This easy recipe for chocolate chess pie is basically a creamy slice of fudge in a piecrust. The dessert of your chocolate dreams!
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Why we love this recipe ❤️
I try not to play favorites with my recipes, but if you asked my pie-loving family which pie they would like me to make right this minute, I know I would hear a chorus of “Chocolate Chess Pie!”
Which is a-okay with me, because this recipe is super easy to make, and comes out perfectly every time. Think creme brulee meets chocolate fudge, all gathered into a pie crust. SWOON.
What is chess pie? 🥧
Chess pie is a traditional Southern favorite – it’s basically a rich custard pie filling made of eggs and sugar and butter and evaporated milk, all baked up in a pie crust.
Chocolate chess pie is all that with some chocolate added in, which is the only thing that could make this simple and delicious pie recipe even better than the original!
Ingredients you need 🍫
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- Pie Crust: I always take the easy way and use a prepared pie crust, but you can also make your own if you like. I like to get all fancy with the crust edges, but you can also leave the edges alone and it will be just as delicious.
- Cocoa Powder: Look for this chocolate powder in the baking aisle.
- Evaporated Milk: This canned milk is also in the baking aisle (and be careful not to mix it up with condensed milk, which is usually right next to the evaporated milk in a very similar can. Sigh.)
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe 👩🏻🍳
STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a nine inch pie plate with cooking spray.
STEP 2: Line the pie plate with the pie crust. You can crimp the pie crust edges however you like – or you can leave them plain.
STEP 3: Put sugar, cocoa powder, evaporated milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until totally combined, scraping down the edges as needed.
STEP 4: Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Crimp the pie crust edges if you like, and put the pie on a rimmed baking pan (this will prevent any spillage from getting on your oven floor!).
STEP 5: Bake for 45 minutes or until the filling is firm along the sides (it might still be a little wiggly in the middle – that’s okay!) Check your crust after the pie has been in the oven for 30 minutes…if it is getting too brown you can pop on a pie crust shield.
Cool until just warm (and this pie is also awesome chilled, by the way).
Right before you serve it, you can fancy it up by shaking on some confectioner’s sugar if you want. I do this by putting about ¼ or so in a fine mesh strainer and tapping the side of it so it showers down on the pie.
Serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you want to go directly to chocolate chess pie heaven!
Recipe FAQs 🧐
Evaporated milk is shelf-stable canned milk that has about 60% of the water content from fresh cow’s milk taken out. It has a thicker, creamier texture than whole milk, and and a slightly sweet flavor.
It can! You can make it a day ahead and store it in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, you can either keep it chilled or bring it to room temperature.
Pop your question in the Comments section under the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Fine Mesh Strainer: This strainer is the one we reach for when we need teeny tiny holes! Or if we just need to drain something.
- Hand Mixer: This is the dependable mixer we pull out for smaller mixing jobs.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Pie Plate: You can use any pie plate you have – regular or deep dish. Here is one of ours that works great for this recipe.
- Pie Crust Shield: This simple shield has saved many a pie crust for us! Simply pop it on if you see the crust getting too brown.
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic sturdy bowls come in all different sizes and are great for everything from mixing ingredients to being casual serving bowls.
- Rimmed Baking Pan: This sturdy baking pan is perfect for everything from catching any drips from pies to making a sheet pan full of pancakes!
Other pie recipes we love! 🥰
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Chocolate Chess Pie
This easy recipe for chocolate chess pie is basically a creamy slice of fudge in a piecrust. The dessert of your chocolate dreams!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 five ounce can evaporated milk
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled a little
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Confectioner’s sugar (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a nine inch pie plate with cooking spray.
- Line the pie plate with the pie crust.
- Put all ingredients except for the confectioner’s sugar in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until totally combined, scraping down the edges as needed.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Crimp the pie crust edges if you like, and put the pie on a rimmed baking pan (this will prevent any spillage from getting on your oven floor!).
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the filling is firm along the sides (it might still be a little wiggly in the middle – that’s okay!) Check your crust after the pie has been in the oven for 30 minutes…if it is getting too brown you can pop on a pie crust shield.
- Cool until just warm (and this pie is also awesome chilled, by the way). Right before you serve it, you can fancy it up by shaking on some confectioner’s sugar if you want. I do this by putting about ¼ or so in a fine mesh strainer and tapping the side of it so it showers down on the pie.
- Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
-
- Pie Crust: I always take the easy way and use a prepared pie crust, but you can also make your own if you like. I like to get all fancy with the crust edges, but you can also leave the edges alone and it will be just as delicious.
-
- Cocoa Powder: Look for this chocolate powder in the baking aisle.
-
- Evaporated Milk: This canned milk is also in the baking aisle (and be careful not to mix it up with condensed milk, which is usually right next to the evaporated milk in a very similar can. Sigh.
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