Chocolate Brownie Pie
Chocolate Brownie Pie is the decadent mashup of two favorite desserts that you didn’t know you needed. Flaky, buttery crust is filled with dark chocolate brownie filling.
With Valentine’s Day coming up, I can indeed confirm that the way to my husband’s heart is chocolate. While he’d be OK with vanilla bean creme brulee or even a stuffed apple just about any other day of the year, I know what he wants for dessert on Valentine’s Day.
One year I made him decadent Nigella Lawson brownies, and he loved them. Another year, I made him the brownies from the Zingerman’s Bakehouse cookbook, and he went wild. Sometimes I’ll even make Baileys brownies as an early St. Patrick’s Day / Valentine’s hybrid situation.
So this year, I’m going to keep sticking with what I know works and making him . . . chocolate brownies (after honey mustard pork chops or maybe lamb bolognese for dinner). But with a spin, of course.
This chocolate brownie pie recipe takes, what is in my opinion, the best part of any pie (the crust) and fills it with a rich, decadent and just simply great chocolate brownie. Cut it into tiny slices or big wedges – we won’t tell anybody!
What you’ll need for this brownie pie recipe:
- butter – of course this is the first ingredient, right? You’ll need it for both the brownie batter and the pie crust.
- flour – another ingredient that pulls double duty in both places in this brownie batter pie recipe.
- sugar – sweetens the brownie batter and tenderizes as well as sweetens the crust.
- light brown sugar – we also use a bit of brown sugar in the brownie batter for some caramel-y notes.
- eggs – whole eggs form the backbone of our brownie batter.
- dark chocolate – you will need 3 ounces of high quality dark chocolate for this chocolate brownie pie. We used Harvest Chocolate Costa Rica Snacking Chocolate (chocolate cut into small pieces perfect for easy snacking or baking). It is a rich 68% dark chocolate with bright notes of bruleed grapefruit. This chocolate is also perfect for a yogurt parfait bar.
- cocoa powder – using a high quality cocoa powder makes all the difference in brownies (and Black Forest cupcakes). We used Harvest Chocolate Organic Cocoa Powder. With tasting notes of fresh cocoa and creamy banana, this cocoa powder is all natural, never “dutched,” an industrial process which strips the powder of flavor through chemical washing. Not today, friends!
- salt – you won’t ever find a sweet recipe on this website that doesn’t also call for a pinch of salt. It’s essential to balance the flavors.
- cider vinegar – as King Arthur Flour explains, a little bit of vinegar in pie crust keeps it flaky and the color bright. Regular white vinegar also works great here.
Use the GOOD chocolate for chocolate brownie pie:
You may remember from my chocolate creme brulee and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting posts that I’ll be working together with my friends at Harvest Chocolate to bring you chocolate dessert recipes this year (something that is sorely lacking from this website).
They’ll be developing recipes using their chocolate, and I’ll be photographing them and publishing them for you here.
Elizabeth and Matt make their chocolate entirely from scratch, from purchasing the beans to packaging the bars. They run their business using fair-trade practices, supporting farmers, and using simple, organic ingredients.
Their products are simply the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted, and the quality of their chocolate and cocoa powder truly makes this brownie pie something very special.
While I mentioned above that we used their Costa Rica Snacking Chocolate to develop this recipe, any of their varieties (they also have Haiti, Ecuador and Ghana) would work great in this pie.
Be sure to peek at the BEAUTIFUL chocolate bars on their website, too. They make a great gift for any occasion, and would be gorgeous added to a board of Valentine’s Day snacks.
Some options for the pie crust for brownie chocolate pie:
So, you have three options when it comes to pie crust for this brownie pie recipe, and I’ll present them in order of deliciousness:
- If you have the time, making homemade pie crust is the tastiest option. We make ours a little on the thicker side, so you get a nice flaky, buttery, crispy bite to go along with your brownie.
- Store-bought pie crust (the refrigerated kind sold in rolls). You might have to use a rolling pin to roll it out a bit, then just shape it into a pie pan and blind bake it before adding your brownie batter and baking that. Easy peasy and pretty tasty, too. I also love this option for short rib pot pie.
- Store-bought pie shell (the frozen kind that’s already shaped into a pan). Definitely the easiest option, although it may not be quite as buttery and flaky as the other options. Blind bake it according to package instructions before adding your brownie batter and baking that.
Serve with whipped cream, or make it brownie pie a la mode!
Homemade whipped cream is really a hero for topping this pie! If you’re just planning on two servings at a time, small batch whipped cream is what you’ll want. I’m no snob, though, and am definitely not opposed to the whipped cream that comes in a can. Love it!
I also like to chop up some of the snacking chocolate into shavings for sprinkling. And if it’s Valentine’s Day, don’t forget the festive sprinkles.
If you want to go to the next level, serve the brownie pie a la mode. And if you want to go BEYOND the next level, top it all off with microwave caramel sauce. That can probably just serve as your actual dinner on Valentine’s Day, and you can skip the salmon pasta.
Storage tips:
Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve ALWAYS loved cold brownies. If you think it sounds strange, promise me you’ll try it just once.
So on that note, I cover my brownie chocolate pie with foil and store it in the fridge. But, since the crust and brownie are both fully cooked, you can store it at room temperature too.
You can also tightly wrap and freeze this brownie pie for up to 3 months. My heart jam cookies are another Valentine’s Day treat that can be frozen.
Brownie Pie
Chocolate Brownie Pie is the decadent mashup of two favorite desserts that you didn't know you needed. Flaky, buttery crust is filled with dark chocolate brownie filling.
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons ice cold water, plus additional if needed
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Brownie Filling:
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Make the Pie Crust: Use a box grater to grate butter onto a large plate. Transfer to freezer for at least 15 minutes.
- In small glass, stir together ice water and vinegar. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, blend flour, sugar and salt on low speed until well combined. Add butter and beat on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes or until butter is broken into smaller flakes and incorporated with the flour. With mixer on low speed, slowly stream in water and vinegar mixture until all water is incorporated.
- Pour mixture onto clean work surface and form into a disc. If mixture is still too crumbly to do this, gently fold in additional cold water with your hands, 1 tablespoon at a time, just until dough holds together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
- Place dough on lightly floured work surface and use floured rolling pin to roll dough into an 11-inch circle, rotating dough frequently. Gently press dough into 9-inch pie pan. Trim any excess dough, leaving about a 1-inch overhang, and then crimp the edge of the dough with your fingers. Return to refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove pie crust from refrigerator and line crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice. Transfer to oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges of crust just begin to brown. Remove the parchment and pie weights and continue to bake 10 to 20 minutes longer, or until crust is light golden brown all over. Remove crust from oven; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Make the Brownie Filling: Place butter and chocolate in a double boiler and cook until butter and chocolate are melted, combined and smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar on high speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. With mixer on low speed, slowly add chocolate mixture until all of chocolate mixture is incorporated. Add flour, cocoa powder and salt and gently fold with a spatula until just combined.
- Pour brownie batter into pre-baked pie crust. Transfer to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownie batter is just set. Transfer to cooling rack and allow pie to cool before cutting into slices.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 615Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 162mgSodium: 272mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 3gSugar: 18gProtein: 8g
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
