A Favorite Dessert from the pig pen

When I married my husband almost 10 years ago, his family introduced me to a dessert I had never heard of before in my life.  They call it Robert Redford.  It is a delicious chocolate pudding concoction with a shortbread like crust.  Yummy!

 

The thing that makes me laugh about this dessert which  got its name because people say "It's better than Robert Redford" is we now have a generation or two of people that don't even know who Robert Redford is.  I think my daughter would prefer to call this dessert Better than the Jonas Brothers or Zac Efron. If you don't have a young daughter, you may be wondering who the Jonas Brothers or Zac Efron are, but they are common names at our house. 

Any way, I made this dessert for our family's Father's Day Celebration as it is one of my father-in-law's favorites and its relatively easy to make.

 Ingredients
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
8 oz. cream cheese (can use regular, reduced fat, or fat free)
1 c. powdered sugar
Large container of Cool Whip
2 packages of instant chocolate pudding mix
3 c. cold milk (can use whole, 2%, or skim milk)

Mix first three ingredients (the nuts are optional, I prefer it without nuts in the crust) together.

Spread the "dough" in a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let the crust cool before adding the additional layers.  

While the crust is cooling, cream the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Cool Whip. 

 Spread on the cooled baked crust.

Whip the pudding with the cold milk and spread on next.

  

Spread the remainder of a large Cool Whip container on top and garnish with nuts if desired.  

Chill and store in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy!