Rich, creamy and silky, this Chocolate Cream Pie is a chocolate lovers dream! A creamy chocolate filling is topped with whipped cream in this easy, crowd pleasing pie.
If you love a good chocolate dessert, also check out this Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, or this Chocolate Bundt Cake.
My Favorite Chocolate Pie
I am officially declaring it pie season.
But really, I have waxed poetic about my love of pie here on Taste and Tell. And while Thanksgiving is really all about the pie, there are still plenty of occasions for pie all year long. Not that we need a special occasion. Any day is a good day for pie.
I’ve said it before, but while I do like chocolate, it is not usually the first choice on my list. I tend to go for something fruity or lemony. So I’m glad that she chose this pie to switch things up for me!
This Chocolate Cream Pie is definitely a chocolate lover’s dream come true. It is very rich and chocolatey, and smooth and creamy. It really is dreamy!!
Everyone needs a good chocolate pie in their arsenal, and I’ve found mine!
Ingredients
Sugar – Use regular, granulated sugar.
Cornstarch – This is what will help to thicken up the mixture.
Salt – Always to enhance the flavors.
Milk – I use 2% and it works just fine. Whole milk would work as well. I would not suggest using 1% or skim milk.
Chocolate Chips – I use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Milk chocolate would probably work, although I have not tested the recipe using them.
Egg Yolks – You only need the egg yolks for this recipe. Save the whites to make some Meringue Cookies.
Cream Cheese – I have only tested this using regular, full fat cream cheese.
Heavy Whipping Cream – You’ll need heavy whipping cream for both the filling and the topping.
Vanilla Extract – I always suggest using real vanilla extract.
Pie Crust – You pie crust needs to be fully baked, so plan on doing that beforehand so that it is cool and ready when you need it.
How to Make Chocolate Cream Pie
Start by making the chocolate filling
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt.
- Whisk in the milk.
- Add the chocolate chips and egg yolks.
- Turn on the heat and start cooking until it starts to thicken, stirring it constantly.
- Once it’s thick, whisk in the cream cheese.
- Once it’s all incorporated, cover with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate until it has cooled completely.
Lighten the filling with cream
- Once the filling is cooled, whip the cream with vanilla until you have soft peaks.
- Now you are going to fold the whipped cream into the filling. I think this is easiest if you take about 1/4 of the whipped cream and stir that into the chocolate filling. Then the filling will be lightened up a bit. Then add the rest of the cream, and gently fold it in until it is all combined.
- Take the filling and spread it into your pie crust.
- Back into the refrigerator it goes – cover the pie with plastic wrap. I like to put it right onto the filling.
Top the pie
Once your pie is completely chilled, it’s time to top it with whipped cream!
- Place your remaining cream and vanilla in a bowl.
- Beat until you have stiff peaks.
- Remove your pie from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap.
- Take your cream and spread it evenly over the top.
- If you want, you can sprinkle cocoa powder over the top. I like to use a sifter to make sure it’s not in clumps.
Tips and Tricks
- I use my favorite Pie Crust Recipe for this pie.
- The key to this pie is patience. It’s an easy pie to make, but it does take some time. Make sure you give yourself enough time to cool down the filling, then the pie needs to hang out in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. This means it’s a great pie to make the night before a holiday, though, which frees you up on the day you need it!
- The whipped cream on top is not sweetened, but I think that it doesn’t need it since the pie is sweet. But if you’d rather go with sweetened, feel free to add some powdered sugar into the whipped cream on the top.
- Even with the whipped cream on the top, this pie will hold up for leftovers as well. Covered, it should be good for a few days. I just cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator.
Troubleshooting
Runny Filling:
I have made this pie probably a dozen times and have never had a problem with it setting up, but I’ve had others who have had issues. So I tested it to see if I could figure out the issues. You’ll see a couple different things in this post. If you look at the photos above, the chocolate filling is very thick and set up before the cream is added. And in the video (posted both above and below), you’ll see that the chocolate filling is looser. If you are having problems with the pie setting up or are worried about this, thicken the chocolate mixture until it looks like the photos above. You will just need to cook the filling a little bit longer.
Cream Cheese Not Dissolving:
Another issue I’ve seen people running into is the cream cheese not fully dissolving into the filling. This will most likely happen if your filling isn’t warm enough when you add the cream cheese. There are a few things you can do. A commenter here said she used a hand held blender to fully incorporate it. Even just whisking longer will sometimes help. And the filling will taste the same, even if there are small dots of the cream cheese. By the time the cream is folded in and the filling is refrigerated, they will most likely disappear so that you won’t see them anymore.
More Favorite Pie Recipes
Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Coconut Meringue
Lemon Meringue Pie
Pecan Pie
Coconut Cream Pie
Key Lime Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie Video
Tools I Used
Any standard pie dish should work for this recipe.
A whisk is really important as you want to make sure everything gets fully combined.
I love to use my KitchenAid hand mixer to beat the cream.
Chocolate Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 egg yolks slightly beaten
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract divided
- 1 fully baked pie crust cooled
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk. Add the chocolate chips and egg yolks. Turn the heat on to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add in the cream cheese. Whisk until the cream cheese is melted and fully incorporated.
- Cover the surface of the mixture with a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate just until cooled, about 1 hour.
- Once the filling is cooled, place 1 1/4 cups of the cream in a large bowl with 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Beat until soft peaks form.
- Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate filling.
- Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
- When ready to serve the pie, combine the remaining 3/4 cup cream and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a large bowl.
- Beat until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie.
- If desired, sprinkle the top of the pie with cocoa powder, add shaved chocolate, or just leave it as is!
Deb says
I made this pie for Thanksgiving. Delicious! My husband loves it, and he is very picky.
Brad F says
I know this recipe from before I saw it here, and I can promise you it’s tastes amazing. I get taken every time I go to the store expecting this, and I’m stuck with chocolate pudding and cream pie..
This is the real deal
liana pell says
i did not care for it, it is a very heavy pie, too much whipping’ cream in it, but thanks for the recipe anyway maybe other people will like it
Lee Sells says
I tried your chocolate cream pie (add more sugar I have a sweet tooth) and we all loved it. My pie crust recipe make three pies, so what to do??? Today I used the same recipe but with butterscotch chips. The pie hasn’t set yet but I liked the bowl clean, my oh my. Next I’m thinking white chocolate chips.
Thanks Lee P.S.
I also had trouble getting the cream cheese to total dissolve so I used one of those hand held blender type gadgets that i usually reserve for Thanksgiving gravy.
Jan says
I followed your pie instructions as written. For some reason, the filling did no set up in the refrigerator even though it was there overnight. It ended up being a think soupy mess…although the chocolate tasted great! What do you think I did wrong? It appeared thick in the pot as it was heating. The cornstarch had been in the pantry for a while, could that be it? The homemade crust turned out great. Any suggestions are welcome.
Michelle Smith says
So I’ve done this filling twice tonight (it’s the night before Thanksgiving 😞) and it’s come out exactly the same both times: with tiny white balls of cream cheese in it. I literally whisked it for 20 minutes (and even turned the heat back on low for a minute on the second batch) to no avail. I cannot get the white lumps out. What do you think happened?
The first batch tastes good (even though I haven’t added the whipped cream yet), but it’s definitely lumpy. Lumps were not present before dropping in the cream cheese. Thoughts?
Deborah says
I have not had that happen with this pie before, but it sounds like the cream cheese isn’t melting completely for some reason. Is the mixture smooth even though it has the tiny balls? If so, I’m guessing that once the cream is folded in you might not even be able to see the cream cheese.
Michelle Smith says
That’s exactly what it looks like…I whisked the fire out of the second batch, and it was better (and I got my arm workout in!), but still had tiny white lumps of cream cheese. So I used my hand mixer with whisk attachments for just a minute on low and that broke them up almost completely. I’m worried about if it will set because once I folded in the whipped cream, it looked a little thinner than yours did in the video, but we’ll see! It’s a delicious filling if only I could figure out the cream cheese enigma! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks for your feedback!
Michelle Smith says
Well it didn’t exactly work, but it sorta did! It was smooth the next day, but very runny (it didn’t set) which was what I was afraid of. My sons ate some anyway and said it was now renamed a Melted Ice Cream Pie and was delicious! haha
BUT THEN…I went ahead and covered it and kept it in the frig. And guess what! Three days later…and it has set! And it’s perfectly creamy and smooth like yours in the pictures. Is that weird, or what? I will definitely give this another try…it’s delicious! 🙂
Deborah says
Thanks for letting me know! I think I’m going to have to do some testing – my sister made this pie for Thanksgiving and the same thing happened! I have never had it not set up within a few hours (hers set up about 24 hours later) so I’ll have to figure out what this common problem is. I’m glad you all were still able to enjoy it, though!
Cheryl Petersen says
I’m surprised there is no sugar added to the heavy cream for the topping.
Deborah says
You can definitely add some if you want, but I think it doesn’t need it on this pie!
Lydia says
Made this for our dessert last night and it was SO good! A chocolate lovers dream come true, for sure! I also loved how easy it was to make. I admit, I was a bit skeptical about the fact that there was no sugar added to the whipped cream topping (I always add a little when I make it to top my pies), but it was perfectly delicious without!
Deborah says
I’m so glad you liked the pie!!
Tahsha says
Could I make this and freeze it? (probably before the whipped cream topping) I had extra chocolate cream.
Jack says
Best Pie ever… Made it many times. I use crushed Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Toffee cookies for crust. It is crazy good. Thanks.
Nancy says
I made this on Py Day 2016 and it did NOT fail me. Thank you so much. I am making it again tomorrow. I can’t stop thinking about it. 🙂
Deborah says
yay! So glad you loved it!
CakeSpy says
Since today is National Pie Day, it’s naturally the perfect day for this pie. 🙂
Jeannie says
Do you think it would be ok to go ahead and put the whipped cream topping on the pie several hours before serving? I’m taking this to work for a friend’s birthday and would love to have it all put together ahead of time. Looks delicious!
Deborah says
Definitely ! The original recipe actually says to put it on and then refrigerate it overnight – I just didn’t. 😉
Ever D says
I keep trying to pin this and Pinterest won’t let me… I get that message that it “may lead to spam”, which is absurd. Ugh.
Deborah says
I am SO sorry! Pinterest is having some major issues today, and I’m expecting it all to be working in the next few hours. I know many, many websites were blocked today and they are working through it. I’m sorry!!
Chels R. says
You guys had 15 pies at Thanksgiving!!!?? WOW! That is a lot of pie. I made two pies and that’s all we had, which ended up being great because half the family was sick and couldn’t come. Now I’ve got leftovers galore in my fridge. I last love that your daughter picked this out. It sounds like she had a blast doing it.
Roxana says
Deborah I’m right there with you, it’s definitely pie season, and this one is right up my alley!
Kristin says
I’ve made this a couple times & it’s been Amazing & on point everytime! I Luuuv It! I was wondering though if you thought it’d work okay with Splenda instead of regular sugar? I have some diabetics in my house & was just wondering.
Deborah says
I’m afraid I don’t ever bake with splenda, so I couldn’t be sure. Sorry!
Liz says
Yum – thank you.
Joanne Williamson says
Flavor ok but did not set up
Raime says
I will review this better once i finish making it but i don’t know how thick the chocolate mixture should be before putting the cream cheese in. How long does it typically take to thicken on the stovetop?
Deborah says
It will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. It’s not thick enough to stand on its own at that point. There is a video you can watch in the post where you should be able to see the consistency. Let me know if you have any other questions!