Easy Chocolate Chess Pie

This deep dish chocolate chess pie is a family favorite recipe for holiday dessert or a dinner party at home. It’s an old fashioned southern recipe made with basic ingredients like eggs, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and milk. Make it one of your go-to chocolate dessert recipes for entertaining. 

Thank you Tillamook for sponsoring this post. 

Dessert for Holidays & Dinner Parties

When I want to add something chocolate to the dessert table I reach for my chocolate chess pie recipe. It’s simple, classic, and all it needs is a big scoop of ice cream to complete the plate.

This chocolate pie is a luscious and decadent version of my delicious chess pie. The center is smooth and creamy while the top has a light flaky crust-like texture.

Add this chocolate chess pie to your menu or pie table for Thanksgiving entertaining, a Friendsgiving party, Christmas dinner, or any time of year dinner party ideas.

How to serve chocolate chess pie

Because this pie is so sweet and rich, it really does benefit by adding vanilla ice cream on the side. It’s almost like adding a glass of ice cold milk, but better!

Tillamook Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream is a perfect choice. It’s smooth and creamy, and made from the highest quality ingredients. Meaning their cows are not treated with artificial growth hormones, and there’s no high fructose corn syrup added.

Can it be frozen?

I’ve read mixed reviews on freezing chess pie. One chef says it can be frozen and then reheated at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until heated through. If you do so I would certainly recommend covering it lightly with aluminum foil so the crust doesn’t over brown.

On the other hand, I’ve read that thawing a chess pie in the refrigerator or at room temperature can result in a soggy pie crust.

In my experience we’ve never NEEDED to freeze a chocolate chess pie because it gets eaten up! If you do decide to freeze and reheat, let us know the results please.

How to make chocolate chess pie

This pie is easy to make. You’ll need to use a hand mixer in order to get the butter mixed in with the other ingredients.

1. Make sure to start with chilled butter for this recipe.
2. Add the eggs, sugar, and butter to a medium size bowl.
3. Use a hand mixer on medium-low to combine the three ingredients and break up the butter.
4. Add the milk, flour, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and salt to the mixture and combine well.
5. Pour filling into a purchased deep dish pie shell or make your own.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes and check on pie crust. You’ll probably need to cover the crust loosely with aluminum foil or a pie shield, so it doesn’t over brown.
8. Continue cooking for the remaining time. Its should not need to cook for more than an hour total.
9. Let pie cool on a cooling rack until completely set, about two hours.
10. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

When is chocolate chess pie done?

You never want a runny chess pie so make sure it’s cooked through. It also needs time to cool and set up so never cut into a hot or warm pie.

The cooking instructions tell you to cook for 55-60 minutes. You can check on it at the 50 minute mark if your oven runs hot. If the center is very jiggly it’s not ready to come out.

It can move slightly in the center and then firm up as it cools. But at the hour mark it should be pretty steady in the middle and it will be smooth and delicious when it’s fully cooled down.  

How to store the pie

There’s enough sugar in the recipe that chocolate chess pie is fine to store at room temperature for about 5 days. Just cover it with foil for freshness.

You can also keep it in the refrigerator if you want to and it would be fine for about a week…if it lasts that long!

More Pie recipes

When it’s time for dessert, it’s time for pie and ice cream. Serve these other fantastic pies for holidays and dinner parties.

• This Kahlua pecan pie is perfect for Christmas entertaining.
• Make my easy pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and beyond.
• The ice cream is also fantastic served with this apple galette with caramel drizzle.

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