Amish chocolate pie is made with a traditional pre-baked flaky pie crust that's filled with a silky, smooth, homemade chocolate pudding, and topped with whipped cream. It's a chocolate lover's dream pie! 🙂
Every bite is a little slice of happiness, making homemade chocolate cream pie a perfect dessert for any occasion!
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Milk is the base liquid for the custard filling. It's what creates a creamy texture.
- Sugar sweetens the filling, balancing the bitterness of the cocoa powder.
- Cornstarch acts as a thickening agent, helping to create a smooth and creamy consistency by binding the ingredients together.
- All-purpose flour helps thicken the filling and adds structure to the custard.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder provides the chocolate flavor. It adds depth and richness to the pie, giving it its characteristic chocolate taste.
- Salt enhances the flavors.
- Egg Yolks add richness and help bind the ingredients together. They also contribute to the smooth and creamy texture of the custard.
- Butter adds richness and creaminess, enhancing the flavor and mouthfeel of the custard.
- Vanilla Extract adds overall flavor.
- Pre-baked (9") Pie Crust provides the base for the pie. It adds structure and texture to the dessert, complementing the creamy filling.
- Whipped Cream or Cool Whip balances out the richness of the chocolate filling. Its creamy sweetness complements the deep chocolate flavor, and it adds an inviting and visually appealing touch to the dessert.
This post contains affiliate links...
How to Make Chocolate Pie with Cocoa Powder
This homemade chocolate cream pie recipe uses cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor. It is made with a delicious and simple homemade chocolate pudding. (You can also enjoy this easy chocolate pudding for a little afternoon snack and eat it without the crust.)
To make the pudding, we'll begin by heating whole milk in a saucepan. It doesn't have to be whole milk, but the pudding will be creamier with whole milk.
Mix the cocoa powder, cornstarch, flour, sugar, and salt in a separate bowl. Then add the beaten egg yolks and about a cup of hot milk. Whisk until smooth and slowly pour it into the hot milk.
Cook, whisking constantly until it begins to boil and is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat, and add the butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is melted, and mix.
Set the pudding aside to cool. Then pour it into a pre-baked pie crust.
Chill your chocolate pie for several hours to give the pudding time to set. Then top it with whipped cream before serving.
Pre-Baked Pie Crust
Pie crust is not hard to make and I have a simple flaky crust recipe that you can use. But if you feel intimidated to make a crust or are short on time, you can also use a store-bought pie crust and pre-bake according to the directions on the package.
Many people like to fill the pie crust with weights to bake the shell and here's a link with some tips on how to do that.
However, I have not found it necessary to use weights. I simply prick my crusts all over, set a slightly smaller foil pie pan on the inside of the crust (to keep the crust from collapsing), and bake them at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove the inside pans and continue baking the crusts until lightly browned.
Cool the crusts and they are ready to use.
This pie is also delicious with an Oreo crust or a graham cracker crust like I use for my cherry cheesecake pie.
Make-Ahead Chocolate Pie
Pies are always the best within the first day or two after being made. Because after sitting for a while the crust will begin to get soggy. So I usually bake my pies no longer than a day before serving.
The nice thing about cream pies, though, is that you can prepare everything a couple of days in advance and then assemble the pie just before serving. It will seem like you have a freshly made pie.
Prepare the pudding and refrigerate it in an airtight container until ready to assemble your pie.
Pre-bake the crust. Refrigerate it (or not), covered with a tea towel (I love to use flour sack kitchen towels with food), until ready to use.
Then once you're ready to serve, all you need to do is whip the cream and assemble the chocolate pie.
Amish Cream Pies
Cream Pies are very popular in Amish country. They are easy to make, and are some of my favorite pies.
Several different kinds of cream pie can be made with the same pudding base. I make banana cream, coconut cream, and Peanut Butter Cream Pie with the same basic pudding recipe.
This recipe for Amish chocolate pie is basically the same as well, although we add a bit more sugar and add cocoa powder.
If you try this Amish recipe for chocolate cream pie, I'd love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe Card
Amish Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 c. milk
- 1 c. sugar
- 3 ½ Tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 pre-baked (9") pie crust
Whipped Cream:
- 1 ½ c. heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, bring the milk to boiling. (Milk begins to rise as it comes to a boil, so you want to keep your eye on it.)3 c. milk
- Meanwhile, mix the sugar, cornstarch, flour, cocoa, and salt.1 c. sugar, 3 ½ Tbsp. cornstarch, 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ tsp. salt
- Add the egg yolks and one cup of the hot milk to the cornstarch mixture, and mix until creamy.3 large egg yolks
- Slowly, while whisking, pour the egg/cornstarch mixture into the hot milk. Bring it to a full boil. (Be careful, because boiling pudding can splatter.)
- Remove from the heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is melted and combined. Set aside to cool.2 Tbsp. butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Pour the cooled pudding into a 9" pre-baked pie crust. Refrigerate to chill.1 pre-baked (9") pie crust
- Top with whipped cream and serve. Store any leftovers, loosely covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Whipped Cream:
- Whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla until it is thickened. (If you overbeat it, it will start to turn into butter. But you don't want it too thin either, so just beat until it's thick and creamy.)1 ½ c. heavy whipping cream, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Spread over the top of the chilled pudding.
Anna
Delicious!!