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overhead view of cut chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust with a slice of pie on the plate in the background

I don't post a lot of desserts on my website, so when I do it's a recipe I love. And even though I love savory cooking - I've never been much of a baker. I enjoy it when I make sweets for myself and my people, but that's about it. I've never really had a strong interest in figuring out the science between all those baking ingredients. But one incredible dessert that has always stayed with me is a pie recipe a friend of mine made years ago. This is a really fantastic homemade chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust and I think you will love it!

A Chocolate Pie with a Light Layer of whipped cream

There are so many choices to make when cooking and with this chocolate cream pie, one of those choices is the whipped cream. My feeling is that if you're making a pie from scratch, you should also make the whipped cream yourself. Yes, I also totally understand that this might not be your thing. You have permission to use already-packaged whipped cream from the store.

However, I want you to know you need only three things to make your own whipped cream:

Heavy cream (or whipping cream)
White granulated sugar
An electric hand blender (or a really strong arm to whip it with a whisk)

There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Stand in one place daydreaming about whatever you want and hold a hand blender for about 5-7 minutes. Voilà! Whipped cream. Correction: really delicious homemade whipped cream. And I opt for only a thin layer of the whipped cream. You can certainly up the ingredients and make more, but I think less is more with this pie.

inside look at chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust

one slice of chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust on a plate with the whole pie in the background

How to Make a Graham Cracker Crust

Another choice when you make this pie is the crust. To me, with any pie, the whole thing comes down to the crust. For fruity pies, I have my old stand-by butter crust - which is also a recipe from my chef friend who gave me this chocolate cream pie recipe! She is a crazy talented and makes the best desserts. 🙂 I used her pie crust recipe with my apple pie with butter crust. AND - I use a variation (with less sugar) of the same crust in my quiche with roasted tomatoes and asparagus.

I understand the temptation to grab a store-bought graham cracker crust, but really? You've just made an elegant, gourmet pie filling and it seems an injustice to then pour it into a factory made (usually slightly stale), store-bought crust. I'm forgiving about the whipped cream, but much less forgiving about the crust. There. You know where I stand.

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We can do better, and again, this is all you need for a buttery, awesome graham cracker crust:

Graham crackers
Butter
White granulated sugar

Easy Steps to Making Chocolate Cream Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

easy graham cracker crust: mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter together until it looks like this — *3-ingredient crust: graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter*

pressed graham cracker crumbs into a pie plate for the crust of chocolate cream pie — *3-ingredient crust: graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter*

overhead view of the chocolate cream pie filling ingredients — *Chocolate cream pie filling ingredients*

overhead view of chocolate cream pie filling after cooking all ingredients in a pot — *Chocolate cream pie filling ingredients*

pouring the chocolate filling onto the cooled graham cracker crust — *Let filling cool then pour on top of crust*

smooth out the chocolate filling after you pour it onto the graham cracker crust — *Let filling cool then pour on top of crust*

covering the chocolate cream pie with plastic wrap to set and chill in fridge — *Cover in plastic and let it set overnight in fridge*

mixing the homemade whipped cream with a hand blender — *Cover in plastic and let it set overnight in fridge*

adding the whipped cream to the top of the chocolate cream pie — *Spread whipped cream over top*

adding the chocolate shavings to the top of the chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust — *Spread whipped cream over top*

Oh, You Want More Sweet Things? I Gotcha Covered:

Chocolate Cream Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

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Author: Stacey
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 6-8 slices 1x

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Description

It’s time to kick it up a notch and make a homemade chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust and awesome whipped cream.

Instructions

Take out some butter to soften at the beginning of the process. You’ll need three softened tablespoons for later.
Start by making the graham cracker crust. Break up graham crackers into pieces and put in a mini food processor. Grind until they turn into somewhat fine crumbs. Transfer to a mixing bowl. If you don’t have a food processor, put broken graham pieces in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush into crumbs.
Add sugar to the graham cracker crumbs bowl and whisk together. Add melted butter and mix again until all the crumbs are coated in butter and adhere together slightly when you press on them. Transfer to a 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Press down gently to distribute evenly across the bottom with a slight slope up the sides – maybe ¼ inch – more if you want. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Take out and let cool completely.
Separate five egg yolks. Eggs should be room temperature. You’ll need two small dishes for this. One for the egg whites and one for the yolks. Crack the egg in half and transfer the egg yolk from one shell to the other while the egg white falls into one dish. Once all the white part is gone, put the egg yolk in the other dish. Repeat the process with all the eggs. Save the egg whites for something else like an omelet.
Gently whisk the egg yolks together until they are well blended. Don’t beat them like scrambled eggs. Just stir gently. Set aside.
Melt 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate in the microwave. I used a 4-ounce bar of Ghirardelli chocolate broken up in pieces in a small bowl. Microwave it in 20-30 second increments, taking it out after each 20-30 seconds to stir as it melts. It should take about 1 minute and 45 seconds total. The goal is for the chocolate to be smooth and completely melted.
Pour the milk in a pot and have the other ingredients ready: sugar, egg yolks, salt, corn starch, softened butter, vanilla extract, and the melted chocolate.
Start heating the milk on low-to-medium heat for a few minutes on its own to get it slightly warm. Add the sugar, sifted corn starch – keep whisking/stirring to incorporate the corn starch and sugar. Add the egg yolks (scrape the bowl to get it all), keep stirring. Let it heat a few minutes more – stirring occasionally and bringing only to barely a simmer. You don’t want this to boil. Add the vanilla, whisk in the soft butter and melted chocolate (scrape the bowl for all chocolate) – you’ll see in the cooking process your mixture will start to thicken. Stir until the chocolate is fully incorporated. Scrape down sides of pot with spatula. One final mix and filling should be thickened. Whole process should take about 12 minutes in the pot.
Remove from heat and let it cool about 30 minutes.
Once chocolate filling is cooled, pour all of it on top of the cooled graham cracker crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight to set and chill. If you make it in the morning, it will probably be ready for evening consumption.
Next day right before serving make the whipped cream. Put heavy cream in a mixing bowl and add sugar. Using a hand blender, beat the mixture for about 5-7 minutes going from medium to high speed. That’s it. Mix until it looks like whipped cream. Very simple.
For the chocolate shavings topping: chill a chocolate bar and slice thin with a knife. My video shows this well. I used a Ghirardelli chocolate bar, but you can use what you like.
Spread the whipped cream across the top of the pie and sprinkle chocolate shavings on top of that. Don’t put the whipped cream on top until right before serving.
Cutting tip: use a sharp knife and dip in warm water between cuts. Make sure you cut all the way through the graham cracker crust before removing your slice. First slice is always the hardest to remove. I have a little, mini spatula I use for this. If you don’t have that, go with a sharp knife to cut and a butter knife to assist with removing the first slice.