Don’t ask me why it’s called chocolate chess pie. It has nothing to do with chess. I read up on it once, and everything I read was a guess… the best one being that in a Southern drawl ‘it’s just pie’ becomes ‘it’s jess pie’ which became ‘chess pie’.

What I do know is, people go NUTS for this stuff. I first had it during my high school years in Illinois when a Southern transplant from Georgia made us both the plain version and the chocolate version. This budding baker was smitten.

But, bless her heart, that neighbor wouldn’t share the recipe. (Unlike my Iowa one who divulged how to make *THE* Muffins).

This was before the internet, people. I graduated from high school and suffered without chess pie for the next ten years, til I met a nice Southern lady who happily shared her recipe with me. I’ve tweaked it over time.. less sugar, a graham cracker crust, but the core of it is still the same — a dense, smooth, satisfying mouthful of chocolate with a surface that stiffens and cracks. I’m not a chocolate person … but I love this pie.

And it’s SO easy to make. 6 ingredients only: crust, chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Serve it with whipped cream, or coffee whipped cream (or mint, or any flavored) cream for an added twist!

How to Make Chocolate Chess Pie

Step 1: Melt chocolate (chips, baking squares, or Trader Joe’s Belgian) and butter in a double boiler over low heat. Once melted, let it cool slightly so it doesn’t cook the eggs in the following steps.

Step 2: Whisk the sugar and eggs in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla.

Step 3: Stir in the chocolate mixture.

Step 4: Pour into the graham cracker crust and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F degrees.

Keep an eye on it at the end, your oven may differ. Generally, it puffs up, then deflates and usually cracks a bit on the way back down. Just shimmy the pie pan a little when the timer goes off .. it shouldn’t still shake like it’s liquidy. A little shifting is ok, but it should be set.

Step 5: EAT IT. Quick, before it’s gone.