This chocolate cream pie is made from scratch, and has a silky chocolate filling inside of an Oreo-cookie pie shell; a sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings top it off to create a perfectly chocolate-y dessert pie recipe.
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What is chocolate cream pie
A chocolate cream pie is a sweet dessert made with three main components: a pie crust, a chocolate pudding filling, and a whipped cream topping. This recipe steps away from the more typical pie crust variation by using a crushed Oreo cookie crust instead.
Ingredients
Aside from the whipped cream, this recipe is split into two major parts:
Chocolate pudding
The primary ingredients for the chocolate pudding filling are:
- Bittersweet Chocolate – for the flavour, of course! Use the best quality available to you.
- Egg yolks – to help it hold and add some richness
- Cornstarch – to thicken it
Oreo crust
The primary ingredients in the Oreo crust are:
- Crushed Oreos – to form the base (these don’t need to be actual Oreo brand cookies. Anything similar should work.
- Melted Butter – to combine and hold the cookie base together.
Tips
Why is my chocolate cream pie runny?
Pudding-based chocolate pies tend to be a bit runnier than other pie fillings. Your pie shouldn’t be runny to the point of collapsing as I’ve added little cornstarch to the filling for hold, but like most chocolate cream pies, this pie will have a silkier filling meaning it won’t be completely firm.
How to fix?
If you prefer a firmer filling, you would need a fair bit more cornstarch – maybe an extra tablespoon. Do realise, this will take away from the creamy silkiness of the chocolate pudding filling.
How to crush Oreo cookies
This is a fun one! Put them in a sealed Ziplock bag, and use your rolling pin to lightly bash. Or simply pulse them using a blender.
Getting the perfect chocolate pudding
Three points to be aware of here, bestie:
- Use whole milk. I know, I know…the temptation to want to health-ify it a little by using skimmed milk is real. Don’t give in. Full-fat, honest-to-goodness whole milk please.
- While cooking the chocolate pudding, make sure not to stop stirring – you don’t need to be stirring like a madman at a crazy enough pace to replace your cardio routine, but do try to be consistent. This (along with the low heat…you are doing this over a low heat, aren’t you?) prevents the eggs from scrambling in the pan. Make sure to scrape the bottom and the edges of the pan too. This is where the pudding can stick and eventually burn!
Variation suggestions
Change the crust
The biggest and easiest change you can make to this recipe is by swapping out the chocolate cookie crust. Instead of using crushed Oreos, you can opt for a traditional pie crust (like I used in my Pecan Pie recipe) or something like a graham cracker crust, like you would see on many cheesecakes.
Instant pudding
If you want to skip making the chocolate filling, you can experiment using instant chocolate pudding – that said, instant puddings can vary from brand to brand. So while with some pudding mixes, you’ll be able to thicken it up simply by mixing it with cream (instead of milk), for others, there may be more tweaking involved.
Storage suggestions
This chocolate cream pie with Oreo crust can be kept refrigerated in for up to three days. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it.
More chocolate dessert recipes
- 5-minute Chocolate Mug Cake
- Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cocoa Buttercream Frosting
- Chocolate-Covered Raspberry Cheesecake
- Lemon Curd Cake with White Chocolate Swiss Buttercream
Helpful tools
Rejoice! There’s no special equipment required for this recipe. However, a blender will make crushing those cookies much easier. Unless you need to take your frustrations out on something, in which case…do your thing, tiger.
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And that’s it for today! What did you think of this Chocolate Cream Pie recipe? Do you like the Oreo crust? Or would you have preferred something more traditional? Let me know in the comments below.
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Print📖 Recipe
Chocolate Cream Pie
- Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 delicious chocolate cream pie 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This chocolate cream pie is made from scratch, and has a silky chocolate filling inside of an Oreo-cookie pie shell; a sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings top it off to create a perfectly chocolate-y dessert pie recipe.
Ingredients
FOR THE OREO CRUST
- 24 Oreo cookies (or any similar cookie), crushed
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FILLING
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 cups milk
- 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING
- 1 cup whipping cream, chilled
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, grated or shaved (can be swapped with unsweetened chocolate, if you prefer)
Instructions
FOR THE OREO CRUST
- Preheat the oven to 365 degrees.
- Stir the crushed Oreo crumbs together with the melted butter. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes, and set aside to cool.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FILLING
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk gently until completely combined.
- Whisk the milk and egg yolks together in a small bowl. Slowly pour the milk/egg mixture into the saucepan, and whisk until the mixture becomes smooth. Cook the smooth mixture over medium-high heat, continue to whisk frequently, until the mixture starts bubbling and has thickened slightly, around 6-8 minutes. Immediately reduce heat to low, and allow the mixture to simmer – whisk constantly until the mixture is thick, around 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Immediately stir in the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Carefully pour the chocolate filling into the prepared chocolate crust, and smooth the top (a palette knife is ideal for this, but really a spatula will do just fine). Cover with a piece of clingfilm directly over the surface, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight.
FOR THE TOPPING
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the whipping cream using an electric mixer on a medium-low speed until the whisk begins to leave tracks in the cream, around 1-2 minutes.
- Add sugar and continue mixing until the whipped cream forms silky peaks with a medium stiffness. (Be careful not to overdo it! You’ll lose the silkiness if you do.)
- Spread the whipped cream over the filling (don’t cover the chocolate filling completely though. Chocolate is pretty <3). Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve with a smile!
Notes
- I say Oreos but I just mean any chocolate biscuit of a similar fashion.
- Use the best quality chocolate available to you.
- Use whole milk for this. I know the temptation to want to health-ify it a little by using skimmed milk, but no. Full-fat, honest-to-goodness whole milk please, bestie!
- When cooking the chocolate filling mixture, make sure not to stop whisking – you don’t need to be whisking at a crazy enough pace to replace your cardio routine, but do try to be consistent. This (along with the low heat) prevents the eggs from scrambling in the pan. Make sure to scrape the bottom and the edges of the pan where the mixture can stick and more easily burn.
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate cream pie, chocolate cream pie with oreo crust, chocolate cream pie, oreo chocolate cream pie, chocolate pie
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