a photo of hands setting down a chocolate chess pie

About This Chocolate Chess Pie

This chocolate chess pie is filled with a gooey, brownie custard filling with a crispy, crackly, meringue-like top. The custard filling is made with both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder, with NO evaporated milk. The two chocolate ingredients combined and the lack of evaporated milk make it extra dense and chocolaty.

This filling is baked in an extra crispy all-butter pie crust made from scratch. But don’t be intimidated! The pie dough comes together easily thanks to a unique technique that involves making the dough in a stand mixer (that I developed for my cookbook, Weeknight Baking). The pie crust is pre baked, ensuring that it stays crispy under the decadent chocolate filling!

For more delicious homemade pie recipes on Hummingbird High, check out my Pies & Tarts recipe collection! Popular recipes include this Quick and Easy Blueberry Crumble Pie and this 15-Minute Stand Mixer Pie Crust Recipe.

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What does chocolate chess pie taste like?

Imagine your favorite brownie recipe baked in a super flaky and crispy pie crust. Because that’s basically what chocolate chess pie tastes like!

The chocolate filling is moist, gooey, and decadent, similar to that of a fudge brownie. However, its top is notably different. While most brownies have a soft top, the chocolate chess pie filling in this recipe is different. It has a crisp, meringue-like chocolate top that cracks dramatically as it cools. It contrasts wonderfully with the soft filling, and complements the crispy, buttery, flaky texture of the pie crust well.

a close up photo showing a chocolate chess pie with cracks in its filling

Why You Should Make The Recipe

The recipe is the result of hours of endless taste testing and recipe development, making the best chocolate chess pie on the internet.

When developing this recipe, I tried a ton of the most popular chocolate chess pie recipes on the internet. There was a surprising amount of variety between them all. Some exclusively used melted chocolate, while others used cocoa powder. Others skipped the butter and called for a can of evaporated milk to be included in the filling instead.

I tasted all these varieties and determined that the best chocolate chess pie was made with both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder, with lots of butter and no evaporated milk. I truly believe that the recipe below makes the best chocolate chess pie on the internet!

The recipe uses an unusual yet efficient way to make pie dough from scratch.

Most pie dough recipes instruct you to make pie dough in a handful of ways: by hand (either with tools like a pastry cutter, or without them), or in a food processor. I have never, ever recommended making pie dough by hand. It’s too messy and time-consuming! And while using a food processor is faster, it’s far too easy to overwork the butter and end up with a flat, dense, crust.

So in the recipe below, I instruct you to make the pie dough with a STAND MIXER.

After chilling the ingredients for five minutes or so, you throw everything into the stand mixer and mix it on low speed like you would a cookie dough. It takes less than 5 minutes to come together and eliminates TONS of mess and work.

Furthermore, unlike a food processor, a stand mixer allows you more control and visibility as the dough comes together—no flat, dense crusts here folks!

The pie dough recipe is from my cookbook, Weeknight Baking.

The recipe is flexible and can fit into any schedule.

I’ve broken down the pie dough recipe below so that you can make several of its steps ahead. Doing so allows you to fit baking into your schedule more easily. It also ensures that you’re not stuck in the kitchen all day!

Because in general, it’s rare that I actually bake a pie all in one day. That’s because making pie requires a lot of chilling and re-chilling of the dough to keep it workable. First, pie recipes instruct you to make the pie dough, chill it for at least an hour, then roll it out and fill it, then chill it again, and so on. It quickly turns into an all-day-long kitchen project. So be sure to check out my tips below on how to make this recipe fit into your schedule!

But if that all sounds like too much work still, don’t worry. I’ve also included instructions below on how to make this chocolate chess pie with store bought pie crust. Doing so will make this chocolate chess pie a super quick-and-easy dessert recipe!

a close up photo of chocolate chess pie slices on a metal pan

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make this chocolate chess pie recipe, let’s talk about some key ingredients and potential substitutions:

  • Apple Cider Vinegar. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can use a distilled white vinegar in its place. White vinegar has a neutral flavor and color that won’t affect the look and taste of the pie dough.

  • Kosher Salt. Kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!

  • Dark Chocolate. Whenever I share a recipe that uses dark chocolate, many of you ask if you can use bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. Many manufacturers make chocolate bars that are specifically for baking; these are often labeled “bittersweet”, “semisweet”, or “unsweetened”. You’ll notice that “bittersweet” and “semisweet” typically don’t include cocoa percentages. That’s because there’s no official benchmark for each designation. That’s why in my cookbook, I advise folks to ignore these bars and instead stick with the ones that list their cocoa percentages. That’s truly the only way to know what you’re getting!

  • Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Either unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder works in this recipe. If you use the later, your pie will look and taste just ever-so-slightly different than mine. The filling will have a blackish-brown color as opposed to a reddish-brown one.
a photo of a chocolate chess pie with a slice removed
a photo of a chocolate chess pie with slices removed and a slice on a plate

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Can I use store bought crust?

Yes! I mentioned before that when developing this recipe, I tested with store-bought pie crusts. Feel to to use any kind of store-bought pie crust you like (both the kind you roll out and the kind that already come molded onto a pie plate work well here) and follow the recipe’s instructions below to pre bake the store bought crust. 

Make the recipe fit your schedule

In general, I dislike pre baking pie since it can be a time consuming process to bake the pie twice. There’s a lot of sitting around and waiting, since you also need to chill the pie dough after making it and before molding it onto the pie plate. If you don’t want to take all day making this chocolate chess pie recipe, I suggest splitting the work up over a few days:

  1. Day 1: Make the Pie Dough, Form the Bottom Crust, and Freeze Overnight!
    (around 30 minutes of Work Time, plus 1 hour of chilling)

  2. Day 2: Pre Bake the Frozen Pie, Make the Filling, and Bake the Pie Again!
    (around 5 minutes of Work Time, plus 1 hour and 20 minutes of Bake Time)

I know it seems excessive to break up the recipe over two or three days, but if you look at the schedules closely, you’ll notice that it dramatically decreases the time you spend in the kitchen actively working. You’re free to go on and do other things as the pie dough chills or freezes overnight!

I call this kind of recipe planning “making the recipe fit into your schedule.” If you like this kind of time management, be sure to check out my cookbook, Weeknight Baking, where I break down all sorts of baking recipes in this way.

Do you refrigerate chocolate chess pie?

Chess pie can store at room temperature for an extended amount of time. I like to store my chess pie for up to 48 hours at room temperature, underneath a cake dome (or a large bowl turned upside down over the pie), and then move it to the refrigerator. Before refrigerating, cover loosely with a sheet of plastic wrap.

Best Recipe Tips

  • Unlike most pie doughs that instruct you to make the dough by hand with a pastry cutter or in a food processor, I instruct you to make the dough with a stand mixer. After chilling the ingredients for five minutes or so, you throw everything into the stand mixer and mix it on low speed like you would a cookie dough. It takes less than 5 minutes to come together and eliminates TONS of mess and work. Furthermore, unlike a food processor, a stand mixer allows you more control and visibility as the dough comes together—no flat, dense crusts here, folks!

  • In the oven, the chocolate filling will rise dramatically like a souffle and then fall as it cools. When it does, the edges of the filling will be a little bit gloopy, but the top should still be crispy like a meringue. As the filling continues to cool, its top will crack; this is totally normal and the look that you want! Every time you make this pie, it will rise, fall, and crack in different ways—that’s part of the recipe’s charm, I promise.
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Get the Recipe: Chocolate Chess Pie Recipe

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 50 minutes
Total: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 1 (9-inch) pie
Author: Michelle Lopez
This chocolate chess pie recipe has both chocolate and cocoa powder, resulting in a gooey, brownie-like filling baked in an all-butter pie crust.
(5 stars) 15 reviews
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Ingredients

For the Stand Mixer All-Butter Pie Dough

  • 3 Tablespoons (1.5 ounces or 43 grams) very cold water
  • 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup ice
  • ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) very cold unsalted butter
  • 1 ¼ cups (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

For the Egg Wash:

For the Chocolate Chess Pie Filling:

  • ¾ cup (6 ounces or 170 grams) unsalted butter, chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 3 ounces (or 85 grams) dark chocolate (between 60 to 70% cacao), chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1 ½ cups (10.5 ounces or 298 grams) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Equipment

  • stand mixer
  • Rolling Pin
  • aluminum foil
  • pie weights

Instructions
 

For the Chocolate Chess Pie

  • First, make the pie dough. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the water and vinegar. Add the ice and whisk, Refrigerate while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
  • Freeze the butter. Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes and place them in a small bowl. Freeze while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
  • Mix the dry ingredients, then add the butter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Beat on low until just combined, about 15 seconds.
    Add the butter all at once and beat on low until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal, with pea-sized pieces of butter throughout, about 3 minutes.
  • Add water. Remove the ice water mixture from the refrigerator. With the mixer on low, add 4 Tablespoons of liquid from the ice water mixture.
    Beat on low for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough clumps around the paddle and/or sides of the bowl. If the dough seems too dry, add more liquid from the ice water mixture 1 teaspoon at a time.
  • Prep the dough for refrigerating. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured counter with the spatula. Quickly knead the dough into a rough ball. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and flatten into a small disc.
    Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  • Form the bottom crust. Roll out the disc of chilled dough on a lightly floured counter and fit it onto a 9-inch pie pan.
    Crimp the edge and use a fork to poke holes all over the bottom and sides of the dough.
    Cover loosely with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
  • Prep the oven and pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
    Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the frozen crust, still in its plate, in the center of the pan. Cover the crust with foil, making sure the crimped edges are completely covered and that there are no gaps between the foil and the crust. Fill with pie weights and spread them out so they are more concentrated around the edges of the crust.
  • Prebake the crust and make the egg wash. Bake for 35 minutes.
    While the crust is in the oven, make the egg wash: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, water, and salt.
  • Eggwash the crust. Remove the sheet pan from the oven, keeping the oven on. Carefully lift out the pie weights and foil.
    Use a pastry brush to coat the bottom and sides of the pie crust (but not the crimped border) with a thin layer of egg wash.
    Bake, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack to cool slightly while you make the chocolate chess pie filling.
  • Make the chocolate chess pie filling. Place the butter and dark chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a heavy-bottomed sauce pan filled with a few inches of simmering water (be sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).
    Cook over medium heat, using a heatproof rubber spatula to stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the butter and chocolate have melted and combined, about 10 minutes. Set the double boiler or bowl on a wire rack and let the chocolate mixture cool while you prep the other ingredients.
  • Mix the ingredients for the chocolate chess pie filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Slowly add the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture into the pie shell.
  • Bake the assembled chocolate chess pie. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center of the pie just slightly jiggles. Cool on a wire rack.
  • Serve and store. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. The pie can be kept at room temperature, under a cake dome or a large bowl turned upside down, for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
Michelle holding Weeknight Baking cookbook covering her face.

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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule

Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.

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