Old Fashioned Chocolate Chess Pie is a chocolate lovers dream come true! The best chocolate chess pie recipe is a classic southern dessert with a fudgy, rich chocolate flavored custard in a flaky buttery crust.
In my family dessert comes in one flavor – chocolate. Any sweet that doesn’t fit this essential criteria is shunned into side dish status.
The biggest proponent of always offering a chocolate dessert is my dad. No matter the holiday or occasion, something chocolate must make an appearance to appease him.
With Thanksgiving and holiday baking season upon us, I wanted to share a chocolate pie recipe my father would give a huge stamp of approval. Ultra fudgy, creamy Chocolate Chess Pie is certain to make chocolate diehards happy!
What is Chocolate Chess Pie?
Chess pies are an old fashioned, southern dessert made with of butter, eggs, sugar, and milk. These custard pies contain little or no flour with a little cornmeal in the filling.
A couple theories exist on how chess pie got its name. Chess pies contain a lot of sugar, which is a natural preservative. For this reason, old fashioned chess pies could be stored in a “pie chest” instead of refrigerated.
Another theory is a plantation cook was asked what smelled so good when it was baking. She replied, in her southern drawl, “Oh, it’s ‘jes pie,” and the name stuck.
Ingredients in Chocolate Chess Pie
Chocolate chess pie ingredients are simple, kitchen staples. Easily mix them together in one bowl, pour into a pie shell, and bake. It’s that easy!
- Sugar
- Cocoa powder – Regular baking powder may be used, but I prefer Dutch Baking Cocoa for more intense chocolate flavor.
- Flour – Only one tablespoon of flour is used for slight thickening. Use regular all purpose flour or gluten free baking flour.
- Cornmeal – Also helps with thickening and gives a great course texture on top of the creamy custard.
- Eggs
- Milk – Use one small can of evaporated milk. See below for substitutions.
- Butter – Softened butter works best, but melted butter also works.
Chocolate Chess Pie without Evaporated Milk
Some chess pie recipes do not use evaporated milk, such as Serious Eat’ version. If you prefer a chess pie without evaporated milk use buttermilk or whole milk in its place.
Bakers use evaporated milk to reduce cooking times. Canned evaporated milk has been heated to remove water content. Therefore, less baking time is needed to evaporate the liquid.
Pie Crust for Chess Pie
Make chess pie with homemade, store bought refrigerated or frozen crusts. To make chocolate chess pie recipe gluten free, I used easy gluten free pie crust recipe, but use any preferred pie crust recipe.
Some chocolate chess pie recipes pour the filling into an unbaked pie shell to bake. Typically those recipes set the oven to 350ºF and bake for a shorter time, like 45 minutes.
I prefer to bake custard pies at a lower temperature for longer. This prevents the filling from curdling or cracking.
However, low temperatures also prevent the bottom crust from getting crisp. Pre-baking, also known as par baking, helps achieve a crisp, golden, crisp bottom crust.
Melted Butter versus Softened Butter in Old Fashioned Chess Pie
Traditionally chess pie uses melted butter for the filling, but this chocolate chess pie recipe uses softened butter. Why?
Chess pie lacks ingredients that will absorb liquid butter. Since the ingredients are primarily eggs, sugar, and milk, using softened butter helps build structure.
Also, softened butter blends with the filling more homogeneously instead of separating. Use a handheld mixer to thoroughly blend the butter with ingredients smoothly.
How To Tell When Chocolate Chess Pie is done
Most chess pie recipes instruct to pull the pie when it is “slightly jiggly in the center,” but what does that mean exactly?
The top layer will be firm and set. Underneath, the pie filling will have a slight jiggle, but shouldn’t be sloshy. For best results, insert a toothpick in the center to make sure custard filling has set.
You may also use an instant read thermometer to check if the pie has finished cooking. (Thermoworks MK4 is my all time favorite!) The Kitchn recommends the filling to be a temperature of 200ºF (93ºC). Take the temperature in the center of the pie.
Place baked pie on a wire rack to cool 1-2 hours before slicing and serving. Classic chess pie needs plenty of time to set up before slicing.
TIP: If you fear the pie will not slice well, let it cool completely, and refrigerate it for 1-2 hours.
How to Make Chocolate Chess Pie
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Preheat oven to 425°F and adjust oven rack to lowest position. Roll pie crust and fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Refrigerate and chill for 15 minutes.
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Line the bottom of the crust with foil or parchment paper. Place pie weights or dried beans on top of liner.
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Bake on the bottom rack for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325°F and bake 4 minutes longer. Remove the liner and weights and bake 3-4 minutes longer. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
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In a large bowl whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornmeal, flour, and salt. Add softened butter, eggs, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Use a mixer to beat until well combined.
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Pour filling into prebaked pie crust and bake on the lowest rack for 55-60 minutes. The top layer will be firm with a slight jiggle underneath. Place on a wire rack to cool about 1-2 hours before slicing and serving.
How to Store Chess Pie
Chess pie does not need to be refrigerated. Store at room temperature up to 3 days. For a chilled custard pie, refrigerate after cooling.
Chess pie may also be frozen after baking. To prevent a soggy bottom crust after thawing, bake at 375ºF on the bottom rack for 15-20 minutes. Use a pie shield or aluminum foil to protect the exposed crust from becoming overly brown.
More Fabulous Pie Recipes
- No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie – A creamy no bake cheesecake in graham cracker crust, topped with fresh strawberries, and a glossy gelatin glaze.
- Fresh Blueberry Pie – Easy blueberry pie recipe using fresh blueberries over a creamy layer of sweet buttermilk custard filling.
- Sugar Cream Pie – Sugar Cream Pie is filled with a gloriously thick, creamy, vanilla custard, sprinkled with a dusting of cinnamon, and made with a handful of simple ingredients and easy steps.
- Concord Grape Pie – Grape pie with streusel topping has step-by-step instructions full of tips and tricks for making homemade grape pie filling.
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Chocolate Chess Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust, homemade or store bought
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 5 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and adjust oven rack to lowest position. Roll pie crust and fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Refrigerate and chill for 15 minutes.
- Line the bottom of the crust with foil or parchment paper. Place pie weights or dried beans on top of liner. Bake on the bottom rack for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325°F and bake 4 minutes longer. Remove the liner and weights and bake 3-4 minutes longer. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornmeal, flour, and salt. Add softened butter, eggs, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Use a mixer to beat until well combined.
- Pour filling into prebaked pie crust and bake at 325°F on the lowest rack for 55-60 minutes. The top layer should be set and underneath will have a slight jiggle, but not a liquidy one. Insert a toothpick to make sure it isn't liquidy. Place on a wire rack to cool 1-2 hours before slicing and serving. Either serve at room temperature or chill.
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Recipe Notes
Storing Chess Pie Chess pie does not need to be refrigerated. Store at room temperature up to 3 days. For a chilled custard pie, refrigerate after cooling. Chess pie may also be frozen after baking. To prevent a soggy bottom crust after thawing, bake at 375ºF on the bottom rack for 15-20 minutes. Use a pie shield or aluminum foil to protect the exposed crust from becoming overly brown.
Nutrition
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Items used to make this recipe:
Pie Weights Pie Plate Mixing Bowls
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Kim Hauck says
Can I use a 1-1 GF flour?
Melissa says
Definitely! I’ve done this many times.
Mackenzie Dayle says
Do you know of a dairy free alternative to the evaporated milk (other than almond milk as I can’t eat nuts lol)? I love this kind of pie but have been struggling to find an an alternative!
Melissa says
Hi Mackenzie,
Yes! You can try coconut milk in it’s place! It will take on a slight coconut flavor, but fortunately that works well with chocolate.
Best,
Melissa
Kyra says
Could I potentially make this with a par baked cookie crust?
Melissa says
Hi Kyra,
I don’t think that would be a problem, but the filling is very sweet. I would probably reduce the sugar in the filling or in the cookie crust so it isn’t too sweet. Enjoy!
Best,
Melissa
Leslie says
Is the baking temperature supposed to be 325°?
Melissa says
Yes, after the crust bakes the baking temperature is 325. I made a note in the recipe in case anyone else was confused.
Best,
Melissa