Hello lovely readers! I apologize for my absence. It was partly intentional, because I was waiting for the Everything Food Conference, which took place in Salt Lake City about a week ago. I was holding onto a couple of posts until the conference so that I could apply what I learned. I want you to know that I’m passionate about making this the best blog possible. I want the content to be informative, beautiful and useful. I met a lot of amazing people at the conference (food bloggers rock!) and also came home with a ton of knowledge to make this blog better than ever before.
Ok, onto the recipe for s’mores pie w/ homemade dark chocolate pudding. S’mores are very nostalgic for me. They make me think of sitting by the campfire with friends and family. I used to go camping quite a lot when I was single. I had a few couple friends that loved to camp and I’d meet them at the campsite. We’d pitch our tents and set up camp and my favorite part of the day was always in the evening when we’d sit by the fire and tell stories. We’d camp at the beach or in the woods and I always loved getting outdoors and sleeping to the sound of crickets and the ocean waves or river streams. My husband isn’t a fan of tent camping, so those days are behind me, but they bring me fond memories.
Since I don’t go camping anymore and we don’t have a fire pit, a s’mores pie is the closest I can get to s’mores by the campfire. I also get to use my Kitchen Torch from Williams Sonoma and it’s fun to light things on fire. In a safe, controlled environment of course! I promised the ladies at William Sonoma I would give them a shout-out and they will be checking on me, so here it is! I came in just before closing one night in a bit of a panic in desperate need of a kitchen torch (because bloggers gotta blog and even if we are setting our own deadlines, they are deadlines nonetheless) and they searched the store to find one of two that was left for me. They were so kind and I enjoyed our short visit. Thanks for the great customer service and the torch is awe-some!
This recipe has a few steps, but it’s super easy. If you want to cut the steps, you can take some shortcuts like buying a pre-made graham cracker crust and using boxed pudding mix, but if you’re going to make a s’mores pie, do it right and make everything from scratch. Except the marshmallows. You can make those from scratch if you like, but I don’t think that homemade is worth the effort for marshmallows.
Make a simple graham cracker crust. You can find recipes all over the web and Pinterest and I’ve included a recipe in the recipe card at the end of this post. Graham cracker crust has 3 ingredients – graham crackers, butter and either granulated sugar or brown sugar. The brown sugar gives it an extra depth of flavor with a hint of molasses, but that’s a personal preference.
To make the crust, simply place your graham crackers into a food processor and blend until you have course crumbles.
Meanwhile, melt one stick of butter. Transfer the graham cracker crumbs to a large bowl and add the butter and sugar and mix with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are combined. The result will be course crumbles.
Looks like wet sand, doesn’t it? Please don’t dip your toes in it though.
Transfer the mixture to your baking pan and press down with a small glass or flat measuring cup, anything with a smooth surface. Also make sure to get it up the sides of the pan as well.
It doesn’t need to look perfect because you’ll be covering this crust with pudding and marshmallows! Just try to get it nice and even. For a no-bake pie, just refrigerate for a couple of hours before adding the additional ingredients.
My favorite part of this s’mores pie is the dark chocolate pudding. If you’re not crazy about dark chocolate, you can use regular cocoa powder, but my family and I all love dark chocolate, so when I make chocolate pudding, I use the dark cocoa powder. The pudding is rich, but not overly sweet. Plus, dark chocolate is good for you, isn’t that what I read on the internet?
Making pudding is super easy and homemade is so much better than using a box from the grocery store. You can control the quality of all of the ingredients you use and it only takes a few minutes to make. If you feel intimidated by baking or making new recipes from scratch, this is a good recipe for you to test the waters because it really is that easy to prepare and kids and adults alike will love it!
I like to add a little bit of butter when the pudding is simmering for some extra creaminess. A little goes a long way.
Once the pudding comes to a boil, you will know that you’re getting close. You will need to whisk rigorously at this point and it will thicken rather quickly. You’ll know when it’s getting thick enough, just trust your instincts :). I promise, it’s super easy. You’ll find the full recipe with instructions in the recipe card below.
Cool the pudding overnight (just make sure it’s covered) and give it a good stir before pouring it into your pie crust.
You could just stop here and you’d have a delicious chocolate pie, but when you clicked on this post, you were led to believe you’d be getting a recipe for s’mores pie, so that’s what you’re going to get! If you don’t care for marshmallows, you can just top this beauty with whipped cream and call it a day.
Just use some regular marshmallows and lay them on top of the pie in a circle and keep making circles around the perimeter until you reach the middle of the pie.
Now comes the fun part (other than licking the spoon) and that is torching those marshmallows! As mentioned about I have a kitchen torch from Williams Sonoma. It creates a strong flame and is designed for cooking. I would not recommend putting this pie under the broiler because you don’t want to burn the crust or overcook the pudding. Just torch the marshmallows until they are brown and crisp.
And that’s all there is to it! A s’mores pie that is sure to please guests or be a hit at any party. Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you’ll give this recipe a try and of course, be sure to make it from the heart! Come on back and leave a comment and let me know how you liked it and be sure to share my recipes on social media. Thank you so much!
Ingredients
- Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (roughly 10 full sheets)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated or brown sugar
- Dark Chocolate Pudding
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
- 4 tsp cornstarch
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Marshmallows
Instructions
- Graham Cracker Crust
- Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar together with a rubber spatula in a medium bowl until all of the ingredients are combined. Place the mixture into the bottom of your pie pan and slightly up the sides. Flatten out the crust with a small glass or flat measuring cup to make sure it's even. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- Dark Chocolate Pudding
- Add 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the sugar and the cocoa powder into a saucepan. Bring to a summer over medium-high heat and add the butter. Stir and remove the pan from the heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl. Gradually whisk some of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously to prevent the eggs from scrambling. After the mixture with the eggs has been tempered, add all of the ingredients into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat while whisking constantly until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue whisking until thick.
- Pour the pudding into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap and press the plastic wrap down so that it is touching the pudding to prevent it from forming a skin. Refrigerate overnight.
- When you're ready to assemble the pie, remove the plastic wrap from the pudding and give it a good stir. Pour it into the pie crust and top it with marshmallows and torch them until golden brown. Please be careful!
