Rich Chocolate Pudding Pie

The dessert that I am making today is very easy to put together, but it requires at least 4 hours chilling time, so this is a dessert that needs to be made ahead. This pie is very chocolaty rich, with chocolate cookies and bittersweet chocolate in the crust, as well as bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder in the filling. But, can you ever have too much chocolate? I don’t think so.

The recipe is from the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Rich Chocolate Pudding Pie

Crust
30 chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco’s Famous Chocolate Wafers)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon canola oil

Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
2 large egg yolks
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon white rum or vanilla extract

The crust is simple to make and only needs these three ingredients.

Although it was simple to make, the ingredients weren’t all simple for me to find. Those little chocolate cookies aren’t even sold in the grocery stores in my town. I had to go to a Kroger store in a larger town about 20 miles away to buy them.

To prepare the crust, place the cookies in a food processor.

Process until finely ground.

Next, we need 3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate. I bought mine in an 11.5 ounce bag, so I have to weigh out what I need.

Then, melt the chocolate pieces. I used the microwave oven in 20 second increments and stirred the chocolate to melt.

Pour the melted chocolate into the food processor with the finely ground cookies.

Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to the mixture; process until blended.

Pour the cookie mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.

Press into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate to form a crust. Freeze the crust for 15 minutes or until set.

To prepare the filling . . .

combine sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt in a large saucepan.

Stir with a whisk.

Now we need 1 3/4 cups milk and 2 eggs yolks.

Pour in about half the milk and both the egg yolks.

Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Stir in the remaining milk.

Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Now we need 4 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate from our 11.5 ounce bag.

Add the chocolate pieces and the vanilla extract.

Stir until smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust.

Cover with plastic wrap; chill 4 hours or until set.

The magazine article suggests serving with fat-free Cool Whip and raspberries, but I opted for my own favorites.

This is a great dessert topping, and I like strawberries with chocolate, so let’s finally enjoy the Rich Chocolate Pudding Pie after waiting 4 hours for it to chill.

The crust of this pie is very special. It really was worth the drive to another town for the cookies. The bittersweet chocolate in the filling gives the pie a richer taste than a typical chocolate pie. This is a pie for a real chocolate lover.