If you love this Homemade Pudding Cups recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I like dessert a lot. It's my favorite part of eating, really. Sometimes I'll eat lunch only so I can get to dessert. So if I'm planning a party. you can rest assured that I will have dessert covered. Dinner may be an afterthought, but there will be dessert.

If you're planning a bridal shower, you can have dessert covered too. Just make our homemade pudding cups. This homemade pudding cups recipe is so easy, and you probably have all the ingredients for it in your kitchen right now (I did).

Homemade Pudding Cups (perfect for bridal showers)

What's great about this recipe is you can make it ahead of time, then keep it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it at the bridal shower you're hosing.

What You'll Need:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla
• Mini chocolate chips
• Whipped cream

What You'll Do:

Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a container to save them. You don't need them for this recipe, but you could use them for breakfast tomorrow.

Whisk the egg yolks by hand for about a minute until they start to foam up. Whisk in the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of milk.

Set aside.

Put sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and the rest of the milk in a sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat until bubbles start to form, stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat. Slowly pour 1/4 cup into the bowl with the egg yolks. Stir quickly until completely combined. Repeat four times.

Pour the contents of the bowl back into the sauce pan and cook on high until it reaches a full boil. Turn the heat down and it will basically thicken instantly. Stir it, then remove from heat.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour it into a cool plastic bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic wrap on to the surface of the pudding.

Set it in the fridge for about three hours.

Using an ice cream scoop, place three scoopfuls into a 4oz. mason jar.

Top with a layer of mini chocolate chips.

Add a generous helping of whipped cream and drop on a few extra mini chocolate chips.

Serve immediately (before the whipped cream starts to melt).

Best toppings for homemade pudding cups:

I topped our homemade pudding cups with chocolate chips and whipped cream. But you could also top them with:

• Homemade sprinkles
• Crushed nuts
• Crushed vanilla wafer cookies
• Homemade Chocolate Shell
• Homemade chocolate sauce

How long does homemade pudding last?

Homemade pudding will last in the refrigerator for up to one week. So if you're planning a bridal shower and you have other things to do, know you can make this homemade pudding ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.

Of course, if you do that, be sure to store it in an air tight container. And don't spoon it into the mason jars until you're ready to serve.

Planning a bridal shower?These links will help:

More bridal shower desserts:

• Mint To Be Mint Chocolate Muffins
• Mini Bundt Cakes
• Italian Rainbow Cookies
• Red Velvet Pound Cake Hearts
• Yogurt-Covered Grapes Dessert

Bridal shower games:

• Bridal Shower Word Search
• Famous Couples Bridal Shower Game
• Bridal Shower Word Scramble
• What's in your purse game

Bridal shower favors:

• DIY "She Got Her Rock" Rock Candy Favor
• Bridal Shower Soap Favors
• Mint Sugar Scrub Bridal Shower Favors

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you top this homemade pudding with anything else?

If you love this Homemade Fudge Wedding Favor recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

My mom makes homemade fudge every Christmas to go with her famous cookie platters. It's one of those treats that you sneak into the fridge for. You know, the kind of treat that you take, then move everything in the container around a little bit to cover the empty spot your sneaky hands just created.

I never made it myself, though, until 2015.

See, it rained for about ten days in a row here, and Pete and I braved the hurricane and flooding to pick up some groceries. So of course, we had to pick up the ingredients to make homemade fudge.

Because calories don't count during a hurricane.

As I was making it, I realized what a perfect wedding favor this would be and, thus, this post was born.

Homemade Fudge Wedding Favor

This recipe below is for basic homemade fudge. You can use this as a base for all different sorts of fudge.

I have a couple examples of fudge varieties at the end of this post, so be sure to check those out after you have the basic recipe down.

Homemade Fudge Wedding Favor Recipe:

What You'll Need:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla

What You'll Do:


Combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in microwave safe bowl.

Microwave it for one minute.

Add in the vanilla. Stir until all the ingredients are combined and the mixture starts getting thick.

If the chocolate chips aren't melted completely, you can add the bowl back into the microwave at 30 second intervals.


Pour the bowl's contents into a foil-lined 8x8 cake pan. Spread it out evenly.

Chill it in the fridge, at least two hours.

Cut into bite-sized 1-inch pieces. This recipe will make 64 1-inch pieces.


Resist the temptation to eat the entire batch. I know, it's hard.

Try. To. Be. Strong.

You have a wedding dress to fit into, after all.

How To Package Homemade Fudge

What You'll Need:

• Fudge (or what's left of your batch, anyway)
• Baker's twine
• Butcher paper
• Scissors

What You'll Do:


Cut the butcher paper into 4x4 inch squares.

Put a piece of fudge in the center of the paper square. Fold two opposite sides to the middle. Fold the other two sides in. Set aside.

Do this three times, with three pieces of fudge, then stack those three pieces.

Tie a piece of baker's twine around it. Tie a thank you tag to it when you get to the top, then use the excess twine make a bow atop.

How absolutely adorable would that look at everyone's seats?

This homemade fudge wedding favor recipe makes 64 pieces. So that's about 21 favors per batch. If you're having 100 guests at your wedding, you need to make four batches to complete your favors.

This fudge was so easy to make and Pete and I actually made it together, so this sounds like a good bonding experience for you and your fiance.

Homemade Wedding Fudge Varieties

Now that you have the basic homemade fudge recipe down, you can work on varieties.

Some of our favorite homemade fudge varieties are:

• S'mores Fudge
• Rocky Road Fudge
• Peanut Butter Fudge
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge
• White Chocolate Cherry Fudge

You can add nuts -- although, if you're doing this as a favor, I would avoid those because people may have allergies -- candy cane, marshmallows ... you could use white chips, peanut butter chips ... I mean, really, your possibilities are pretty endless.

If you want the additions of those things to be mix ins, stir them in after you have melted the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in the microwave. That way, they'll be in the mixture when you pour it into your pan.

If you want them to be toppings, pour the fudge into the pan and spread it evenly first, then add your toppings on top of the fudge while it's still warm.

Use the back of a fork to press the toppings into the fudge.

If you don't push the toppings into the fudge before cooling it, there is a very good chance that they'll fall off and won't actually stick into your fudge.

How To Make Fudge In Your Wedding Colors

This could actually end up being its own post, honestly. But for now, we're going to just give you a quick overview of what you could do to make two toned fudge.

Also, we're pretending you have two wedding colors (so it will look like the image above, just without the candy on top). If you have more colors, you can just adapt this to include more colors.

Two Tone Fudge:

Start with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 3 cups of white chocolate chips, and food coloring in your wedding colors.

Split the white chocolate chips between two bowls. Pour the sweetened condensed milk between both bowls. Set one aside.

Take one of the bowls and microwave it for one minute. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Add a few drops of your first food coloring to the mixture, then stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into a foil lined 8x8 pan, spread it evenly, and put it in the fridge for at least two hours.

After it has chilled, microwave the bowl you set aside. Add your second food coloring color to this mixture.

Carefully pour the second color on top of the first color and spread it evenly. Put this back in the fridge to chill at least two hours before cutting.

Just like the fudge above, you can wrap it in butcher paper and twine. Definitely choose twine that matches your wedding colors if you do that. But, since you went through all the trouble of making this match your wedding colors, you should just buy clear, cellophane treat bags and package them in those so everyone can see your hard work. You can even get a foil twist tie to match your wedding colors.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What would you put in your homemade fudge wedding favor?

Chocolate Cracker Bark (Perfect for a bridal shower make-ahead dessert)

If you love this Chocolate Cracker Bark recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I've been to bridal showers at restaurants and others at someone's home. Both are great. But, I'll be honest: If you throw a bridal shower at your house, it's a lot more work. We host themed parties all the time (New Year's, Super Bowl, etc.), and the biggest tip I can give you is make as much as you can ahead of time. Like my Chocolate Cracker Bark (known in some circles as saltine toffee bark).

My mom got this recipe from one of her former coworkers. It's a lot easier than some of the recipes for this. And easier is better when you have to cook, decorate, and create games for a bridal shower.

Some recipes for saltine toffee bark ask you to melt butter and sugar to create a caramel. I've done that before to make homemade toffee, and, while it's delicious, it's sticky and a lot of cleanup. My Chocolate Cracker Bark is a lot simpler.

Plus, you can make this saltine cracker candy recipe ahead of time. You can make it the weekend before the shower, if you have extra time and cross it off your list. That way, you have one thing less to do during bridal shower week.

Chocolate Cracker Bark

I used traditional, salted crackers for this recipe. My mom prefers to use whole wheat saltines. Either works, but, to be honest, I laugh at the thought of using whole wheat in these -- because she does it since she says they're healthier.

If I'm covering this treat in melted butter and chocolate, I'm pretty sure healthy is not the key word in the recipe.

But if whole wheat makes you feel better about a stick (or two) of butter, they're fine too.

What You'll Need:

• 36 salted saltine crackers
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What You'll Do:

I'm a big fan of simplifying everything for this recipe ... even the clean up. You're going to have a lot of cleaning to do between getting your home ready for the bridal shower and then cleaning up after the party. So simplify the cleaning you do from cooking with an silicone baking mat.

It's actually a good thing to use when you're baking cookies. It helps to transfer the heat in your pan so that you cookies bake evenly (hence the name). An additional perk is that you can just pull it out of your cookie sheet when you're done baking and you don't have to scrub the cookie sheet. You also don't have to use something disposable like foil or parchment paper, so you're saving the Earth as well.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Then, line a 16x11 cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Top it with one layer of salted saltine crackers (36 crackers should fill your entire sheet).

Melt one stick of butter. Evenly pour the butter over the crackers. (Small aside: If you want this to me more brittle, you can melt two sticks of butter. To me, though, that's a lot of butter and not really worth the taste difference.)

Bake for 15 minutes, until the crackers start to brown and the butter starts to bubble.

Top with the chocolate chips and stick it back in the oven for two minutes.

While that's in the oven, finely chop your chopped walnuts. I always chop mine smaller than they come in the package.

When the chocolate is melty, take the crackers out of the oven and spread the chocolate with a knife.

Quickly top with walnuts. My tip: Use a clean knife to push the walnuts down into the chocolate. If you don't, they will all fall off.

Cool it on a counter for about 30 minutes. Then, put it in the fridge for a couple hours (or a couple days; like I said, you can make this ahead of time).

When you're ready, pull the cookie sheet out of the fridge. You can then snap the chocolate cracker bark apart into large pieces. Put them back in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

You could probably make Club cracker toffee by using Club crackers instead of saltines. But, if I'm throwing the shower, I'm gonna use Club crackers to make our Bacon-Wrapped Crackers with brown sugar instead.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this Chocolate Cracker Bark?

Throwing a bridal shower?

Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower Tips

Bridal Shower Word Search

Bacon Caramel Popcorn Wedding Favor

If you love this Bacon Caramel Popcorn Wedding Favor recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

Bacon is still so popular right now. It's delicious and everyone I know loves bacon. Even if you're vegan, there's a bacon out there that you love. But a few years ago, there was a bacon renaissance and people realized it was more than just a breakfast side. There's bacon chocolate, a restaurant by us sells (literally) just a mug of bacon, and the amount of bacon served through fast food restaurants sky rocketed (I actually remember when it was a super big deal to get a bacon cheeseburger at 11 at night because we got a new fast food place in town that sold one ... for $.99).

So, of course, adding bacon to your wedding makes perfect sense. And I have a great way to do it: Bacon Caramel Popcorn. It's actually a lot easier than you would think, which is good if you're DIY'ing your wedding favors and bad if you're counting your calories.

Bacon Caramel Popcorn Wedding Favor

This is a really tasty wedding favor. When I was eating it, I thought unsalted peanuts would be a great addition too. But that's for home, not for a wedding. You don't want someone with nut allergies having a reaction at your wedding.

What You'll Need:

• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 3/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

What You'll Do:

Make the bacon, then set it off to the side to cool. When it has cooled, break it into small pieces and keep them off to the side for now.

Pour 1/3 of the bacon grease into a large pot (I use a non-electric pressure cooker). Add the popcorn kernels, then swirl the pot around to make sure the kernels are covered. Then, pop.

If you've never done this before, it's actually pretty simple. You cover the pressure cooker, then turn the stove up to seven. Let the oil heat up, picking up the pot and swirling it around every so often. The kernels will pop and you will have the best popcorn. You could add salt and melted butter and enjoy this with a movie, but we're not stopping there because ... bacon.

Wipe down the pan you used to make the bacon, then add your butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to it. Cook it on high until it is combined and starts to boil.

Turn the heat down to low and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. Add the bacon.

Then, quickly, pour in the popcorn and begin to coat it, adding more as you can until it is all coated in the mixture.

You have to be kind of quick with this or the popcorn can burn. So definitely don't add the popcorn and then run off to do something else.

Once the popcorn is filled, you can put it in an air tight container until you're ready to assemble your favors. To do that, you'll want to pick up popcorn holders. They come in a variety of colors (including metallics!) and designs (polka dots, stripes, and chevron). Overfill the holders with the bacon caramel popcorn mixture. You want it to sort of remind people of the cartoon popcorn holders where the popcorn is way over the top of the box.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this bacon caramel popcorn wedding favor?

Banana Nut Muffins (perfect for a bridal shower brunch)

If you love this Banana Nut Muffins recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I am the biggest fan of the discount produce rack at my local grocery store. I check it every time I go shopping. Mostly, I'm on the hunt for ripe bananas. I found a ton last time I was in the store, too many to make banana bread. So instead, I made banana nut muffins.

As I was making them, I kept thinking how perfect they would be for a bridal shower brunch. If you're planning on throwing one, you need to add these muffins to your menu.

Banana Nut Muffins

What You'll Need:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What You'll Do:

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Peel and mash your bananas until they are complete mush. I use a potato masher to make this a little easier. Melt the butter and stir it into the bananas. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla and stir until it is all completely incorporated.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugars, and half the walnuts. Stir very gently until everything is incorporated.

Fill a cupcake-lined muffin pan about 2/3 of the way full, then top each with a generous amount of leftover walnuts.

Bake for 25 minutes, then cool the muffins on a wire rack.

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute the nuts for mini chocolate chips. If you are, double the chocolate chips to 1 cup instead of a half cup. Then, instead of splitting them between the batter and a topping, stir all the chips into the batter itself.

If you're looking for other recipes for a bridal shower, I have a few you will love:

• Bacon-Wrapped Crackers
• Mint To Be Muffins
• Mini Pudding Cups

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these banana nut muffins for a bridal shower?

Planning a bridal shower?

Check out our tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower.

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers Topped With Brown Sugar (perfect bridal shower appetizer)

If you love this Bacon-Wrapped Crackers recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I was trying to think of an appetizer to bring to my friend's Christmas Eve/birthday. She and her family, they're bacon people. There are people who like bacon, and then there are bacon people. But no matter what, bacon is a crowd pleaser. So I created what I've been calling bacon crack: bacon-wrapped crackers topped with brown sugar.

Oh. My. Gosh.

These are my absolute most favorite appetizer I've ever made. They're so good. And they're the perfect bridal shower appetizer, especially if you're in charge of the menu. They're simple to put together, slow cook for a while, and don't need any attention so you can go on cooking the rest of the menu. And they'll please everyone (unless, of course, you have a vegan at the party).

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers Topped With Brown Sugar

This recipe is enough to make one batch of 36 crackers. You might want to make a couple batches depending on how many people you have, how much food you're planning to make, and how many you think you're gonna snack on before you serve them.

What You'll Need:

• 12 slices of bacon
• 36 rectangle-shaped crackers
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

What You'll Do:

Pre-heat the oven to 250.

Put a cooling rack on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet.

Cut the bacon into thirds.

Wrap one-third of bacon around the center of a cracker. Place the cracker, bacon-fold size down, on the cooling rack. Continue until the bacon it done.

Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the bacon.

Bake for 1.5 hours.

Now, you're going to want to eat these right away, but try and resist. These are a lot better if you let them cool completely before you serve them. Waiting gives the crackers a chance to harden up again and it gives you a chance to finish cooking for the bridal shower.

If you're looking for other recipes for your bridal shower menu, we have a few Bridal Shower Desserts:

• Mint To Be Mint Chocolate Muffins
• Italian Rainbow Cookies
• Mini Bundt Cakes
• Yogurt-Covered Grapes
• Homemade Pudding Cups

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these bacon-wrapped crackers for your bridal shower?

Are you hosting a bridal shower?
Check out our tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower.

Italian Rainbow Cookies (perfect for bridal showers)

If you love this Italian Rainbow Cookies recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

Cookies are the quintessential bridal shower dessert. Yes, of course, you're going to order a cake that says, "Showers of happiness" on it because that's what you do even though, let's be honest, showers of happiness doesn't actually make much sense.

But you get a cake because you get a cake. You also should put out cookies because everyone loves cookies. You can go to a store and pick up a tray of cookies for a gazillion dollars a pound or you can make your own cookies. Personally, I say make them. I have an amazing recipe for Italian Rainbow Cookies that taste exactly like any you'd get out of a bakery up north. They are a little labor intensive, but they're so worth it.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

Keep in mind, these are a two day cookie. You do have to let them sit in the fridge overnight before you put the chocolate on them. So they're not something you can make the morning of before everyone comes over. 

They do keep really well in the freezer (we've kept them there for weeks before), so feel free to make them as early as you need to.

What You'll Need: 

• 4 eggs
• 7oz. almond paste
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• Red food coloring
• Green food coloring
• 1/4 cup red raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup apricot preserve
• 1 cup chocolate chips

What You'll Do:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Separate your eggs. In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites using the wire whip until stiff peaks form. Set the eggs aside.

Also in the stand mixer, but this time using the flat beater, combine the almond paste, butter, sugar, and egg yolks.

When they're combined, add in the flour. Do half, beat until combined, then add the second half. Combine. Fold in the egg whites.

Separate the batter into three separate bowls. Add eight drops of red food coloring to one and stir until it is combined. Add eight drops of green food coloring to the second and stir until combined. Leave the third as is.

Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.

Line three 9x13 pans with parchment paper. Spread one dough per pan, trying to make all three as even as possible.

Bake each pan, simultaneously, for about ten minutes, until the ends become golden brown.

Let them cool completely.

Take the green cake out of the pan, and put it on a large piece of foil. Sread the raspberry jam on top of the green cake. You want to make sure it as even as possible. Anything too thick can drip into your cake.

Place the yellow cake on top of the jam. Spread the apricot preserve on top, again, as evenly as possible.

Top with the red cake. Now, with this one, make sure you are putting the top against the jam. That way, the top of the cookie will be the flat bottom of the cake.

Wrap the cookie completely in foil, then put it back into a 9x13 pan. Put your heaviest cookbooks on top of the cookie and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, melt the chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate on top of the cookie and spread it evenly. 

When the chocolate is completely cooled, cut the cookies into rectangles.

These would be great to put out on a three-tier serving stand. I would suggest a homemade fudge on the top tier, these on the middle tier, and our mint to be chocolate mint muffins on the bottom tier.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these Italian Rainbow Cookies?

Planning a bridal shower?

Check out this Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower.