Crock Pot Desserts

I never thought of making dessert in a Crock Pot before tonight, but I saw this recipe in my Crock Pot Five Ingredients or Less cookbook, and thought I'd give it a try. I brought this to my small group tonight. The result: they loved it! And so I am passing it along to you. Enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

- 1 package (6-serving) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix

- 3 cups milk

- 1 package (18 1/4 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix plus ingredients to prepare mix

- Whipped cream topping or ice cream (optional)

- Crushed peppermint candies (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray 4-quart Crock Pot slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place pudding mix in Crock Pot slow cooker. Whisk in milk.

2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Carefully pour cake mix into Crock Pot sow cooker. Do not stir. Cover; cook on High 1 1/2 hours or until cake is set [Note from Sarah: I set mine for 1 1/2 hrs, and wished that I had had another additional 20-30 minutes or so before serving]. Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream and crushed peppermint candies, if desired.

OR, the Alternative recipe: Tonight I didn't have any of the ingredients for the chocolate cake. I'll admit, too, that I'm not a huge chocolate fan. This recipe sounds a bit too rich for my tastes. So tonight I made the same recipe, but I substituted the chocolate pudding for vanilla, substituted the chocolate cake mix for spiced cake mix, and substituted crushed peppermints for gingersnaps. The result: amazing. It was a big hit.

If you try this recipe using different ingredients like I did, will you post a comment about what you used and how it turned out? I'd be curious to know how everyone else has tried this recipe.