These pot of gold pudding cups are quick to make with just four easy steps! Using instant pudding, gold sprinkles, and rainbow candy belts you can make this adorable St Patrick's Day dessert with only a few ingredients.
These would be great to serve at a St Patty's Day gathering, and a fun way to celebrate with kids!
I love a dessert that is fast and easy to make that can also be transformed with a few festive decorations. Read on to learn just how easy this recipe is to make and decorate.
Ingredients
- Vanilla instant pudding
- Milk
- Cool whip
- Sprinkles
- Rainbow candy belts
Please see the full list of ingredients and measurements at the bottom of the post.
Instructions
This St Patty's day treat couldn't be easier to make! Start by whisking together cold milk and instant pudding in a large mixing bowl for about one minute, until smooth. The pudding will thicken as you whisk. Let it sit for five minutes to rest and thicken.
The pudding should be much thicker after sitting for five minutes. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the cold whip. Then, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
When ready to serve, scoop the pudding into mini cauldrons or cups of your choice.
Now for the fun part! To decorate, I used a variety gold sprinkles, sugar pearls and sixlets (the large gold balls). Top the pudding cups with a rainbow by bending a rainbow candy belt into an arch, inserting the ends into the pudding.
Hint: Make spooning the pudding into the cups easier by using a mechanical ice cream scoop. The scraper makes it easy to drop the pudding in the cup!
Folding is a gentle way of mixing ingredients together. If a recipe calls to fold in an ingredient, it's trying to preserve its light and airy qualities.
To fold: scrape a rubber spatula along the bottom of your mixing bowl toward you, lifting the mixture up with it and over into the center. Give your mixing bowl a quarter turn and repeat until your ingredients are combined.
Folding is useful for keeping a light texture and to help prevent over mixing.
Substitutions
I haven't tried making this recipe with vegan-friendly substitutions, but I would imagine that you can use non-dairy milk and whipped cream in place of dairy milk and cool whip. If you try this, please comment below and let me know what dairy alternatives worked for you.
Can I substitute water for milk in pudding?
You can substitute water for milk when making instant pudding and this could be a non-dairy alternative to using milk. Note that when using water, you'll lose a lot of the creaminess and richness that milk or non-dairy milk adds to the pudding. Because of this, you'll want to use about ¾ the amount of milk the recipe calls for. If you use water for this recipe, use 2 ¼ cups water instead of 3 cups milk.
Variations
- Pudding flavor - switch the pudding flavor with another you enjoy. I chose vanilla, as it has a yellowish color, which looked like gold!
- Toppings- You can use any kind of gold or yellow sprinkles: nonpariels, jimmies, pearls, quins, or sanding sugars - I used a little of everything! You can also place chocolate gold coins on top (make sure not to eat the wrapper of course), yellow M&Ms and any other candies you like.
- Make it healthy: turn this into a breakfast option using yogurt instead of the pudding mixture, and top it with golden puff cereal and banana slices!
The starch in the instant pudding is what makes the mixture thicken as it's mixed with milk. Specifically, a "modified food starch" is used for boxed instant puddings that don't require any kind of heating.
You can make a boxed instant pudding mix even better by folding in whipped cream, or cool whip, which is what this recipe calls for. It gives the pudding a smooth and creamy texture.
How to serve
You can serve this St Patrick's Day dessert in any kind of cup or container that you'd like. I think the cauldrons add some charm to the appearance of these pudding cups; so if you want to replicate this look, search for food-safe mini cauldrons at your favorite craft store, or look for candy cauldrons on amazon. The cauldrons featured in this post hold about ½ - 1 cup of pudding each.
Storage
Keep the pudding stored in the refrigerator and sealed for up to five days. Wait to decorate the cups until ready to serve.
Pot of Gold Pudding Cups
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk cold
- 5.8 ounces package of Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
- 8 ounces cool whip
Toppings
- gold sprinkles
- 10 rainbow candy belts 5 inches in length
Instructions
- Whisk together the milk and vanilla instant pudding in a large mixing bowl for one minute until smooth. The pudding will begin to thicken as you whisk. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- After the pudding has rested, use a rubber spatula to fold in the cool whip. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Portion 1 cup of pudding into a serving cup and top with gold sprinkles.
- Bend a rainbow candy belt into an arch to place on top and insert the ends of the belt into the pudding to secure.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Make spooning the pudding into the cups easier by using a mechanical ice cream scoop. The scraper makes it easy to drop the pudding in the cup!
- You can use 2 ¼ cup water in place of milk and cool whip
- Feel free to use another flavor of instant pudding or use already made pudding cups
- Alternatives for topping the pudding cups with "gold": yellow M&Ms, banana slices, gold puff cereal
Nutrition
Please note, Holiday Sweets N Treats isn't a professional nutritionist. Any and all nutritional information shared is an estimate. If you're following a specific diet or counting calories, we suggest you use the nutrition calculator of your choice. Calories can vary depending on the brands and products used.
Rachel
These are so cute! Thank you for sharing, my kids loved them.
Emma
I'm glad they enjoyed them!
Corrine
I made these with my best friends and we had the best time!!
Emma
Making treats with friends is the best! Happy to hear you had fun making them!
McKenna
So creative and delicious! Perfect for the kids and easy to make!
Emma
Thank you!
Melissa
Couldn’t make a more perfect treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s day!
Emma
Thanks for making them Melissa! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Jess
I wish I had seen these in time for St. Patrick's Day! These are totally going on the list for next year. So fun, and they look easy to make, too!
Emma
I'm glad to hear it! They're really easy to make, it's all in the decorations!