Chocolate Pudding Pretzel Pie
A delicious take on chocolate pudding pie – this version uses pretzels in the buttery crust as well as a decadent layer of chocolate ganache.
I’m pretty sure whoever thought to combine pretzels into a buttery, sweet pie crust is the most brilliant human being on earth.
Further topping that divine crust with decadent chocolate ganache, homemade (easy) chocolate pudding, and a whipped creamy topping is almost too much.
Almost.
I’m a huge fan of pudding pies, but this one has kind of snuck into my life and skyrocketed the top. There just is too much to love. The salty, sweet, creamy, chocolate combo completely rocks my world.
If you wanted to get completely wild and crazy, this would be divine and totally cute portioned into individual servings instead of one humongo pie. Let’s be serious, though, it’s going to taste amazing no matter what.
I feel like I search all year long to find the perfect dessert to serve on Christmas Eve (alongside some kind of cheesecake, usually this Pomegranate one) and this luxurious chocolate pudding pretzel pie is totally and most definitely the one. Everyone else can have the cheesecake, this baby belongs to me.
Don’t be put off by the lengthy recipe. It’s broken into steps and none of them are difficult. Promise.
Plus the pie can be made ahead of time which saves us all a bit of sanity this time of year.
One Year Ago: Homemade Thin Mint Cookies {Sugar Rush Gift Edition #6}
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Three Years Ago: Queso Blanco Dip
Chocolate Pudding Pretzel Pie
Ingredients
Pretzel Crust:
- 3 ½ cups (about 156 g) pretzel sticks (lightly broken in pieces to fit in the measuring cup if measuring instead of weighing)
- ¼ cup (53 g) light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) salted butter, melted
Chocolate Ganache:
- 3 ounces (85 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chips or bar chocolate
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Pudding:
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 5 ounces (142 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chips or bar chocolate
- 5 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Creamy Topping:
- 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Chocolate curls for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the crust, crush the pretzels in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Stir in the brown sugar and butter. Press the pretzel mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.
- For the ganache, chop the chocolate if using bar chocolate. Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream to just barely simmering in the microwave or on the stovetop. Pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit without stirring for 2-3 minutes. Stir until glossy and smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pie crust (it will be a pretty thin layer, don’t worry if there are a few bare spots here and there). Refrigerate until set.
- For the pudding, in a medium saucepan, combine the milk and chocolate (chop the chocolate in pieces if using bar chocolate). Heat over medium-low until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is warm.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Carefully ladle in 1/2 cup or so of the warm milk mixture into the bowl, whisking vigorously (this is tempering the eggs so they don’t curdle when cooked on the stovetop). Continue ladling in another one or two scoops of the milk mixture and whisk until the egg mixture is smooth.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining chocolate milk mixture, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, continuing to whisk the entire time, until the mixture is bubbling and thick, 4-5 minutes.
- Off the heat, stir in the vanilla. Transfer the pudding to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the pudding come to room temperature. Spread the pudding evenly in the pie plate. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until the pudding is somewhat set.
- For the creamy topping, whip together the cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer (I often do this in my Blendtec blender) until creamy and smooth. Stir in the vanilla and heavy cream and whip until the mixture is thick and well-combined.
- Spread the creamy topping over the chocolate pudding. Top with chocolate curls or sprinkles, if desired.
- Chill the pie for another 2-3 hours before serving.
Notes
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Recipe Source: inspired by this recipe (changed up the crust, made my own chocolate pudding version and altered the creamy topping quite a bit)
Hint. Add a tablespoon (or to taste) of instant coffee to the pudding after it is cooked, and stir in well, then sprinkle some on top before adding the chocolate curls. I tried it both with and without, and my family votes for the added coffee hands down
Delicious! I loved the flavors! But my crust was just pretzel dust and pieces..I saw a few other people had the same problem. I measured my pretzels by weight and I think it was way too much pretzel. Maybe it was too fine – I can’t really get pieces with my blender, although I had some, most of it was powder. So, if I made it again, I would try for less pretzels (maybe following 3.5 cups instead of the weight) and crush then by hand, not in a blender and maybe that would help!
Thanks for the recipe! Love sweet and salty!
I’m only part way done with making this pie but my crust will not set up. I baked it for the 8 minutes and cooled it but it crumbles like dust. I tried to spread the ganache and it just tore it apart so I was only able to drizzle it here and there. I’m going to continue and finish it but do you have any advice on what I did wrong?
Hi Kristen, what was the texture of the pretzels after chopping? They should be in small pieces, not fine like flour.
This pie was my inspiration for my Gluten free-Dairy free- Thanksgiving dessert! I used Gluten free pretzels and replaced the pudding with your dairy free chocolate pudding ( made with chocolate almond milk). Thanks for the idea!!!
This pie is delicious. I had trouble with the pretzel crust. It was too dry to stick together, even after adding more butter. Next time I’ll grind them even more fine and up the butter too. I loved the chocolate ganache on the bottom, I used a bar of Lindt dark chocolate chili and it was subtle but so great. I also press the hot pudding into the bowl through a fine mesh strainer to ensure a silky smooth result. Delicious!
Love hearing that, Heather. Thank you!
Do you think you could make the chocolate pudding a day in advance or will it set up too much?
Yes, for sure. It will be pretty thick, but if you give it a really god stir/whisk (do it with gusto or else little lumps may develop) it should be fine.
Thanks so much!! I’m making 3 of your pies and your confetti creamed corn for thanksgiving this year. Always can count on your recipes being fabulous!!
Thank you, Krista!
I’m getting ready to make this for our fourth Thanksgiving and wanted to mention gluten-free pretzels do just the trick on the crust for GF families! Scrumptious!
Awesome!!
Hey Mel, in this recipe, you call for “heavy cream” and then “heavy whipping cream”. Are they the same? I can only find one at our grocery. Thanks!
Yes, it’s the same; sorry for the confusion!
This has always been one of our family favorites as well. I made one slight change last year that changed us forever. I put a layer of Bavarian cream underneath. We thought we were in heaven.
I made this today to take for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I felt like a rock star when I made pudding from scratch (1st time ever). I did a little happy dance because thanks to you I’m pretty much a professional.
Haha, way to go!
Ah-maz-ing! We loved it and will add it to our “recipes the entire family agrees are fabulous” binder! Thank you for sharing!
This pie is so wonderfully delicious! It is well worth the steps. I absolutely love it!
What do you think about if this pie was made the day before thanksgiving without the cream topping and that was added in thanksgiving?
Just trying to strategically plan 🙂
I think that would work great (sorry about my late response; I’ve been away from the computer for a few days).
So excited to make this pie next week! How do you think it would fare overnight in the fridge fully assembled?
I think it would do pretty well – the only thing that worries me is sometimes whipped cream gets a little weepy and liquidy if sitting for too long.
This looks fabulous, and we’re planning to use it for my husband’s birthday party this weekend. I think it won’t quite be enough, though. Do you think it would work to 1 1/2 times the recipe and put it in a 9×13?
Sure, I think that would work (although I haven’t tried it – just guessing based on quantities of ingredients).
Yum, this looks delicious Mel! I am planning on making a chocolate cream pie today and realized you have 2 different recipes for chocolate pudding pie filling on the blog. I am going to use a classic pie crust and was wondering if you would suggest using this filling recipe or the filling recipe from your bittersweet chocolate pudding pie. Thanks!
Hi Grace – either would work although this pie filling is probably just a tad lighter in flavor and in texture.
Made this for my family and they loved it! Thanks, Mel! You are a hero in our house!
I made this last night for my husbands birthday and we all loved it! Your recipes are on my menu plan each week :). Thanks for what you do, it helps me each week feed my family! You are my go to food blog!
This looks delicious! Just to clarify, do you use a baking chocolate bar, or a regular chocolate bar that you could eat plain, like Hershey’s?
I use baking chocolate (like the kind you find above the chocolate chips).
Hi Mel,
Will it affect the pie if my pretzels are salted?
Hey Melissa – my pretzels are/were salted, too, that’s the kind I’m using in the recipe.
Okay Mel, so which is better this one or your peanut butter pie? (I’m pretty sure I already know the answer since you live for chocolate)…I am still undecided for a Christmas dessert. I’ve done your pomegranate cheesecake and a few others…this year I just want a yummy pie!
This one all the way, Nicole! (But you knew I’d say that, right?) 🙂
Mel – So I made this for my son’s 7th birthday part with our family. A small family get together full of love for our growing boy. My daughter (8) helped make most of this pie – we had the best time working through the ingredients and measuring it out.
The pie was unbelievably delicious!!! We had just enough for the 12 people there and every single one of them licked the plate clean.
You have never failed me with a recipe and I am so thankful that I can turn to your blog to bring fresh recipes to our table. Thanks Mel!!!
Loved this comment, Tristan – it’s so rewarding and fun to cook with kids and I love that your daughter enjoys being in the kitchen with you. Glad the pie was a success!
This pie looks and sounds incredible. I love the salty sweet combination!
OH. MY. HEAVENS. This looks so amazing. Chocolate and pretzels is one of the best combos in the planet. I can’t wait to make this!
Made this delicious pie yesterday! We all loved it (we are pretzel fans and loved that twist). The kids snuck the remaining pieces for breakfast this morning. I melted the butter for the crust, but I will say the crust was still very crumbly and came apart when serving…not that it mattered, it all tasted so good together! Thank you Mel for another winning recipe!!!
Mel, I love your recipes! I am going to make this for my son’s 2 year old party. For the crust, should the butter be melted?
Yes, Christina – sorry for omitting that detail.
Just made this tonight, but it’s still in the fridge for the final 2-3 hour chill. My kids and I taste-tested all the parts along the way and everything was delicious. We can’t wait for it to be ready! I also made chocolate curls for the first time and it was so easy with your “barely microwave” it tip. Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
We had it for breakfast and it is amazing, a unanimous hit! Making it again for Christmas dinner because it won’t last till then. Thanks again!
Wow, this looks absolutely incredible. I’m sure it tastes like it too.
Mel – this is my first time commenting here but I really love your blog. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful recipes!
Thanks, Jim!
Mel,
Do you have a video tutorial on how to make chocolate curls? I have cooked/baked my whole life, and have yet to successfully execute chocolate curls. I have tried ever method out there but I either get broken curls or fine shavings.
Thanks !
Not yet, but it’s definitely on my list to do; hope to get one up soon!
Wow, how amazing does that look?! That sweet and salty combo is just too good. A pretzel crust sounds absolutely incredible!
A pretzel crust? Genius! Looks divine….
Love how creamy and chocolaty this looks…and the saltiness of the pretzel in the crust is a wonderful idea! I always think I don’t love cream pies and then I have a bite and realize that I’ve loved them all along!
Me and my little pregnant belly and going to climb right in this pie plate. Right where the swirls of chocolate and whipped cream meet, I’ll be there, eating our way out 🙂
Wow this looks and sounds so yummy. I’ve never been a fan of cream pies simply because I really don’t like whipped cream topping. This topping seems like it would be more substantial and flavorful. And who doesn’t love chocolate/pretzel combo? I’ve made your salty pretzel chocolate toffee too many times!!! So yummy.
I can tell just by the picture that this pie is going to be delicious. Thanks for sharing!
You’re killing me. My jeans are already tight! You would think all the extra wrangling of animals I’ve had to do this week would have prevented that. Hey, maybe it’s muscle. Yeah, that’s it…..I now feel the freedom to make this pie 😉
It’s official – I’ve died and gone to heaven! The angels are singing over this combination! MMMmmm… can’t wait to make it!
What a fun idea! Can’t wait to try it!! Thanks, Mel! 🙂