Chocolate Chess Pie like Maw Maw Used to Make

My late mother-in-law made a to-die-for Chocolate Chess Pie. I haven’t made it for a few years, but I knew just where the recipe was when I decided to make it this Christmas…or so I thought. It wasn’t there. Shame on me for not having it on the website already. I looked high and low and I even called her daughters. No one had it. I hit a brick wall at every turn. I finally resorted to scouring the web and comparing all the chess pie recipes out there and taking this idea from that one and that idea from this one to come up with the closest resemblance to my memory of MawMaw Lucy’s Chess Pie! For instance, some recipes call for flour. MawMaw didn’t use flour. Others called for shortening. Ditto. Those might be great adds, but it wasn’t MawMaw’s Chess Pie. Cutting to the chase, after some research and kitchen time, I do believe what I came up with is worthy to bear Lucy’s name.

 

A chess pie should have these beautiful cracks in it. It should taste like brownie batter crossed with chocolate cake but baked in a pie crust. Got that? I found some interesting explanations for the unique name, but none close to Maw Maw’s anywhere in my online reading. Maw Maw said it was because it would keep for days in a pie “chest”. (Virginia, pie chests were a practical piece of furniture in pre-refrigeration days.) Lucy told me people dropped the “t” somewhere along the way. I like her version. I think I’ll choose it for my story, too!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cocoa
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
¼ cup butter, melted
1 (12 ounce) can  evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked (9 inch) pie shell
*optional pecans, crush a cup of pecans into the pie or decorate the top of the pie with unbroken pecans

Combine dry ingredients: sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir well. In second mixing bowl, combine eggs, butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat well before adding the mixed dry ingredients. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes. Tip: to make sure your pie is set, shake it gently. It should barely jiggle in the middle! (My middle is jiggling these days, too, but that’s another story.)

Let your chocolate chess pie cool and serve with fresh whipped topping (or ice cream in the warmer months!) It’s totally unadorned in the pic because I found it gorgeous, as is~

Hugs,
Shellie