Lemon Lush Pie

I must start by saying that I did NOT take this picture, it is from familyoven.com and was posted by Marg.  It looks exactly like what I made (because it is pretty much what I made) and I forgot to take a picture so here ya go.

I love this dessert, it is so light and fluffy and incredibly tasty.  The recipe calls for instant pudding but I made it with the cook kind because I bought the wrong stuff.  It takes far longer if you do it that way but I do think the lemon is more flavorful when it's the cooking kind.  I used more cool whip then most of the recipes call for because that is what the recipe I was given called for, though as I reread it if you actually go by the cup and a half and not 12 oz description it would be what the recipes online said.  I think it would be better with a little less cool whip then I did in the bottom layer so the cream cheese flavor can stand out a little more.  The recipe below is actually for a chocolate pudding because that is what I was making the first time I made this, just sub out the lemon pudding where the chocolate goes.  If you use the cook lemon pudding you will need to have eggs and a few other things as well (check the box), and you'll have to wait for the pudding to cool before placing it on the cream cheese layer.  It was really good so I would say it's completely worth the wait. 

This recipe will be remade for certain!  Though I'm thinking we might leave out some of the nuts next time we make it as Richard wasn't a huge fan of having them in the crust.

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Chocolate Pudding Dessert
From Julie Jewell

Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts

Filling Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cool whip (12 oz size)
1 cup powdered sugar

Topping Ingredients:

1 (5 oz) package of chocolate pudding
1 (8 ounce) container cool whip
2 1/2 cup cups milk

Directions:

For Crust:  Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt margarine and then mix well with the margarine and nuts. Press into a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In the meantime, for the filling, cream together the cream cheese, cool whip and powdered sugar and then pour over cooled crust.

Then make the chocolate pudding according to package directions, but use only 2 1/2 cups of milk. Spread the pudding over the filling layer.

Spread a layer of cool whip on top of that. Sprinkle with nuts and refrigerate until ready to serve.