Chocolate Pudding Pie with Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe

Chocolate Pudding Pie is a decadent dessert.

It has a rich, creamy chocolate filling that is made with both cocoa powder and melted chocolate chips. Then, it's topped with light and airy whipped cream and chocolate curls. Here I paired it with my easy gluten free pie crust recipe, but you can sub for a regular pie crust or pre-made as well.

This pie makes for an impressive holiday dessert, or you can make it any time if you don't want to share. My fiancée and I ate this entire pie ourselves over the course of several days. That's the benefit of buying no store-bought packaged goods and instead making one baked good a week from scratch - no guilt.

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What's the Difference Between Pudding and Custard?

Custard and pudding are very similar. They both have a milk or cream base and have a similar smooth, gelatinous texture. However, custard is traditionally thickened with eggs while pudding is thickened with cornstarch or flour.

This recipe uses both egg yolks and organic cornstarch, which makes the chocolate filling a cross between custard and pudding. The main reason being that neither pudding or custard alone are quite thick enough to hold together for a slice of pie. Plus, it's a dreamy combination.

Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe (Optional):

This gluten free pie crust turns out flaky and holds its shape really well. It's super easy and only takes four ingredients to make. It also requires no chilling time - hurray!

• Preheat oven to 425 F. Prepare a 10-inch pie pan by greasing with a pat of butter or cooking spray.
• Combine flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
• Cut butter into flour mixture until the butter resembles small peas. I like to use my hands, but if you have a dough cutter tool you can use that.
• Add the milk in intervals, a few tablespoons at a time. I prefer to measure out the milk into a bowl beforehand so that I don't have to pick up the milk jug with dough hands. Work the milk into the flour and butter mixture until it forms a ball. If the flour is too dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon more of milk at a time.

• Once the dough has formed a ball, cut two large pieces of parchment or wax paper. Here I'm using aluminum foil because it's all I had on hand at the time. Good news; it works well. Lay the first piece of parchment paper on the countertop, and place the dough ball on top of it. Then, lay the second piece of parchment paper on top of the dough ball. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it's about 10 inches across, length and width.

I highly recommend using a French rolling pin (the kind that has tapered ends and does not have handles). It works super well for gluten-free dough because it's lightweight and you don't have to worry about the handles creating any unwanted impressions. French rolling pins sometimes stick to dough when used by themselves, but since we use parchment paper overtop of the gf dough that isn't a problem.

• After the dough has been rolled out, peel back the top layer of parchment paper and discard. Then, place the prepared pie pan on top of the dough. Place one hand under the bottom layer of parchment paper and one hand on the bottom of the pie pan. Flip the pie pan so its right-side up and the pie crust is inside. Carefully press down into shape and peel back the parchment paper.
• Smooth over any cracks in the pie crust. You can also pinch a design to the edges of the crust.
• Bake 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown and cooked through.
• Allow to cool completely at room temperature.

Optional Egg Wash:

You can add an egg wash to the pie crust before baking. It helps the crust become more golden brown and shiny as well as seals the inside shell of the pie, which prevents any possible filling leaks. To make an egg wash: Beat one tablespoon of water with one egg yolk. Then, brush onto the pie.

How to Make Chocolate Pudding Pie:

While making a homemade chocolate pudding/custard has more steps than a cake, it really comes together very fast.

A saucepan doubles as our mixing bowl for efficiency in this recipe. To start, use a saucepan off the heat - there is no need to heat up the stove just yet.

• In a medium-sized saucepan, add sugar, cocoa powder, organic cornstarch, and salt. Whisk until evenly combined.
• Add in ¼ cup of cold heavy whipping cream. Whisk until smooth.
• Add another ¼ cup of cold heavy whipping cream, and whisk until free of lumps.
• Add in egg yolks. Whisk until smooth. The mixture should look like the last photo on the right (smooth, and there may be some bubbles.)

• Add chocolate chips and butter to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. You will need this in a few minutes.
• Now, it's time to heat the saucepan with the pudding mixture over medium heat.
• Gradually add the remaining heavy whipping cream while constantly whisking.
• Then, whisk in the milk. You want the mixture to be steaming at this point, just about ready to boil.
• Once chocolate mixture has started to bubble/boil, whisk constantly for 60 seconds. I set a timer. It will thicken before your eyes and go from a hot chocolate drink consistency to a thick pudding.
• Remove from the heat. Pour the chocolate pudding mixture through a strainer and into the set aside bowl filled with chocolate chips and butter. The strainer removes any and all clumps from the pudding.

• Stir the chocolate pudding and chocolate chip/butter mixture together until evenly distributed. The heat from the pudding will melt the chocolate and butter.

• Lay a piece of plastic wrap over top of the chocolate pudding/custard so that a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate until cooled.

How to Assemble Chocolate Pudding Pie:

• Once the chocolate pudding/custard has chilled for 1-2 hours and the pie crust has cooled to room temperature, pour the chocolate filling into the pie crust.
• Smooth the top with a silicone spatula.
• Refrigerate overnight to allow the filling to thicken and "set up" completely. Place plastic wrap over the top of the pie to prevent the surface from developing a film.

• Serve topped with whipped cream and chocolate curls. I used Crystal Farms Sweetened Whipped Light Cream because it was the only one I could find that didn't have corn syrup in it. I made the chocolate curls by running a vegetable peeler down a Cadbury dark chocolate bar.