The best part, though, is how dang easy it is to make. You literally mix all the ingredients together and pour them into a prepared pie crust.
Now, when it comes to the crust, I like to use the pre-made, rolled-up pie crusts that you find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store over by the canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls. It allows me to use my own pie plate but doesn’t have me making a homemade crust – which I appreciate. That said, the preformed frozen crusts work just as well. And all you overachievers can make a crust from scratch if you have some extra time. 🙂
Regardless of what kind of crust you bake it in, this pie is destined to be a new family favorite. My folks just love it – and always have. It’s one of those classic southern recipes that has been around for ages. In fact, the original recipe I have made two pies – like many old pie recipes do – so I just cut everything in half to make one. As a result, this doubles beautifully if you need two pies. 🙂 And, I mean, who DOESN’T need two pies? Ha! Y’all enjoy!
Chocolate Chess Pie
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust (homemade or store-bought is fine)
- whipped cream, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, and corn starch. Add in the beaten egg, melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Stir well to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a crust has formed completely across the top of the pie and is mostly set. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
This looks like a winner to me…. I think I’ll make it this week. Thanks for your recipes. I’ve saved quite a few of them. All delicious!
Love hearing that!! Thanks, Deanna!
OOooh! I can’t wait to make this for my family for Valentine’s Day! Happy Hearts Day!
Sure hope they’ll love it!
Everyone DID love it, Stacey. You rocked our Valentine’s dessert! I just mistakenly added a whole 11 ounce can of Evaporated Milk instead of 5 ounce. I had to bake it a bit longer, but the flavor was milk chocolate goodness!
Awesome!! So glad y’all enjoyed it!!!
Did you really mean a 5 ounce can of evaporated milk or should it be 15 ounces?
No, it’s a 5 ounce can.
Hey y’all, can you make this without the crust? Just bake it in the pie shell? Has anybody tried that?
I can’t say I’ve ever tried it that way. Is there a particular reason you want to bake it that way?
Oh my goodness, this sounds like one everyone’s gonna have to try and love! Thanks for sharing!
Sure hope you’ll enjoy!!
Do you have to use unsalted butter?
It’s best to control the salt content in the pie, but salted will work just fine.
Can you use a deep dish pie crust for 1 pie or do you just need to use the regular pie crust? I’m using frozen ones in the tin pies.
I just put mine in the oven in a frozen pie crust, and it filled fine, and doesn’t look too skimpy. My question is does a frozen crust need to be parbaked for this pie?
No, there’s not need to par bake, but you can. You just might need to shield the edges with some aluminum foil to keep it from getting too brown when baking the pie.
Deep dish will work, it will just not fill it all the way up.
Would it work the same if you add pecans?
I’m not sure. I’ve not tried that.
Have you ever tried it with a graham cracker crust or Oreo crust?
I haven’t, but it sounds like something worth trying!
Love this recipe! I made this yesterday and it was a hit with my family.
So glad y’all enjoyed it!!
Thank you for this recipe. It is the closest anyone has came to my Aunt Bessie’s pie. This is going to be a family favorite and staple for special occasions! Bless you.
Nothing makes me happier than hearing things like that. So glad you enjoyed it!
I have printed off some of your recipes that I am going to make, especially the peach chess pie. Looks really good. Your chocolate pie recipe looks like the one I make, so I dug out my recipe. It’s exactly the same except for the corn starch. My pie is one I’ve made many times for church dinners and funerals and I never bring home any left overs. I wonder why you use corn starch? Also I bake mine at 350 instead of 325. I will try your recipe, will you try yours w/o corn starch?
The corn starch is like an insurance policy to make sure it’s going to thicken up the way it should.