Weekly Kitchen: Just in time for the holidays – Chocolate Chip Pie

By ANGELA McRAE, The Weekly Kitchen

Earlier this year, Instacart shared some insights about which pies sold the most in each state. I am very sorry to have to report to you that Georgia’s favorite, based on Instacart sales, was sweet potato pie. Now I like sweet potatoes, and I have nothing against sweet potato pie, but let’s be real: it’s a one-hit wonder that you want about once each fall and that’s it.

Why couldn’t we have been like Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina, where key lime pie is the favorite? Or maybe like the Midwest, where cherry pie is tops. In Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, the winner was the classic pecan pie. I could also live with the choice of Virginia, Vermont, and Arkansas—chocolate pie.

If the Instacart reporting is accurate, I must say I’m disappointed in Georgia. We can do better.

And along that line, it occurred to me that I’ve never shared with you readers the recipe for my favorite pie, the one requested at family gatherings, which is Chocolate Chip Pie. Think of it as the love child of a chocolate chip cookie and pecan pie. It’s got a wonderfully gooey filling like a pecan pie, yet it has chocolate chips to give it extra richness. And don’t tell the coconut haters, but it also contains just enough coconut to give the pie a nice chewy texture without the overt coconut taste that some folks dislike. I’ve been making this pie for decades, and I knew it had passed into family legend when my niece Cari requested that I make some of them for her wedding reception earlier this year. I was delighted to!

I’ve said it here before, but I am not good at making homemade piecrusts, so I recommend Pet-Ritz or, for an especially pretty and flaky crust, Marie Callender’s. (Last month, though, I had a little difficulty finding any deep-dish piecrusts at the grocery store, so perhaps I need to look up some Martha Stewart videos and learn to make my own. A goal for 2023, perhaps?)

I like to serve this pie cold, but I’ve also warmed up slices in the microwave and served it with whipped cream. 

So if you need an easy and delicious new pie this Christmas, to share or to enjoy, give this one a try. (And since this recipe is so easily doubled, I almost always make two.)

Chocolate Chip Pie

3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1 (6-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans
3/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla well. Add eggs and combine. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, pecans and coconut. Pour into pie shell and bake for 35-40 minutes, until just beginning to turn a golden brown on top. Let cool, then refrigerate to help the pie set.