Heavenly Chocolate Cake

By draingal

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
• cooking spray
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup 1/3 less fat, cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz. carton frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
• 3 cups 1% milk
• 2 (3.9 oz.) packages chocolate instant pudding mix
• unsweetened cocoa (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare crust, mix flour and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and pulse 2 times to blend. Add butter and pulse 10 times or until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans and firmly press mixture into the bottom of a prepared 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Place in oven and bake at 325 for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
To prepare filling, place 1 cup sugar and cream cheeses in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Stir in half of whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture over crust. Cover loosely and place in refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding mix and beat with a mixer at medium speed for approximately 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until pudding is set. Spread the pudding mixture on top of the cream cheese layer. Spread remaining half of thawed whipped topping over pudding layer. Cover and place in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Remove and top with cocoa, if desired.