No Bake Peppermint Dessert Recipe
The bold minty flavor and sweet crunch of cookies makes this layered peppermint dessert recipe the perfect treat for a holiday celebration! Your guests will love the classic holiday flavors and you'll love how easy it is to prepare! Just mix up the no-bake pudding filling and layer in the crushed vanilla sandwich cookies to create an impressive dessert with just a few minutes of prep work in the kitchen.
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What Do I Need to Make This Peppermint Dessert?
When it comes to quick and easy holiday desserts, it doesn't get much better than these pudding cups! That's because there's no baking involved and you can whip them up with just a handful of ingredients. To make your own delicious peppermint treats, you'll need:
- Vanilla pudding mix
- Milk
- Cool Whip
- Peppermint extract
- Red gel food coloring
- Crushed vanilla Oreo cookies
- Crushed peppermint candy
How Do I Make This No-Bake Peppermint Dessert?
You'll love just how simple this festive dessert is to prepare! That's because you can mix it up in a matter of minutes. In fact, the hardest part about preparing this sweet treat is waiting for it to chill! To make your own peppermint pudding cups, just follow these simple instructions.
Step One: Mix the Pudding
Combine the vanilla pudding mix and cold milk in a large mixing bowl. Beat the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth and all the pudding is dissolved. Then, place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill for 5 to 10 minutes to help it thicken.
Step Two: Add the Peppermint
Once the pudding has had time to thicken, fold in the Cool Whip, red food coloring, and peppermint extract. Mix all the ingredients together until they're well combined, adding more food coloring, if needed, until the desired shade of red is reached.
Step Three: Layer the Ingredients
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Add a couple of tablespoons of crushed Oreo cookies in the bottom of each serving cup, then top the crushed cookies with a couple of tablespoons of pudding. Repeat the layers until each cup is full. Garnish with crushed peppermint candy, then chill in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve your treats.
Peppermint Dessert Tips and Tricks
Making this dessert for your next Christmas party couldn't be easier - especially when you use these tips and tricks! Just follow these suggestions for whipping up this easy pudding treat for your guests to enjoy.
- Use instant pudding for faster prep. When shopping for your ingredients from the grocery store, make sure to grab instant vanilla pudding for this recipe. This type of pudding doesn't require you to cook the ingredients, which means you can whip up your dessert in minutes!
- Crush the cookies in your food processor. To get a finely crushed cookie crumble in minutes, use your food processor. Add the cookies to the bowl of the food processor and pulse the blades until the cookies are finely chopped.
- Make sure to mix in gel food coloring. When picking the food coloring for your peppermint treats, it's best to use the gel variety. In addition to adding a brighter hue to your pudding, gel food color won't change the consistency of your dessert they way liquid food coloring can.
- Use a hand mixer for smoother pudding. Although you can easily whip the pudding and milk together with a whisk, a hand mixer will make the work faster and easier. After combining the ingredients, beat them together on low speed until all the pudding is dissolved.
Peppermint Dessert Recipe Ideas
This delicious treat is perfect for any holiday celebration - from a classroom party with your kids to a family get-together on Christmas Eve. And the best part is that it's easy to customize to suit your guests' tastes. Try these recipe ideas as you put together your own Christmas snacks.
- Make it chocolate. Peppermint and chocolate go hand in hand, which means adding some chocolate flavor to this dessert is a great idea! You could swap out the vanilla pudding with chocolate pudding. Or use chocolate Oreo cookies instead of vanilla.
- Add peppermint candy to the pudding. Give your pudding cups even more peppermint flavor with the addition of crushed peppermint candy or candy canes to the pudding mixture. Before layering your ingredients in the serving cups, mix some crushed candies into the pudding mixture.
Can I Make This Peppermint Dessert in Advance?
One of the bet things about this simple dessert is that you can easily prepare it ahead of time and serve it when you're ready! Simply prepare the pudding and layer the dessert in the cups. Then, store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
How Do You Store Peppermint Pudding Cups?
If you have extra pudding cups after your party is over, you should keep them refrigerated. To keep the cookies from getting stale, it's a good idea to cover the cups or transfer the desserts to an airtight container. They'll stay good in the fridge for up to three days.
No-Bake Peppermint Dessert Recipe
Ingredients
- 6.8 oz vanilla pudding mix 2-3.4 ounce boxes
- 3 cups cold milk
- 8 oz Cool Whip
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- Red gel food coloring
- 30 vanilla Oreo cookies crushed
- ¼ cup peppermints crushed, for garnish
- 6 serving cups 5-6oz each
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the pudding mix and cold milk and whisk together until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Chill the pudding mixture in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken up.
- Fold the Cool Whip, red food coloring and peppermint extract into the pudding until combined.
- Adjust red gel food coloring until you reach the desired shade of red.
- Add a couple tablespoons of crushed vanilla sandwich cookies to each cup, followed by a couple tablespoons of pudding. Repeat until each cup is full.
- Sprinkle the crushed peppermints on top of each cup for garnish.
- Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
