Chess Pie…it’s a southern thing. There are many different flavors, but the chocolate pie is kind of chewy, fudgy and sweet in a crispy buttery crust. Nothing wrong with that, right?

My friend Janey from Georgia has been visiting and she was kind enough to share her family’s recipe for Chocolate Chess Pie. This is the pie that her friends and neighbors ask for whenever she goes back home and her family’s Thanksgiving staple. I must admit, it is pretty darn delicious!

Janey’s Chocolate Chess Pie

• 9-inch pie crust (homemade or storebought)
• 3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) salted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) evaporated milk
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon freeze dried coffee or espresso (or a splash of the real stuff)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over very low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. In a third bowl, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and freeze dried coffee. Add a few spoonfuls of the warm chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Then add the egg mixture back into the warm chocolate. Add the sugar and flour. Raise heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Whisk the entire time or the chocolate will burn. When it is done it will be very glossy like a brownie batter. Set aside.

Blind bake your pie crust until partially baked. Pour filling into the partially baked pie crust.

Turn the oven down to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 22 to 28 minutes. It will be done when it is just set. Be careful not to overbake because that will make it very hard.