A classic creamy chocolate pie, made completely from scratch! This recipe is a deliciously simple staple for every home baker, served over a simple homemade pie crust and topped with from-scratch whipped cream!
Fall is baking season, it’s pie and pumpkin season, made for apples and salted caramel and kitchens warmed by 350 degree ovens — all things cozy and delicious. Since tomorrow is the first official day of Fall (!!!) I thought a pie recipe would be appropriate.
I teased you on Monday that I wouldn’t offer you my easy pie crust recipe without giving you something to fill it with, so I hope you saved that recipe because you’re going to need it today! One pre-baked pie crust is the first ingredient for today’s homemade chocolate pie (see why I went into all the details about blind baking?!).
Remember how I mentioned that my pie crust recipe is extremely easy to make? Well that’s the hardest part of this whole chocolate pie because the filling is a simple chocolate pudding that is a breeze to make.
Making pudding that didn’t come out of a tiny powder filled Jell-o box was always intimidating to me, but now that I’ve been making it for so long I don’t know what it was that was so scary about it. Pudding, or in this case, chocolate pie filling, only requires a few ingredients to make.
We start with sugar, egg yolks (you can save the whites for an Angel Food cake or Funfetti cake!), cornstarch (to help firm up the chocolate pie and make it sliceable rather than soupy!), salt, milk, and heavy cream. I’ve made chocolate pies before using solely milk and no cream, but I like the richness of the cream and decided it worked best with this recipe, so I definitely recommend it.
Once these ingredients have cooked and come to a boil (make sure you’re whisking almost constantly!), then you’ll add your chocolate, your butter, your vanilla extract. The heat of your pudding mixture will melt your chocolate and butter and it will all come together as a silky chocolate filling right beneath your whisk.
I recommend running your pie filling through a fine mesh sieve before pouring it into your pie crust, this will eliminate any clumps that may have formed while your pie is cooking. I just place my sieve over a glass bowl, then pour the chocolate pie filling from the saucepan into the bowl through the sieve, using a spoon or spatula to gently help work the filling through.
You want your pie crust to be cooled and you want to let the chocolate filling cool a bit before you pour it into the pie crust. I recommend letting it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before adding it to your pie shell — just be sure to stir it every so often to prevent a layer or skin from forming on the surface (if you do notice a skin starting to form, just whisk it very well and it will dissolve).
For this very same reason, after you’ve poured your chocolate layer you’ll want to cover it with cling wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is pressed flush against the surface of the pie — this will keep a thick, unappetizing skin from forming over the surface.
Then there’s the whipped cream…
As I’ve mentioned before, I nearly always whip my own because it’s simple and because ever since the first time I let my family members taste homemade whipped cream they demand it over any sort of store bought variety (I’m looking at you, Cool Whip).
3 ingredients, 5 minutes, and just one dirty bowl, it’s definitely worth it.
I like to pipe the whipped cream around the outside of the pie near the crust (and sometime I lose all control and end up decorating the whole pie, did you see my Instagram story? 😳), but if you’re feeling impatient you can just slap it on top with a spoon.
I’m always trying to stay ahead on my recipes and I want to share a few more pies with you between now and Thanksgiving. Any requests for recipes that you’d like to see here?
Oh, and I hope you’ll tune in to my Facebook page at 12:00 EST today and say hi! I’ll be making my Dirty Brownies, live!
Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 prepared (baked) 9" pie crust
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp cornstarch (40g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 2 2/3 cup whole milk (630ml)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (118ml)
- 6 oz dark chocolate--finely chopped (170g)
- 4 Tablespoons butter cut into pieces (56.5)
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Homemade Whipped Cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (175ml)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (30g)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt.
- Add egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream and transfer to stovetop over medium-high heat and whisk ingredients together.
- Whisk ingredients frequently on medium heat until ingredients begin to thicken (this will take several minutes).
- Once mixture has thickened* (it should be like a pudding consistency) whisk constantly, the mixture will come to a boil and continue to whisk for 60 seconds before removing from heat (still whisking constantly).
- Immediately add chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract.
- Whisk until ingredients are smooth and chocolate and butter are completely melted.
- Pour your pie filling through a fine mesh sieve into a medium-sized heatproof bowl. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent skin from forming.
- Pour filling over prepared pie crust and cover surface with clear wrap, making sure that the clear wrap is pressed against the surface of the chocolate to prevent a skin from forming.
- Refrigerate at least 6 hours to allow chocolate pie to firm up and set.
Homemade Whipped Cream
- Prepare Whipped Cream shortly before serving pie.
- Combine 3/4 cup heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a clean medium-sized bowl.
- Use an electric mixer to stir on low-speed. Gradually increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe (I used a Wilton 2D tip) or scoop whipped cream topping over pie just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Shelley says
I just made this pie for Thanksgiving tomorrow and it turned out perfect!! Thank you
Sam says
Yay! So happy to hear this! thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you, Shelley!
Katey says
I made this pie for my family on Thanksgiving. It was a crowd favorite. They were very impressed with the (from scratch) pudding. Thanks for sharing!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Katey! ☺️
Tricia says
If I only have unsweetened baking chocolate squares will that work? Should I add more sugar?
Sam says
The pie will just not be as sweet as it should be. I don’t recommend adding more sugar as that will change the consistency of the pie.
Becky says
I don’t normally leave reviews but this pie had such RAVING reviews I had to stop back and let you know! Chocolate pie is my boyfriend’s favorite and I had never made one before. But it was so easy and so fast, I had no trouble. I used a giant 4.25 ounce bar of Hershey’s special dark and 1.75 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips, only because that’s what I had on hand. Many said it was the best chocolate pie they had ever had! I’ll be putting this one in my keeper file, thank you!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Becky! ☺️
Whitney Hinrichs says
What kind of chocolate do you recommend for this pie? Thank you!
Sam says
My preference is Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate bars. ☺️
Alise Thompson says
Hi, I stumbled across your recipe and I absolutely had to try it, with some tweaks here and there.
I made it with custard nog instead of milk, custard nog is similar to eggnog only with a more custard texture; and cuz the custard nog is already sweet I used unsweetened chocolate and also bit more chocolate then your recipe asked for; and so the end result came out much more smoother and richer than I expected and sweet but not so overly sweet. I also use cream of tartar in the first stage of making the pie, however since I didn’t make a comparison pie using the original recipe, I can’t really tell if there was any real difference between using the tartar or not (can you tell me if the cream of tartar really did do anything or if it was just my hopefull wishing that it added something to the pie). Still the end result was amazing and my family loved it as well.
I plan to make another one in a couple of days with some different tweaks here and there, I have a relative who is vegan, so I am curious how a vegan version of this pie will turn out.
Thea says
Me and my friends this recipe and it was a success! Thanks!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Thea! ☺️
Barb Heath says
great pie–my daughter loves it!
Sam says
So happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Barb! 🙂
Gwen says
How many days ahead of Christmas can I make this pie. Haven’t tried it but love chocolate pie.
Sam says
It should be good for several days in the refrigerator. 🙂
Candy says
Is that with the whipped cream on it?
Sam says
I’m not sure what you mean, I’d add the whipped cream just before serving.
Alma says
Could I replace the chocolate with cocoa powder instead? That’s all I have at hand at this time.
Sam says
I haven’t tried it this way so unfortunately I can’t say for sure, I’m sorry!
Camdy says
Can I add the whipped cream to the top 3 days before the pie is served?
Sam says
I probably wouldn’t, I’d wait until just before serving before adding. My whipped cream is pretty stable but I’d still recommend waiting, even if you make the cream in advance I’d probably wait to add it to the top of the pie.
Pearl says
Hello there! I want to make this recipe, it looks so delicious compared to the other chocolate pies I’ve seen! The thing is, all I have right now are semi-sweet chocolate chips. Can I use them?
Sam says
Hi, Pearl. Yes that would be fine, you would want to use about a heaping cup of chips. 🙂