How to make Chocolate Pie Crust

We all need a simple yet richly flavored chocolate pie crust. This recipe is the result of several experiments until I got what I wanted: deeply chocolate, easy to roll, good for pies, tarts, and cookies. A winner!

We all love pies, don't we?

This is another recipe for the Basics category, one of my favorite parts of this blog, and of being a baker. I love doughs of all kinds. Love making them and working with them.

But when you don't bake almost every day as I do, sometimes thinking about the whole crust from scratch thing can feel too much.

I hear you. That's why I write long and detailed posts (many with videos) about basic recipes so that you're guided with as much detail as I can give you:

How to make Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

How to make Basic Pie Crust

So, let's get into this chocolate pie crust recipe.

Ingredients.

They are few and pantry staples.

Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened and good quality. In my experience, the darker the better. But take into account that there's a very dark cocoa, the one we use for the homemade Oreos. If you use it the dough will be very dark. The flavor will still be great, but the appearance changes. See how these cheesecake brownies turned out with that cocoa. Much darker than usual.

Butter: use good quality and unsalted. Lower quality butter usually has a larger percentage of water. For doughs, I like to use the best I can buy.

Flour: I use cake or all-purpose and have great results with both. Each country has its own definition of what they should or shouldn't contain, so use the one you always do. You will be fine.

Vanilla: I add a few drops to enrich the flavor, but you can omit it.

Steps for making this recipe.

I always use the food processor for the first part where the butter is worked into the dry ingredients. It saves time and I can make a double batch (this will depend on the size of your processor, so don't double the recipe the first time).

But it can be easily made by hand in its entirety.

Both are finished by hand in the counter.

Food processor:

1. Put dry ingredients in the bowl of the processor (image 1). Mix to combine.
2. Add butter cubes (image 2) and pulse a few times to mix. The butter should be the size of peas, roughly.
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla if using (image 3) and pulse a few times until it moistens the mixture (image 4) but be careful not to start making a ball.

By hand:

1. Put dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix to combine.
2. Scatter butter cubes on top. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the flour until it's the size of peas.
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla if using and mix with a fork until it is moistened. The dough will be more irregular than image 4, as it's harder to incorporate it evenly by hand.

For both methods:

• Dump the shaggy mass onto a counter or working surface (image 5).
• Start bringing it together with your hands. At first, it will appear as though it will never bind or come together properly (image 6). But it will.
• Keep turning it onto itself until you have a solid dough (image 7).
• Wrap it in plastic or freezer bag (image 8) and refrigerate at least 1 hour. This is a crucial step for getting tender and flaky doughs.

Rolling the chocolate dough.

• Lightly flour a clean counter or surface, unwrap the cold dough.
• Start rolling and make sure you do a quarter turn often (I do it to the left), that is you roll a few times and then lift the dough and turn it a little to the left. That will ensure that the dough never sticks too much to the counter and, if it does, you fix it adding some flour.
  But you don’t roll it a lot without checking if it needs more flour. Because if you do, it will soften too much, stick to the surface and it will be difficult to lift it without tearing it. And also, it will probably mean that the dough has softened too much and we don’t want that.
• Roll it until the dough is a few inches larger than the pan you’re using. Measure it so you have enough dough to go up the sides.

Lining a pie pan.

This chocolate dough is good for one large tart or for individual tartlets, like the image below.

When lining a tart pan let the rolled dough ease into it, don't stretch it to fit. If you do that it will shrink too much when baked. I highly recommend freezing it for 15 minutes before baking. It will help it keep its shape as much as possible.

Vintage Kitchen Tip

• Most pie doughs are similar when it comes to rolling, lining the pan and baking. So for very detailed instructions go to the post for Sweet Shortcrust Pastry. There are videos and images to guide you.

So, how can you use this chocolate pie crust?

Pies and tarts, of course. Any filling with chocolate and/or berries is great for a chocolate crust.

Cookies. Roll, cut and bake as you would any other cut-out cookie. They are amazing and can be glazed or sandwiched.

Cobblers. There is a type of cobbler that is made with pie crust. I like to make a simple lattice like for the Fig Jam Tart. That way the fruit bakes and bubbles around the crust. An amazing and easy dessert.

See the list below for ideas where you can sub the regular pie crust for this one.

Other recipes you might like:

Bourbon Pecan Pie
The best Lemon Ricotta Pie
Fig Jam Tart
Pear Frangipane Tart
Chocolate Raspberry Tart
Plum Crumble Tart
Easiest EVER Cherry Tart

Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it. Thank you for being here, I appreciate it! Let’s connect via Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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Yield: One 9-inch tart or 6 individual tarts

How to make Chocolate Pie Crust

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We all need a simple yet richly flavored chocolate pie crust. This recipe is the result of several experiments until I got what I wanted: deeply chocolate, easy to roll, good for pies, tarts, and cookies. A winner!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (15g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• ⅓ cup (50g) powdered sugar
• ½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, cold and in small pieces
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In the food processor:

1. Put dry ingredients in the bowl of the processor (image 1). Mix to combine. 
2. Add butter cubes (image 2) and pulse a few times to mix. The butter should be the size of peas, roughly. 
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla if using (image 3) and pulse a few times until it moistens the mixture (image 4) but be careful not to start making a ball. 

By hand:

1. Put dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix to combine. 
2. Scatter butter cubes on top. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the flour until it's the size of peas. 
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla if using and mix with a fork until it is moistened. The dough will be more irregular than image 4, as it's harder to incorporate it evenly by hand. 

For both methods:

1. Dump the shaggy mass onto a counter or working surface (image 5).
2. Start bringing it together with your hands. At first, it will appear as though it will never bind or come together properly (image 6). But it will. 
3. Keep turning it onto itself until you have a solid dough (image 7). 
4. Wrap it in plastic or freezer bag (image 8) and refrigerate at least 1 hour. This is a crucial step for getting tender and flaky doughs. 

Notes

Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened and good quality. It can be natural or dutch-processed, they both work. My favorites are Valhrona and Ghirardelli.

Butter: use good quality and unsalted. Lower quality butter usually has a larger percentage of water. For doughs, I like to use the best I can buy.

Resting and rolling: make sure the dough is rested before rolling. And that the pie dough is softened enough to be rolled but still cold, as cold as possible.

Paula Montenegro

I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.