Cheat alert! But boy, is this ever worth it! My sweet mother in law, Peggy has been making this dessert for years for nearly every family gathering – because we expect it and want nothing else.  The various members of the Macaulay family have differing taste buds (especially Uncle Jay!) but one thing our mouths agree on is the desire to devour Peggy’s Graham Cracker dessert. It has kind of become the Macaulay drug. We want it. We need it. We MUST have it! This is a simple ice box type dessert that has the perfect mix of ingredients to make you keep coming back for more and more and more.

13×9 pan

Box of graham crackers

1 lg pkg of JELLO vanilla pudding (NOT instant)

2-3 C icing sugar

1 1/2 C whipping cream

3 cubes of semi sweet baking chocolate (I usually use a bit more. Shhh….)

Place a layer of graham crackers over the bottom of the pan. Cover completely. You may have to break some of the pieces in order to fit in a flat layer. Cook the pudding according to directions. Pour over the crackers and let cool. Whip the whipping cream (do not add any sugar) and spread over the cooled pudding. Place another layer of graham crackers over this. Whisk 2 C of icing sugar with about 1 tbsp water in order to create a thin paste. Add more sugar or water as needed until you achieve a smooth, spreadable consistency that is not too runny. Pour over top of the graham cracker layer and let set. Finally, melt 1-2 cubes of the chocolate in microwave safe bowl and squiggle with a fork onto the top layer. Chill for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

I’m gonna be honest here – the part of the pan you can’t see in the picture below….well, we couldn’t photograph it, because we had devoured the entire end of the pan. Oopsie.

Food Photography by: Rebecca O’Hara Photography