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This Chocolate Pie is a diner classic with a buttery, flakey pie crust and a smooth, homemade chocolate pudding filling. Less than 30 minutes of active prep, then chill until set and it’s ready to be served with dollops of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Be sure to try my Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake and Chocolate Cream Pie next!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Chocolate Pie Recipe
- Less than 10 Ingredients
- Homemade Chocolate Pudding Filling – Making the chocolate pudding filling from scratch is so worth it and surprisingly easy!
- Family Favorite – This is a holiday favorite in our house; both the kids and adults love it!
Ingredients
Buy a frozen pie crust to keep the ingredient list super simple and short.
- Premade Frozen Deep Dish Pie Crust – While you can make your own pie crust, store-bought is a great time saver!
- Egg Yolks – I love to save the egg whites to use for breakfast the next day.
- White Granulated Sugar – You’ll divide this when using for the filling.
- Cornstarch – This helps thicken the chocolate filling.
- Salt
- Whole Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Salted Butter – Bring to room temperature first and dice into small cubes.
- Semi Sweet Chocolate – Finely chopped.
How To Make This Chocolate Pie Recipe
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Using a store-bought pie crust makes this recipe super easy! Just cook up the homemade chocolate pudding filling on the stove and then the pie chills in the fridge for a few hours.
Cook Pie Crust – Cook the pie crust according to package directions for blind baking.
Whisk Egg Yolks – In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ½ cup of the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until mixture becomes thick, pale yellow and forms ribbons when pulled.
Finish Chocolate Pudding Filling – In a medium saucepan heat the milk and remaining sugar to a simmer then slowly whisk into the egg mixture. Heat and stir until it bubbles and thickens to a pudding consistency. Quickly whisk in the vanilla, butter, and chocolate then remove to a bowl and let cool slightly.
Pour Filling – Pour the filling into the pie crust and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set and cool completely.
Slice and Serve – Add a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings to the whole pie or to each slice for presentation.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe calls for semisweet chocolate. You could substitute the semi-sweet chocolate for a milk chocolate or a bittersweet chocolate. The milk chocolate will make this much sweeter, so you may want to bring the sugar down to 1 cup. Bittersweet chocolate will give you a richer, more bitter flavor.
To keep it simple, I love to do dollops of whipped cream (store bought, homemade or Cool Whip) and chocolate shavings. You can also serve with fresh sliced strawberries or raspberries, chopped pecans, or even a drizzle of fudge sauce.
The filling will thicken to a pudding-like consistency when you bring it up to a bubble on the stove (with the help of the cornstarch) then when you chill the pie in the fridge it will thicken even more so you can slice the pie and serve.
Storage
It is best when eaten within 1 day of making it, but can be stored in the fridge, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 days.
Pro Tips
- Pie Crust – You could make this pie with a graham cracker or cookie crumb crust. This is especially delicious with an oreo cookie crust.
- Stir Filling Constantly – It is super important to continue to stir the filling constantly when you return the mixture to the stove and do not rush it by putting the heat on high. If left alone for too long or cooked at too hot of a temp, you can risk scrambling the mixture. If you are at all worried that some of your pudding mixture got overcooked, you can try and push the mixture through a fine mesh strainer for a super smooth consistency.
- Extra Filling? I used a deep dish pie plate to make this recipe. If you use a regular pie plate, you may have leftover filling. Extra filling can be placed into ramekins as a pudding, or you can whip it up with some whipped cream to create a mousse like dessert.
Try These Chocolate Dessert Recipes Next
- Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
- 3 Ingredient Hot Chocolate Dip
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 premade frozen deep dish pie crust
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cup sugar divided
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons salted butter room temperature, cut into small cubes
- 7 ounces semi sweet chocolate chopped fine
Instructions
- Cook the pie crust according to package directions for blind baking.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ½ cup of the sugar, cornstarch and salt until mixture becomes thick, pale yellow and forms ribbons when pulled, about 2-3 minutes.
- In a medium saucepan heat the milk and remaining 1 cup of sugar until it just comes to a simmer. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture a little at a time adding about ½ of the hot milk. Then whisk the egg mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk. Heat this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and sides frequently, until the mixture starts to bubble and thickens to a pudding consistency, about 5-8 minutes. Quickly whisk in the vanilla, butter and chocolate until fully combined. Remove to a bowl to stop the cooking process and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour the filling mixture into the prepared pie shell, refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours, covering with plastic wrap once completely cooled. Slice and serve with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
