Simple Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe

I had some milk that I needed to use up before we went away for a weekend. What to make, milkshakes seemed like a good idea, but I had a graham cracker crust in the pantry so I thought a chocolate pudding pie was calling our name. I have never made a chocolate cream pie  from scratch so this was going to be a fun challenge. Don’t worry if you can stir a pot you can make chocolate cream filling Plus make this a day or two ahead of time for entertaining to save you time.

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Fresh Fruit pies are wonderful in the summer but who wants to put on the oven all the time. This pudding pie is made on the stove top and then chilled to perfection. Dollop with some yummy whipped topping, homemade or store bought and your family will be begging for more.

You can use a flaking pie crust or a graham cracker crust for this recipe. Pick based on your tastes and amount of time you have. No oven for us this time.

Make your filling on the stove top. I used a mixture of unsweetened chocolate squares and cocoa since I did not have enough of the bar. Simply check your cocoa container for substitution but if you have shortening and unsweetened cocoa you have unsweetened chocolate ready for your recipe.

Stir stir stir until your mixture is nice and thick. 

Pour into your crust. (If you used a flaky crust be sure it is cooled

The pie need to cool and then place a piece of saran wrap on top of the pudding an cool in the fridge for a few hours.

Dollop with some whipped cream and serve.

This pie is not overly sweet but full of chocolate flavor. We even used skim milk so saved a little on the fat and calories. 

Ingredients

• 9- inch baked pastry shell or crumb crust
• 2 1/2 ounces Unsweetened Chocolate Baking Bar or substitute
• 3 cups milk
• 1-1/3 cups sugar


• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Sweetened whipped cream-- homemade or store bought

Instructions

1. If using Pastry shell, bake per directions. Cool.
2. 2. Combine chocolate and 2 cups milk in medium saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture boils. Remove from heat.
3. 3. Stir together sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt in medium bowl. Blend remaining 1 cup milk into egg yolks; stir into sugar mixture. Gradually add to chocolate mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk, until mixture boils; boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.
4. 4. Pour into prepared pastry or crust shell; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Cool; refrigerate until well chilled. Top with whipped cream, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

Notes

Adapted from Hershey's Incredibly Easy cookbook

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Yield : 8 SLICES            Prep time : 20 MINUTES          Cook time : 15 MINUTES

 Additional time : 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES            Total time : 2 HOURS 5 MINUTES