Hello Friends! Welcome back. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. It’s a new year! And that means a lot of great *new* recipes coming to the blog. I particularly enjoyed creating this one: Chocolate Brownie Pies!
These pies have the perfect chocolate pastry base and are filled with a delicious brownie center. Perfect for those days when you just have to have chocolate or for special occasions. I made mine in 4 inch tart shells, but you can absolutely make them in a large 9inch pie pan.
Here’s what you’ll need for all the chocolate brownie pie goodness:
Crust first:
- Butter
- Flour
- Cocoa Powder
- Salt
- Sugar
Filling Next:
- Butter
- Chocolate
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Vanilla
- Salt
Crust Crust baby
All good pies start with one thing: a delicious flaky and tender pie crust. This chocolate brownie pie is no exception and this crust is my go-to when I want to make a chocolate base. I use a food processor to help the dough come together so it is super-fast too! Blending the dry ingredients and the butter together in a food processor allows for consistent butter chunks to be spread throughout the dough. However, I turn my dough out into a bowl to add the water so I have better control.
Of course you can add the water to the dough while it is in the food processor, but it can be hard to tell just when your pie dough has come together. You want it to be formed, but not sloppy wet.
Chilling your dough is also a super important step. It allows the flour to hydrate which will produce a lighter, flakier pastry. Don’t have a food processor? You certainly don’t need one for this endeavor – just use your fingertips to break the butter into the flour. It will take a bit more time, but will equal great results.
Once about an hour (to overnight) has passed, you can begin to work with your dough. I personally like to roll, trim, and mold and then freeze the dough in the pans I plan to bake them in. This ensures that the dough is cold when it goes in the oven, thus creating steam as the butter melts. Cold dough = flaky pastry. Like I said up top, I used six 4 inch tart pans for these pies, but you can absolutely use a regular 9 inch pie dish.
A Drool worthy filling
On to the filling – arguably the best part. This filling comes together super quick and it tastes super chocolaty with the melted chocolate and additional chocolate chips. Yum! We start by melting the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Then add in the sugar mixing until combined. Follow with your remaining ingredients. You can add chopped nuts at this point, if you like or you can go crazy with a peanut butter or marshmallow swirl. Yum!
Once baked (a regular pie pan will take about 50 minutes to 1 Hour) cool the pie completely before slicing in. Serve with ice cream or fresh whipped cream! Such a yummy and decadent treat any time.
I hope this inspired you to get in the kitchen and whip up some pies – homemade may take longer, but it’s always worth it.
Until next week!
XO,
Danielle
Find more chocolate goodness here!
Chocolate Brownie Pies
Bite into a slice of heaven with these chocolate on chocolate brownie pies
Ingredients
Chocolate Pie Crust:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 Cup Ice Water 1/2 Cup ice with 1/2 Cup water
- 2 sticks 1 cup cold salted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Brownie filling:
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick salted butter
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans optional
Instructions
Make the Crust:
- In a food processor, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter. Pulse until the mix clumps together to forms pea-size balls.
- Place mixture in a large bowl and add 1/2 cup cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together and forms a ball. If the dough feels dry, or crumbles, add 1-2 tablespoons additional water.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour up to overnight.
- When ready to use, remove from fridge and place dough on a floured surface. Roll to appox ¼ inch thick and cut to fit your pie pans. Crump edges and place in freeze for 15 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the Filling & Assemble:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Heat the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth.
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Whisk in the flour, vanilla, and salt.
- Fold in the chocolate morsels and pecans. Pour into the pie crust.
- Bake until just set and a crust forms on top, about 1 hour for a regular crust, 45-50 minutes for six 4 inch pies. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
- Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.
- To store, wrap tightly and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Recipe Notes
Recipe inspired by Joanna Gains Brownie Pie
Unreal! 🤤I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I can’t wait for you to try it either!