Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

 
 If you are looking to mix things up this Thanksgiving, this pie might be the way to do it. It's Michael Symon's Chocolate Pumpkin Pie. I made it a few weeks ago, and my pumpkin pie lover (my son) raved about it so much that he asked me to make it again for Thanksgiving (tomorrow). It has the silky texture of a chocolate truffle pie, with the flavor of a pumpkin pie. It reminds me of my Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies - enjoying both chocolate and pumpkin at the same time.
    I really enjoyed the flavor and texture of this pie, but on Thanksgiving I like to stay traditional. So, this pie will not be on my Thanksgiving menu, but I'm sure my son will make sure it stays in rotation. :) I should warn you that if you make this recipe, realize that it makes enough for 2 pies. The recipe from The Chew that I followed said that it makes one 4 cup pie, but I used a 9 inch deep dish pie shell and I still had 2 cups of filling left over. I ended up making 24 mini pies as well. (You can see a few of them in the pic above. They were so poppable, that only a few made it to the picture taking stage.)

Here's how to make it:

This was before I roasted my Halloween pumpkins, so I used can pumpkin. The recipe calls for 1 14 oz can.

To the pumpkin I added evaporated milk

brown sugar

cornstarch

pure vanilla extract

and 1 1/2 to 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste). (The original recipe called for adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, but I'm all out of ginger and cloves, so I used the pre-mixed spice blend instead. FYI I like the Trader Joe's brand.)

Then I pricked my pre-made pie shell, so that it wouldn't bubble up in the oven, and I baked it @ 400F for 10 minutes. (You're not looking to completely cook the pie shell at this point. You just want it to set up so that you don't have a soggy crust in the end.)

To the filling, I added a dash of salt (forgot to add this earlier).

In a microwave safe bowl, I put some chocolate chips. They turned a little white, because it's so cold in my house, but they will work just fine. I microwave the chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring well in between, until the chocolate is melted.

The original recipe says to melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the butter. And since I have had bad luck with microwaving chocolate and butter together (see one of my first posts: Peanut Butter Eggs). So, I chose to melt the butter and chocolate separately. Again, I used the microwave to melt the butter. 20 seconds usually does it.

To the filling, I added 3 eggs.

When the eggs were combined, I whisked in the melted butter.

The pie shell was ready at this point, so I took it out of the oven. See, it's not brown and cooked yet, just set. That is what you want.

Finally, I whisk in the melted butter into the filling mixture.

Whisk everything together completely.

I put the pie shell onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet,

and I filled the pie shell.

I filled it up to the brim, until it could take no more. I put the whole thing into the oven and let it bake @325F for about an hour (until the center is set).

Now, as I mentioned before, I still had 2 cups of filling left over. I could have done another pie, but I thought that mini pies would be fun. I just cut circles out of some pie dough and pressed the dough into greased mini muffin cups. I ended up baking about 24 mini pies with this 2 cups of filling.

After the pie cooked and cooled, it looked like this. I did have one small crack on the top, but that is easily covered up with whipped cream!

Here's a picture of the pie and some of the mini pies. Aren't they cute?

They are so adorable, and the perfect little pie bite.

They are the perfect little hand pies for my youngest. :) I think she enjoyed 3 of them!

It really is a wonderful pie. If you are a chocolate lover and want to try a new twist on a old classic, this pie is for you! Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:
adapted from Michael Symon's chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

• 2 9 inch pie shells (or 1 9 inch pie and 24 mini pies) 
• 9 oz Semisweet Chocolate chips, melted
• 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 14 oz Can Pumpkin
• 1 12 oz Can Evaporated Milk
• 3/4 cup Packed Light-Brown Sugar
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

Pre-bake the pie crust (for large pies) @ 400F for 10 minutes.  (If doing mini pies, there's no need to pre-bake.) Set aside to cool and then turn oven down to 325F.
   In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, light brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, pumpkin pie spice. Mix in the melted butter and chocolate, and pour into pie crust. Place pie pan on a baking sheet.  Bake at 325F until center of pie has set, about an hour. Refrigerate until cooled completely to serve.