recipe: chocolate mint pudding delight

As you know if you haven't been living under a rock, the season finale of The Bachelorette was Sunday night. I think Emily Maynard's season was my favorite yet—the guys seemed normal (mostly), Emily clearly had her head on straight, and we got to meet Sean Lowe (the man that, at least judging by Twitter, approximately 87,000 women want to marry. Including this woman).

Anyway, we had Bachelorette viewing parties at my parents' house throughout the season, and we decided to make snacks for the finale. My chocolate chip cookie dough dip got rave reviews from Al and my mom, and Janae loved Blendy's peanut butter bars, but my favorite was the chocolate/cheesecake/mint concoction I came up with. I adapted a recipe I found on Pinterest (where else?) to make this delightful dessert, which turned out remarkably similar to a dessert a woman at the church I grew up in brought to every potluck. Yummy! 

Chocolate Mint Pudding Delight
adapted from Mint Chocolate No Bake Cheesecake on mybakingaddiction.com.

1 (8 oz) brick Neufchatel (⅓ less fat cream cheese), softened
½ c powdered sugar
1 (8 oz) carton light whipped topping, divided
1½ c skim milk
1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant chocolate pudding
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp peppermint extract*
¼ c Andes Crème De Menthe Baking Chips

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add extracts and mix until incorporated. **Beat in ⅔ of the whipped topping (this can be approximate). Set aside. In another bowl, combine milk and instant pudding and whisk until thick. ***Spread cream cheese mixture in a serving bowl or 8x8 glass baking dish. Spread pudding on top of cream cheese layer. Top with remaining whipped topping and Andes chips. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

*Even though it doesn't sound like much, ⅛ tsp will make this pretty minty. Not a problem if you like a lot of mint (like me!), but you may want to just use a couple drops or leave it out completely. You could also go with other flavor combinations, like almond extract and Heath toffee pieces. The sky's the limit here!

**The original recipe said to gently fold in the whipped topping. As mine was still mostly frozen and I lacked the patience to wait for it to thaw, I just dumped it in and beat the living daylights out of it. And it turned out fine!

***This would look great layered in parfait glasses or individual ramekins.

The finished product. Thanks, Beth, for the beautiful Spanish serving dish!

I was too busy eating to get a picture on the plate, so this is
the best view of the layers you're going to get!

The cookie dough dip—basically the only thing we dipped into it was a spoon!

Blendy totally dominates the graham crackers for the peanut butter bars!