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I love a good Chocolate Cream Pie, don’t you? Luscious, creamy and chocolatey… All my favorite things combined! This Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe is surprisingly easy to make and after you’ve tasted it, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that this might be the best Chocolate Pie Ever. (Thanks, Granny for the amazing recipe!)
The Best Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe
My husband’s birthday is just around the corner, but instead of a cake this year, I made him one of his favorite childhood desserts, a Chocolate Cream Pie.
OK, I actually made several pies… This chocolate pie for the blog (his pre-birthday pie) and 2 more for the family celebration. (One chocolate and one other specialty pie, which I’ll be posting at a later date.)
He informed me later, that he prefers a graham cracker crust… Oh well, that just means next time it will be perfect!
**Update** The other pie was this lemon cheesecake pie. It was AMAZING!!! Definitely check it out.
Other than needing to work on my chocolate curling skills, (these are just a bit sad looking, lol) everything else about this pie was perfect.
The filling was perfect. Velvety, decadently rich and with the best chocolate flavor.
Oh, yes… It was soo good!
How to Make a Chocolate Cream Pie:
So you might think making a Chocolate Cream Pie from scratch is difficult, but it’s really not!The recipe is fairly simple; just be aware that the filling in this chocolate cream pie needs at least 8 hours to set, so you will need to plan just a little bit ahead.
If you put the pie together in the morning, there will be plenty of time for it to set up before dinner. (As long as you are not eating dinner before 3pm that is!)
To make the pie, you are basically just making a from-scratch, double chocolate pudding, which takes about 10 minutes or so. The hardest part of the entire recipe is just waiting for the chocolate cream pie to fully chill and set up!
One of the biggest questions I get about the pie recipe is why didn’t my pie set up? I’v got a couple of tips to help you achieve perfect pudding consistancy for your Chocolate Cream Pie.
Cooking Tips for this Chocolate Cream Pie.
- The most important step in this recipe is to stir almost constantly and bring the pudding to a boil, then reduce heat a bit and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes, STIRRING CONSTANTLY, but gently(with your whisk) to keep the mixture from burning or curdling.
- Now here is the tricky part: once the mixture reaches the boiling point, the cornstarch activates and only needs to cook another minute or so to thicken. Cooking for too long or stirring too intensely could cause the starch to break down. (Read more interesting info about cornstarch here.)
- Lower fat milk can be subbed, but it will result in a less firm pie. (Which is perfectly ok, it is just slightly harder to serve)
- The pie needs about 8 hours to fully set up. (Even better is to let it set up overnight.) You can (and I have) serve it sooner, but it will be a bit less firm.
What kind of crust is best for a chocolate cream pie?
When it comes to choosing a crust for your chocolate cream pie, there are so many choices! If you don’t mind a little extra work, a homemade pastry pie crust is very good. (Although I used a frozen pre-made pie crust that I needed to pre-bake for today’s pie.)
You can, of course, make your own graham cracker style crust using chocolate cookies, chocolate graham crackers or regular graham crackers. Even better you can purchase a premade graham cracker crust as well. (You can even find the premade ones made with chocolate cookies!)
One tip if using a store-bought crust… Hopefully, you already know to prick the bottom of the pie crust to prevent the crust from bubbling, but I also recommend piercing the sides in a few spots as well. Otherwise, it will look like this. The good news is, the chocolate filling hides any pie crust imperfections!
Can I Substitute Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips for the Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate?
Yes, you can sub semi-sweet chocolate chips for the semi-sweet baking chocolate.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate squares are basically the same things, just in different forms.
In my opinion, baking chocolate is easier to use since it comes in a premeasured form. If you do sub chocolate chips you might want to use a weight scale to measure out the ounces. (I use an old postal/digital scale and a paper plate to do my measuring.)
Can This Pie be Made Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can make a Chocolate Cream Pie about 1-2 days ahead of time. Store covered in the refrigerator.
Chocolate lover? You may also enjoy these recipes:
- Double Chocolate Pudding Parfaits
- Microwave Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (In less than 15 Minutes!
- Chocolate Pots de “Crème” {a lightened up version}
- Decadent Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Decadent Chocolate Mousse Recipe
- Strawberry Almond Chocolate Bark
Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.9 from 13 reviews
- Author: Jamie Sanders (from Betty Crocker)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours (+)
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: desserts
- Method: stove top / fridge
Description
This Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie is luscious, creamy and chocolatey… The pie is surprisinglyeasy to make and after you’ve tasted it, I’m sure you’ll agreewith me that this might be the best Chocolate Cream pie ever.
Ingredients
Scale
Pie:
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped into small pieces (plus a little extra for garnish)
- (optional: 1 heaping tbsp of Cocoa powder for extra chocolatey-ness)
- 4 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- pre-baked 9 inch pie crust
Whipped cream:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 to 3 tbs sugar
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, whisk together milk, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks and salt over medium heat.
- Whisk continuously until thickened and boiling (about 7 to 8 minutes.) Reduce heat a bit and cook for 2 moreminutes, stirring constantly (with thewhisk.)
- Remove from heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate and butter until melted and thoroughly combined.
- Pour into pre-baked pie crust.
- Let cool on the counter for a bit, cover with plastic wrap then transfer to the fridge and chill until firm. (At least 6 to 8 hours, preferably overnight.) You could chill for less, but pie might not be as firm.
Before serving:
- Beat 1 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form. (Works best if the cream is very cold and if you can chill the bowl and beaters before using- even better!)
- Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar over cream; continue beating until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat. (I may have over-beat whipped cream just a smidge… Luckily I caught it before it turned into butter!)
- Spread over pie and garnish with chocolate curls (or little pieces.)
Notes
- The most important step in this recipe is to stir almost constantly and bring the pudding to a boil, then reduce heat a bit and continue cooking for 2 minutes, absolutely STIRRING CONSTANTLY at then point (with your whisk) to keep the mixture from burning or curdling.
- Lower fat milk can be subbed, but it will result in a less firm pie. (which is perfectly ok, it is just slightly harder to serve)
- The pie needs about 8 hours to fully set up. You can (and I have) serve it sooner, but it will be a bit less firm.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 th of recipe
- Calories: 530
- Fat: 34
- Carbohydrates: 56
- Protein: 7
Looking for a few more scrumptious desserts? You may also enjoy these:
Lemon Curd and Raspberry Cupcakes
Tres Leches Cake
Coconut Rice Pudding
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