Easy Homemade Creamy Cornstarch Vanilla Pudding With No Eggs!

So I was reading the label on one of those store-bought pudding packets the other day, and I noticed it listed cornstarch as a main ingredient, along with the actual amount used. And that’s when it hit me, why am I paying for a fancy box with flavored sugar and cornstarch when I can just grab a bag of cornstarch, also known as Maizena in Europe, which is way cheaper, and try to recreate the whole thing from scratch?

So that’s exactly what I did, and It turned out hummmm hummmm so good. It came out just a tiny bit firmer than the commercial stuff, but that might be because I cooked it a little longer and lost some of the milk to evaporation, or maybe I added a bit touch too much Maizena. Either way, the result was absolutely delicious and, just like those instant pudding packets, incredibly easy to make.

Since this was my first test run, I kept things nice and simple and went with vanilla as the flavor, no eggs, no fuss, just like the commercial versions. It’s basically starch, sugar, and milk. That’s it. Think of it as a thick, eggless cornstarch porridge that sets up beautifully in the fridge. Simple, cheap, and seriously satisfying. Let’s get into the recipe!

Easy Homemade Creamy Cornstarch Vanilla Pudding With No Eggs!

Servings: 6
Time: 40mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Oh you think making a pudding is complicated? Think again. A cornstarch based pudding is super easy to make and unlike a egg based one, its way cheaper, even comparing with store-bought instant puddings.

Ingredients

Sugar – 60g
Cornstarch – 60g
Vanilla – 1 Teaspoon (Extract)
Milk – 500ml (Medium/Large)
Lemon – 1 Peel
Cinnamon – 1 Stick
Cinnamon – For Sprinkling (Optional)
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

In a bowl, add the cornstarch, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Mix well, then add 100ml of room temperature milk (from the 500ml total) and mix until smooth.
Separately, pour the remaining milk, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.
When the milk starts to warm up, but doesn’t boil, remove a little of the hot milk and add it to the bowl with the cornstarch dissolved in milk, just to warm the mixture slightly.
When the bowl with the milk and cornstarch is warmer, slowly pour it into the saucepan over the heat, stirring constantly, to dissolve it well in the hot milk.
Now add the vanilla extract and continue stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. You’ll notice this easily. At this point, remove from the heat and stir for about 20 seconds to make sure it’s all creamy.

Then, spoon the cornstarch pudding into small bowls (you can leave the lemon peel and cinnamon stick in or remove them) and refrigerate overnight. It’s ready to serve plain or sprinkled with cinnamon powder. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: If your pudding turns out thicker than you’d like, you can dial back the cornstarch to 50g next time. If you want it firmer, like a sliceable pudding, bump it up slightly to 65-70g.

Make sure you keep stirring while the mixture heats up. If you stop, you risk lumps forming or the bottom scorching, neither of which is fun.

Don’t skip the tempering step (adding hot milk to the cold cornstarch mixture before combining), it makes a huge difference in preventing lumps, it’s not like eggs where you need to heat the egg mixture, it’s just making sure the cornstarch is well dissolved, so it will mix well with the hot milk.

The lemon peel and cinnamon stick are there for aroma, not flavor. They give the pudding a subtle warmth that makes it taste a little more homemade and less plain or commercial. Don’t skip on them on the first try!

This pudding needs at least 4 hours in the fridge to set properly, but overnight is ideal for the best texture.

This is one of those easy, forgiving recipes that proves you can make a whole range of cornstarch-based puddings without any special equipment or fancy ingredients.

Swap the vanilla for cocoa powder for a chocolate version, use honey instead of sugar, add a shot of espresso for a coffee pudding, the possibilities are genuinely endless. Once you nail the base to your taste, you can flavor it pretty much any way you like!

This recipe for Easy Homemade Creamy Cornstarch Vanilla Pudding With No Eggs! was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Como Fazer um Pudim de Maizena foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.