Chocolate Cream Pie

Going home to visit my parents for the holidays always puts me in a baking mood. This year for Thanksgiving, we decided to try a chocolate cream pie. I’m definitely not an expert baker and I rarely make the same thing twice, so I consider everything I make an ‘experiment’. This experiment was absolutely a success, however, resulting in a rich, powerfully chocolaty pie that went too fast to even get a picture. 

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 9-inch pie crust, pre-baked
2 cups milk (whole milk preferred )
3/4 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, room temperature and cut into 4-5 pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Whipped cream for topping (optional)


My family prefers Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts over any recipe I’ve made myself, so that’s what I used.  I used dried beans on parchment paper to weight down the pie crust for the first half of baking, then removed them to finish baking the bottom.

Get the butter and chocolate chopped and ready to go and set aside. Then, in a large bowl, whisk together milk, sugar, egg yolks, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt until all of the ingredients have been very well combined and the mixture is smooth.  I only had 1% milk, so I mixed it with half & half to make it richer.

Transfer to a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture begins to thicken and comes to a boil.  Boil for 30 to 60 seconds, still stirring constantly, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in butter, vanilla and chocolate until everything comes together and chocolate has been completely incorporated. Pour into prepared pie crust.

Cover filling with a sheet of plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well-chilled, about 4-6 hours. I put my pie in the freezer for 30 minutes so we could dig in faster, but everyone agreed it tasted better the next day after the flavors melded more. Serve with whipped cream.