First, I have to apologize for my absence. It wasn’t planned, but you know how sometimes you just don’t feel like blogging? Even though you have things to say? That was me this month, and I decided to honor those feelings. Sure, a good blogger posts consistently. But a good blogger also cares more about quality than quantity, so I chose not to post for the sake of posting. But now I’m back with lots to talk about, including my recent birthday.
Yup, I am officially 41 years old. I have some mixed feelings about turning another year older. Some days, I’m not sure how these white hairs (all six of them) and wrinkles came into existence, because it feels like I turned 25 yesterday. Other days, I feel like an old coot who has accomplished so little, which frustrates and saddens me. And still, there are many days where I am excited — to feel more confident in this 41 year old body and what lies next for me.
I’ll be writing more about what’s next in August, but today it is all about this amazingly, decadent and delicious pie. Last month, I decided to cut back on my sweets, and you may recall me saying in the past that too much sweet upsets my tummy, which is true. What I neglected to mention is that I had gotten into the bad habit of eating something sweet every day. For some, this is not a problem. But for me, it is.
So I planned one last hurrah — my birthday treat. And what agony it was to decide what to make. There were so many delicious options — too many — and I couldn’t make up my mind. Seriously, it changed every day. Plus, it has been boiling hot in Southern California, which didn’t help the matter as turning on my oven held no appeal to me.
But I wanted a sweet birthday treat and the one I eventually chose did require the oven. And it was worth it. So worth it. Now I enjoy eating pie but have failed making them in the past, so I cheated — a bit. I used a frozen crust and have zero guilt over it. None! Because darn it, it’s my birthday and I’ll use a ready made pie crust if I want to! LOL!
Isn’t she gorgeous? Like lick the screen pretty? I think so. It’s fair to accuse me of being biased because I am. This is one good-looking pie and it tastes just as good as it looks. One of my biggest pet peeves is when something looks incredible but tastes like crap. But you don’t have to worry about that with this scrumptious pie.
It’s like a brownie in a pie crust with the gooeyness of a brownie and the crisp crunch of pie crust. It’s truly heaven on a plate. I won’t bother to pretend it’s remotely healthy, because it’s not, but it is a delicious birthday treat. And I also froze individual portions because I didn’t want a single piece to be wasted or feel pressured to eat myself sick. After all, I’m getting a little old for that. 🙂
Chocolate Chess Pie
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 single serve instant coffee packet
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
- 1 homemade or frozen 9 inch, deep dish pie crust
- Coffee ice cream and hot fudge sauce, optional
Instructions
- Bake pie crust according to package directions. Set aside.
- In a microwaveable bowl, add butter and chopped chocolate. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each one. Once the chocolate and better combines into a glossy mixture, add the instant coffee granules and stir until the granules are completely dissolved.
- Whisk in the flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. Whisk in the eggs, one and a time, until the mixture is nice and smooth. Pour chocolate mixture into your prepared crust.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, the top should be puffed and the filling set in the center. Cool and serve at room temperature with vanilla or coffee ice cream and hot fudge sauce.
Enjoy!
Tanya
P.S. I’m not banning sweets permanently, just trying to cut back on my sugar intake and get back to enjoying sweets on special occasions versus every day.
You had me at chocolate. 🙂 I hear you on the sweets – too much isn’t good for me, either, and it shows by the 4 pounds I put on in July (after having lost three of them – aarghh!). Time to tone it down, and a wedding we get to attend mid-September is the goal. But I’m still going to find room for some double-stuff Oreos in August. 🙂
I hear you on the roller coaster weight loss/weight gain – story of my life. It bites. It seems like horribly unfair how easy it is to put on weight and how much harder it is to take it off. Double-stuff Oreos – yum. Why does the “bad” stuff has to taste so darn good! But I know you can do it, my friend!
Happy Birthday!! Hope it was totally awesome 🙂 And this Chocolate Chess Pie looks ah-mazing!!!!!!
Thanks, Mackenzie! 🙂 It was amazing. So dang good. Too dang good! 🙂