Easy Chocolate Cream Pie Cups

In today’s post: Get the recipe for these amazing chocolate cream pie cups – they look so cute in their individual containers!

Easy Dessert Recipe

This is a simple make ahead recipe that you can put together in about half an hour then pull out of the fridge whenever you’d like to serve it. The chocolate cream is based off of this chocolate pie recipe from Crazy for Crust and it gives you a rich, super creamy pie filling with just three ingredients and no cooking required. Layer it over a generous graham cracker crust, then finish it off with a little Cool Whip and a few berries for an indulgent dessert.

Individual Pie Cups

This recipe works best in individual containers instead of as a whole pie because the rich chocolate filling is perfectly soft and creamy, meaning it may not hold up well to being sliced. I think the individual cups make it look a little fancier too! You can use half pint wide mouth canning jars OR clear 9 oz plastic cups. Here’s what the dessert looks like in the jars:

And here’s what it looks like made in the plastic cups (please note this photo was from recipe testing, there’s a little more Cool Whip and less crust in the photos than the final recipe uses):

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make Easy Chocolate Cream Pie Cups:

• Graham Crackers: I find name brand graham crackers usually taste much better than the generic ones.
• Butter: I use salted butter here, and I add a pinch of salt to the crust as well!
• Unsweetened Baking Chocolate: You’re looking for a bar of unsweetened chocolate here. If you use semi sweet chocolate the filling will end up too sweet and not rich enough.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: This is sold near evaporated milk but is quite different, so make sure you’re grabbing the right can.
• Cool Whip: I like the convenience of using Cool Whip in recipes like this as opposed to whipping my own cream because I don’t feel I can taste the difference in the finished product.

How to Make the Recipe

Start Making the Filling

The first step is to chop the unsweetened chocolate, then melt it. When chopping, try to make the pieces all chocolate chip size or smaller. Then place in a medium size microwave safe dish and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir very well. Return to the microwave for another 30 seconds and again stir very well – some pieces that aren’t fully melted will continue to melt as you stir. If the chocolate isn’t completely melted at this point you can microwave it again, but this time for only 15 seconds (chocolate will burn if microwaved too long).

Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk. This is going to thicken up the mixture quite a bit. Once that is completely incorporated, set it aside for a few minutes to cool while you make the crust.

Make the Crust

Next you’ll whip up a quick graham cracker crust. Blend or crush the graham crackers, add a pinch of salt, and mix in melted butter. Divide the crust between eight small jars or clear cups. I found using a cookie scoop was the easiest way to do this. You’ll have about three tablespoons of crust mix for each jar. If you are using plastic cups, you can use an extra cup to press the mixture down. If you are using a jar, you can use a smaller cup with a flat bottom to press the mixture down.

Finish the filling

By this time the chocolate mixture should have cooled quite a bit, so you can gently fold in the Cool Whip – you will only use two thirds of the container at this point. If you stir too vigorously you’ll knock out some of the air and the finished filling won’t be as light, so take a minute to gently fold it in.

Once the Cool Whip is completely incorporated, divide up the filling amongst your eight cups or jars. Again, a cooke dough scoop works really well here to drop the filling in without making a mess. You’ll have approximately 1/3 cup of filling per cup.

Chill, top, and serve

At this point you’ll want to chill the chocolate cream pie cups for at least an hour before serving. Place all eight cups into a 9×13 baking dish and cover the whole thing with plastic wrap before placing into the fridge. When ready to serve, top each cup with a dollop of the remaining Cool Whip and a few berries. Enjoy!