Vanilla Pudding with English Toffee Bits

I'm not normally a big vanilla pudding person.  Give me butterscotch or pistachio or lemon any time. But what I am is a woman who when she needs dessert, needs it now and as recipes went, this was a simple and easy one to put together with what I had in the house. And life is always better with English toffee bits after all.

Since I had no milk in the house, I substituted Half and Half for a very rich and creamy pudding. This would have been perfect with some whipped cream, but in lieu of that sprinkling English toffee bits on top made for a nice flavor contrast. Even if this wasn't one of my favorite pudding flavors, it was still a satisfactory, flavorful pudding that did the job on a cold fall evening.

Vanilla Pudding

Adapted from Ehow.Com)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• English Toffee bits for garnish (optional) 

1. In large sauce pan, blend together the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Set aside for a minute.
   
   
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and add in the milk. Stir into cornstarch mixture.
   
   
3. Cook over medium heat until it thickens but be sure to stir it the entire time. Constant stirring will ensure that it doesn't burn.
   
4. Once it thickens, continue to cook and stir for an additional minute.
   
   
5. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Blend well until smooth and creamy.
6. Pour into a serving dish (one large or individual serving size dishes) and chill before serving. However, this is really great still warm. You can also pour this into a graham cracker crust or a cookie pie shell for a wonderful pie once chilled.