Mouth-watering chocolate chess pie is easy to prepare but looks like you spent hours in the kitchen! This recipe will show you how to create a delectably rich and chocolatey pie with minimal effort.
Chocolate Chess Pies are an old-school Southern classic that has been around for years. While there are many variations of this traditional recipe, the primary ingredients remain the same: butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, milk, and pie crust.
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📝 Ingredients
Pie crust – If you’re a purist and want to make a pie crust from scratch, use your favorite recipe. For my chocolate chess pie, I chose to use a refrigerated pastry crust to save time.
Simply follow the package directions to prep the pie crust. Since this pie recipe starts off with a liquid filling, you might want to pre-bake the crust according to package directions so that it comes out flakier. Either way, it will be delicious.
Butter – Heat butter in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish in 10-second increments until mostly melted. You want a couple of chunks still floating around in the almost melted butter. If the butter is completely melted, the pie will still taste great but it may have a harder time setting firmly.
Eggs – For this recipe, the eggs only need to be lightly beaten. Don’t overbeat them.
👨🍳 Step-by-Step Directions
Prepare pre-made pie crust according to package directions. Place the prepared crust inside a glass or metal pie pan and crimp or flute the edges. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, sugar, and flour.
Add the egg, melted butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust, only filling about ⅔rds of the way full. Do not overfill.
Bake at 325° for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie comes out mostly clean and there’s still a little bit of “jiggle” to the center.
Once cooled completely, slice and serve with whipped cream if desired.
🥧 Baking Tips
- The pie itself needs to bake at 325 degrees. If you choose to prebake the crust, be sure you’ve allowed time for the oven to cool down to 325 before baking.
- If a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean and the pie is only slightly “jiggly” in the middle, it is done. The pie will continue to set and firm up as it cools.
If there is still a lot of the mixture on the toothpick and there is still a lot of jiggle to the pie, continue baking at 10-minute increments until it’s done. - Be sure the chess pie is 100% cooled down before attempting to slice it.
- If your pie cracks slightly and you don’t like the look of it, dust it with powdered sugar for a finished look. Regardless of any cracking, the pie will still taste great.
- Placing aluminum foil around the edges of the pie crust can prevent them from burning. Just make sure you don’t cover any of the pie filling area or it won’t bake properly.
❓ FAQ
Yes. Completely cool the baked pie then wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap. Wrap the whole thing again with aluminum foil for an outer layer. Chess pie will store for up to three months in the freezer.
No one knows for sure. One theory is since this is a very simple pie recipe that originated in the South, it could be that someone called it “just pie” when asked about it and the listener heard “chess pie” due to the speaker’s Southern accent.
You can store chess pie covered at room temperature for up to a day. After 24 hours, refrigerate it for up to three days.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
A dollop of homemade whipped cream or thawed, frozen whipped topping is always delicious with chocolate chess pie. If you want to be extra fancy, you can grate part of a dark chocolate bar on top too.
You can dust the top of the completely cooled pie with powdered sugar if you like the look or if you’re concerned about any cracking on the top.
Vanilla ice cream tastes amazing on top of a slightly warmed slice of chocolate chess pie.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chess Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pastry pie crust
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter mostly melted with a few solid chunks remaining
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs beaten slightly
- 5 oz evaporated milk
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Bake pre-made pie crust according to package directions.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, sugar, and flour.
- Add the egg, melted butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared pie crust, only filling about ⅔rds of the way full. Do not overfill.
- Bake at 325° for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie comes out mostly clean and the center is barely "jiggly."
- Once cooled and firm, slice and serve with whipped cream if desired.
Notes
- The pie itself needs to bake at 325 degrees. If you choose to prebake the crust, be sure you’ve allowed time for the oven to cool down to 325 before baking.
- If a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean and the pie is only slightly “jiggly” in the middle, it is done. The pie will continue to set and firm up as it cools.
If there is still a lot of the mixture on the toothpick and there is still a lot of jiggle to the pie, continue baking at 10-minute increments until it’s done. - Be sure the chess pie is 100% cooled down before attempting to slice it.
- If your pie cracks slightly and you don’t like the look of it, dust it with powdered sugar for a finished look. Regardless of any cracking, the pie will still taste great.
- Placing aluminum foil around the edges of the pie crust can prevent them from burning. Just make sure you don’t cover any of the pie filling area or it won’t bake properly.
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