Chocolate Buttermilk Pie Recipe

In a world full of fruity pies, like apple, cherry, blueberry, and peach, it's nice to switch things up, and take a more decadent route. Enter this chocolate buttermilk pie recipe courtesy of developer Jessica Morone — a pie that she describes as "so rich and creamy" and notes that the filling "tastes like an extra fudgy brownie." Brownie lovers and pie lovers unite, because this chocolate buttermilk pie really provides the best of both worlds.

This recipe calls for making a from-scratch pie crust, and while it may be tempting to just opt for a store-bought crust, there's a unique ingredient in the homemade version that makes it worthwhile. "The special ingredient in this recipe is the cream cheese in the pie crust," Morone explains. "The cream cheese adds flavor, and helps makes the pie crust both flaky and sturdy." This chocolate pie really goes above and beyond the typical pie, both in its foundation and in its filling, though it still retains a simplicity that makes this recipe doable for beginners, and confection connoisseurs alike. 

If you're a seasoned baker, then this ingredients list should look pretty familiar. For the crust, you'll need flour, a bit of granulated sugar, salt, unsalted butter, cream cheese, and cold water. For the chocolate buttermilk filling, you'll need both unsweetened cocoa powder and buttermilk, along with more flour, sugar, butter, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs. 

Kick off this recipe by making the from-scratch crust. Into a food processor, add 1 ½ cups of flour, ½ tablespoon of granulated sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Give these ingredients a quick pulse to combine. Then, cube ¼ cup of the butter, and the cream cheese, and make sure both of these ingredients are nice and cold. Add the butter and cream cheese chunks to the food processor, then pulse until the mixture looks somewhat chunky, like large peas. 

"Making the pie crust in a food processor really takes away a lot of the problems you might have by making the crust by hand, because it comes together very quickly, and there isn't a chance for the cold ingredients to get warm," Morone explains. That being said, she does note that it is possible to make this crust by hand, "in which case you'd want to work as quickly as possible so the butter and cream cheese don't get warm, which could cause the pie dough to be less flaky."

Add the cold water to the food processor, and pulse until the dough almost fully comes together, but stop before it becomes a ball. Roll the dough out onto a clean surface, form it into a ball, then wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Once the dough is adequately chilled, remove it from the fridge, and let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, just until slightly softened. Sprinkle flour over a clean work surface, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Place this dough circle over a 9-inch pie dish, gently pressing it in so it takes on the shape of the dish. If there's any excess dough hanging over the edge of the dish, trim it off.

Get your oven preheating to 350 F, then melt the remaining ½ cup of butter, and allow it to cool down without solidifying. Grab a large bowl, and whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, melted butter, cocoa powder, remaining ¼ cup of flour, 1 ½ cups of sugar, and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Make sure this mixture is nice and smooth, then pour the filling right into the prepared pie crust. 

Once your oven is fully preheated, pop the pie in, and allow it to bake for 50 to 55 minutes. You'll know that the pie is done when the center is set, and the crust is nice and golden brown. 

Once the pie is done baking, remove it from the oven, and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. Then, slice it up and serve as desired, whether that be as is or with garnishes. "This pie is great served with whipped cream, or ice cream on top of it," Morone suggests.

And, if you're looking for the right occasion to serve this pie, well, anytime really works! Morone notes that it's "such an easy pie that you can really serve it anytime you want," be it a simple weeknight treat, or maybe for a picnic. If you do opt to serve this for guests, there's no doubt that they'll fawn over the chocolatey goodness that this deceptively easy-to-make pie has to offer.