Chocolate Cream Pudding Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
With a super easy graham cracker crust, this is the perfect chocolate cream pudding pie! Simple, decadent, delicious!
Whenever you decide simple and delicious chocolate cream pudding pie needs to be in your life (like, yesterday, hello), this is the one.
This pie is perfect for anyone who might not want to mess with a homemade pie crust (interjecting here to say the chocolate filling would be delicious in a prebaked traditional pie shell in case that is your thing).
And it’s easy enough for bakers of all levels! This pudding pie is rich and creamy and deliciously chocolatey.
If you are concerned about the itty bitty amount of cream cheese in the pudding layer, it doesn’t lend a cheesecake vibe to the pie – it just helps sturdy the pie up a bit and intensifies the creaminess which contributes to the ridiculous yumminess.
FAQs for Chocolate Cream Pudding Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
You want the plastic wrap to lay directly on the surface of the pudding so it doesn’t form a skin on top.
It can be made 1-2 days in advance (the crust will soften the longer it’s refrigerated). I like to add the whipped cream right before serving so it doesn’t get weepy/liquidy
Chocolate Cream Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ½ cups (150 g) graham cracker crumbs, about 13 rectangle graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) salted butter, melted (add a pinch of salt to the mixture if using unsalted butter)
Pudding Layer:
- 3 tablespoons (21 g) cocoa powder
- ¾ cup (159 g) brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (50 g) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups milk (see note)
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ounces (85 g) cream cheese, softened
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup (29 g) powdered sugar
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup (29 g) powdered sugar
Optional Garnishes:
- Chocolate curls, sprinkled toffee bits, dusting of cocoa powder, etc.
Instructions
- For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter until evenly mixed. Press the mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust for 8 minutes. Remove and let cool completely. Cover with saran wrap until ready to use (this can be made several days in advance if kept well-covered).
- For the pudding layer, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add the milk and whisk to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to whisk as the mixture comes to a boil and large bubbles break across the surface and the mixture has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Scrape the pudding into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface. Refrigerate until chilled and set up (2-3 hours).
- In a blender or an electric stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer), whip the 3 ounces cream cheese, 2/3 cup cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar together until thick and creamy. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold this mixture into the chilled chocolate pudding until combined.
- Evenly spread the pudding mixture into the prepared graham cracker crust. At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 days (the crust will get slightly soft if it’s made in advance but it is still delicious) or go ahead and top with the whipped cream mixture and refrigerate for an hour (up to 4 hours) before serving.
- For the whipped cream layer, whip the 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar together until soft peaks form. Gently spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie and garnish with chocolate curls, sprinkled toffee bits, a dusting of cocoa powder – or whatever your heart desires. Serve chilled.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (pudding adapted from one of my favorite chocolate pudding recipes)
Most recipes call for 8 or 9 Graham crackers for a pie. This one needs 13. Any particular reason? Thanks.
Mostly because I tend to like a thicker graham cracker crust…you could cut it down if you’d like.
This was a hit at Thanksgiving yesterday!!
Thanks, Jodi!
I’m a little confused. Do you let the pudding mixture totally cool before you add the cream cheese mixture?
Yes, let the pudding cool completely.
My daughter and I made this for her feast at kindergarten. She tasted the pudding and gave it a thumbs up. “It’s so chocolatey! It’s not as good as real pudding, but it’s #2.” I asked her what real pudding was. “The kind other people make for you.” Sigh…
Could I use bittersweet chocolate instead for more of a dark chocolate flavor?
Yep!
Someone wanted me to make a chocolate meringue pie for them. After searching recipes, I’ve decided on yours. Do you think the pudding will hold up in the oven for meringue to bake?
I can’t say 100% since I haven’t tried it, but the pudding is pretty sturdy (after refrigerating) so I think it might work.
My pudding didn’t set up, it was in the refrigerator overnight
Have you made this with Dutch Process cocoa? I have both on hand for a change.
I’ve made it with natural unsweetened and Dutch-process and it’s delicious both ways!
This pie was the first pie gone at Thanksgiving! Everyone LOVED it. Thanks Mel, for making me feel like a rock-star when it comes to all things food!
Thanks so much, Emily! It was the first one gone at our Thanksgiving this year, too!
It was very creamy! I had no problem blending the mixture ..there was no white specks in my pie — we loved it and I will l make it again or maybe cut to half for 2 of us as very rich and decadent. I made this for Thanksgiving this year and family while visiting our daughter and family.
My grandpa is 87 yrs old and loves chocolate. I made him this for his birthday in June, and now, he requests it for every occasion. I am so glad he loves it, and the rest of the family loves it too! Thank you for sharing!
That’s awesome, thanks Brooke!
Could you make everything in advance and just not assemble till the day of?
Yes, I think that would work!
I just noticed that there are no eggs in this pudding recipe, I’ve never made a cooked homemade pudding without eggs. I was thinking of making this for thanksgiving this year. I was also looking at and comparing the chocolate pretzel pie. I like the idea of putting ganache on the crust before the filling.
Hi,.
Can I make this in mini Tarlet format? Or will unmolding be an issue? Has anyone tried it?
a deep, full-bodied, rich chocolate pudding recipe that is by far the best I have ever tasted. Followed the directions exactly and the result was beautiful. Made this for my son-in-laws birthday. He said it was the best he had to ever had and told me to not lose the recipe.
Could you use bittersweet chocolate in place of the semisweet chocolate? If so would the sugar need to be altered. I love chocolate so…..
Yes, bittersweet chocolate works great! I don’t mind the dark richness, but you can bump up the sugar 1/4 cup if you would like.
Could regular sugar be substituted for the brown sugar?
That would probably work ok.
Plan on making this very soon.
I may or may not have had this for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving. Great recipe!!
Why have I not made this sooner? This will be staple at our Thanksgiving dinner from now on. My husband hasn’t tasted the final pie yet, just the pudding mixture and says it is a contender for his new birthday pie. Seriously to die for! Thanks, Mel, for always providing the best recipes that make me look good.
Thank YOU, Cicily. 🙂
Can I modify. I am a diabetic. It’s a little to sweet for me.
You can definitely experiment!
I’d like to lodge an official complaint. Last year I decided to try this for Thanksgiving even though I usually only make 3 pies none of them chocolate (and the family wouldn’t let me drop one of the other pies). So, everyone loved this one so much that they are requiring it every year now. Plus, on Pi Day at school, my son convinced me to make this for his class. Apparently only 1 kid brought in a homemade pie and the rest were store bought! And it wasn’t until afterward that I realized that for a 5th grade class I probably could have used a box of pudding. Oh well. It is delicous.
Haha, sorry?? 🙂 And I love you for introducing those 5th graders to a from-scratch pie. That is the best thing ever.
Came out great!!! I only refrigerated for 2hrs and it was still a bit warm next time I’ll probably put it in a longer container to cool down faster as to not cook the cream cheese mixture and cause clumps(:
How long, should i wait to make this and put together? If’d like to bring it to a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow evening?
Whoops *IF I’D*
You could make this a day ahead of time.
Yes, this can be made ahead of time.
Can I make the filling a few days in advance and then assemble day of?
Sure! The filling will set up and be more firm, but with a little work, you could still spread it in the pie crust.
Can I sub anything for the cream cheese?
You could try mascarpone cheese.
Hello! Ok, so my cream cheese mixture had little lumps that I didn’t notice until I folded it into the pudding mixture 🙁 It now looks like chocolate pudding with white chunks throughout it. Any advice?
Can you blend the entire mixture to see if it can even out the lumps?
I was thinking about doing that- but was a little nervous it would make the pudding too “whipped”. Although, maybe I’ll try that next time. The pie still turned out great! 🙂 I covered it completely with the whipped cream, so you couldn’t even tell. It got a 10 out of 10 from my very fussy family… even with the little specks.
This pie is pure heaven! I love everything about it and the taste is perfection. I have made it twice now, and both times there were small balls/specks of cream cheese in my pudding. The first time, I didn’t read thoroughly and didn’t have the cream cheese softened. I thought for sure that was why it wasn’t smooth enough. Well this time, it softened, at room tempeture, and it still happened! I made it in a stand mixer, so it was beat well enough. I used regular cream cheese- not fat free. What am I missing? Thankfully, it doesn’t affect the taste, but I am a little self conscious to serve it and have people see the cream cheese mini chunks.
Hi Sara – try whipping the cream cheese on it’s own before adding the cream/sugar and get it light and fluffy and smooth. Then add the cream gradually and then the powdered sugar (you also might try sifting your powdered sugar if it’s lumpy at all). Good luck!
I came across your website fairly recently, and have noticed a number of recipes with Graham cracker crusts. You may not know that you can buy Graham crumbs from Keeblers, for example. Usually, 1-1/2 cups of Graham crackers, 1/2 butter and 1/3 cup of sugar makes a good crust, and be used as is, or baked before using. I have been using for Key Lime or lemon pie for years
Hi Mel! The flavor of this pie was absolutely amazing! I’m trying to figure out why it didn’t set up quite right, though. I cut into it and the consistency was too loose to stay together in any sort of pie form. Any ideas? Maybe I didn’t cook the chocolate mixture enough? Definitely a make again if I can figure out what happened. Thanks so much! Your blog (and instagram) are wonderful!!!
Hi Sara, try cooking the pudding mixture a bit longer, that should definitely help.
Mel! I loved this so, so, so much! oh man. I made 2 pies – shared the 1st and ate the entire 2nd one by myself!! I can’t wait to make it again!
Lets just say, this made my thanksgiving everything!!
Wow!!!! Made this for Thanksgiving and everyone raved about it. So delicious! The only thing I did differently was to use Dream Whip for the topping. I told everyone about your website and how great everything you post is. So yummy. Thank you!
For step 5: I mixed the correct amounts listed for cream cheese, powdered sugar, and heavy cream and it turned out kindof grainy. It was thick and looks creamy but it’s like the cream cheese didn’t mix in. Have you ever had this problem? I’m wondering if cheap cream cheese will do this?
Thank You.
Did you use light cream cheese, Amanda? Sometimes that can make it grainy, otherwise I’m not sure to be honest.
Hey Mel! This is chilling in the fridge and I can’t wait to taste it all combined (since I can verify the goodness of that pudding, wowza). I think the oz measurement for the cocoa powder is off, though – maybe more like .5 oz? 🙂
I know, Bet! I’m so sorry. Another reader alerted me to that and I realized I had put an extra 1 in there. It should be more like .75 ounces or thereabouts. I’ve updated the recipe; hope that didn’t cause any problems!
Will it hold in fridge…with all layers…for a day or so?
Tx!!
Because of the whipped cream layer, I wouldn’t keep it refrigerated fully assembled for longer than 8 hours (whipped cream can get liquidy if left longer). But that’s just me – you could definitely try to refrigerate longer!
Hi Mel – I just looked in the fridge and I saw that I accidentally bought half and half instead of cream…any chance I could go with it and avoid yet another trip to the grocery store? If not, I’ll go back…I just want to make sure. 🙂 Thanks! 🙂
Ugh, I hate to send you to the store but half and half won’t whip up like luxurious cream. Sorry!
Love this perfect to sit around and make fun family memories
I made this to take to a Thanksgiving service, and it was gone before I could get to it! Each component of the pie was delicious as was the bit of it I scraped from the dish 🙂 I’m going to make it again for Thanksgiving so my family can have some!
I used chocolate graham crackers, too, because I feel like we can all be thankful for more chocolate 🙂
I was all set with the pretzel crust chocolate pie and then this posted! If you had to choose, which should I take to Thanksgiving?
Both are delicious – the pretzel pie has a bit richer, thicker pudding layer whereas this one is a bit lighter and creamier.
Thanks for taking the time to reply, especially when I see above someone asked you the same question! Sorry, I scrolled through them but didn’t see it before. 🙂
I love chocolate cream pies, but have never actually made one before on my own. Your recipe looks pretty simple and delicious though!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
We always make your banoffee pie for Thanksgiving. This might have to share a place with that. Yum!
Mel, do you like this chocolate pie or your chocolate pudding pretzel pie better? I’m having a hard time deciding which one to make!
Ah, that’s a tough question! I’d say this one just because it’s new but both are delicious. This chocolate cream pudding pie is a bit creamier and lighter (the pudding layer) – still chocolatey, just not as rich and dense.
How about changing the crust on this one to the pretzel crust but keeping everything else the same. Thoughts?
Yes! Do it. 🙂
I was going to ask the exact same thing!! Thanks for reading my mind! And Mel, you are just the best. Thank you for keeping my pudding loving heart happy! 🙂
Well thank goodness my husband’s birthday is tomorrow and I have a reason to make this before next week! 🙂
This is exactly what I need to bring to Thanksgiving! Thank you for sharing!!
This pie looks amazing! And I LOVE the fact that the pudding layer is all homemade! 🙂
Dani | http://www.styledvariety.com
YUMM! I am so happy to see a made-from-scratch chocolate pie recipe! Takes me back to when my grandmother used to make them. Thank you!!
Whew! Thanks for posting this one. I was actually (no lie) daydreaming about a chocolate pudding pie for Thanksgiving and was planning to look through your recipes to get me one. You never fail me…ever.
Hey Mel, what are the chances, do you think, that this would work with Splenda instead of sugar? My diabetic MIL usually asks for a chocolate cream pie made with sugar free pudding mix, but this looks so much better!
I am completely unexperienced using splenda in cooking/baking, Sarah, but because it isn’t baked, I think it probably stands a good chance of working (you might try googling to see if there are any other similar recipe that use splenda just to see if they work).
thanks girlfriend! wink wink
thank you!! been looking for a chocolate pudding pie that doesn’t incorporate a packet of pudding (+all the associated preservatives!), Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Do you think this would keep for 24 hours in the fridge?
Step #6 says it will keep 1-2 days in the frig.
Sorry I should have verified. I meant with the final layer added. 🙂
Why can’t I find the receipe?