Chocolate Eclair Dessert

My sister-in-law first made this dessert for us a couple of years ago when we were at her house celebrating Memorial Day. It was so good that I made it several times that summer.

We went to my mom's house to celebrate her birthday tonight (even though her birthday was actually Monday). I wanted to make a fairly light dessert since we'll be eating plenty of the not-so-good-for-you stuff over the holiday weekend. It had been forever since I last made this, so I knew it would be perfect for the occasion.

The thing is, in order to make this dessert a "not-so-bad-for-you" selection, you really need to make some adjustments--low fat ingredients, whenever possible. I generally cook/bake like that whenever possible anyway, especially in a case like this, when I feel like it really doesn't affect the outcome any. I've made notes of my "adjustments" in the recipe below.

Instead of buying a whole can of chocolate frosting to only use a little bit on the top of this, I decided to sprinkle chocolate chips in the middle of one of the layers instead. It worked well, but if you want the "real" thing, you're supposed to top it with chocolate frosting. Obviously, frosting sort of negates the whole "dessert that's not that bad for you" quality of this. Honestly, it's good, even without any chocolate. But I digress.

The other thing is that this is super easy to make. I threw it together after work tonight, right before we left to go to my mom's.

Oh, and one more change I made this time--I added another layer of graham crackers. I seem to remember in the past that I felt like there weren't enough. Truthfully, though, it didn't need it, and next time I make this, I'll stick with the three layers that the recipe calls for.

Chocolate Eclair Dessert
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
- 2 individual packages of graham crackers (I use low fat graham crackers when possible)
- 2 (3 oz.) packages of vanilla instant pudding (I use sugar free, fat free)
- 3 cups milk (I use skim)
- 1 (8 oz.) container of frozen whipped topping, thawed (I use fat free)
- 1 (16 oz.) can of prepared chocolate frosting (As I mentioned, I skipped this and used some chocolate chips in the middle layer instead)

Directions:
1. Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan with graham crackers.

2. In a bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Stir well (mixture will become very thick). Stir whipped topping into pudding mixture.

3. Spread half of pudding mixture over graham cracker layer. (If you use the chocolate chips, sprinkle them over the pudding at this point.) Top with another layer of graham crackers, and then the remaining pudding. Top all with a final layer of graham crackers and frost with chocolate frosting. Refrigerate until serving.