High Altitude Chocolate Chess Pie

This chocolate chess pie is made with a flaky all butter pastry crust, with a rich and creamy chocolate filling that tastes like fudge brownies.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

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Prep Time 55

Cook Time 1

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 3 55

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings8

1 cup (6 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (around 55-65% cacao)
⅓ cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs, room temperature
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cream or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Prepare 1/2 Recipe Pie Dough, as instructed.
Baker's Note: You can also make the full pie dough recipe for two crusts, and wrap and freeze half the dough for another pie.
Roll the dough out thinly, into a circle large enough to fit inside your pie pan with the dough hanging over the edges. Fold the edges under to create a thick crust, and crimp the edges.
Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork, then place the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill the crust before baking.
Preheat the oven to 400 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
Fit a piece of parchment paper into the chilled crust, and fill the paper with dried beans or pie weights. Make sure the edges of the crust are covered by the paper, too. This process is called "blind baking" so that the crust keeps its shape and doesn't puff up while it bakes without any filling to weigh it down.
Bake the crust for 30 minutes. Remove the paper and the dried beans, then return the pan to the oven to bake the crust uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes, until pale golden brown and mostly baked through.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F.

While the crust is baking, you can work on the filling. Start by measuring the chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan. Over low heat, slowly heat the chocolate and butter, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cream and vanilla as hard as you can for 2 minutes. Whisk in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth.
Sift the cocoa powder and flour over the chocolate mixture, then whisk it in until combined.
Pour the batter into the pre-baked crust, and cover the edge of the crust with a pie crust shield if it's already starting to brown.
Bake the pie for 30 minutes at 325 F, until the filling is slightly puffed and cracked. Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool for several hours before cutting and serving. The filling will settle down and flatten as the pie cools.

Keep the leftover pie in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-5 days.

Keyword Brownies, Chess, Chocolate, High Altitude, Pie