinking about making this for a gathering! The woman that gave me the recipe called it Delicious Dessert.
I used to make a second batch before we finished the first until my husband said he could not eat it again! It is so good with lemon puffing too!
I’m definitely going to have to try the lemon version for summer!
Thank you for posting this! I was just telling my husband about this recipe my mom used to make that was exactly this except it used lemon pudding instead of chocolate. My mom is no longer with us, and I haven’t found that recipe in her box of old recipes but now I will be able to make it again. Can’t wait to make this for our next party!
Rhoda, I know I’ve had this somewhere in time but had never made it myself. I made it this past weekend and we loved it!! There’s a lot leftover too. Thanks! 🙂
So glad you loved it too, it’s a real winner!