Ali Bakes: Hot Fudge Pie

Ohhhh good friends!  How they make life that much sweeter!  And today, I've been reminded of it tenfold!

Hot fudge pie.  Hot fudge pie brings us all together.

Or...maybe it's just pie?  Might have to test this out again some time, but with another pie flavor...

What happened, you ask?  Well, pie-making happened.  I'm the recipe-finder and partial baker.  Haley's my other half in the baking tasks.  Kristina is the mentor/careful observer.  Ben is the batter bowl cleaner.  And Brian is the reviewer.  (Don't worry, we all took one for the team and taste-tested!)

But...strange things happened post-pie-eating.  See, conversation topics got...interesting.  Squirrels, zombies, churros, and...yeah, just conversation topics.

But we bonded.  Us five, we bonded over pie.

Moral of the story?  Make pie.  It brings around great friends, fun memories...and some interesting inside jokes for future occasions!

I know there were other 'lessons learned' (especially fantastic baking advice by Ben), but I unfortunately have forgotten.  Must have been that all the pie went to my head and fussed with my memory.  This side effect is likely temporary, though.  Happy pie-eating!

Hot Fudge Pie

*adapted from BakeOrBreak.com

Ingredients:

1 pie dough

1 cup half and half
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt 

3 eggs 

2 egg yolks
2 Tbs coffee

Instructions:

Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator.  If necessary, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes until it is slightly softened but still cold.

Lightly flour a clean work surface.  Roll out the dough into a circle about 1/8-inch thick.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough around the pin and transfer it to a greased pie plate. Trim any excess dough from the edges (or adjust dough gaps elsewhere).

 

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Put the half and half, butter, and chocolate chips in a small saucepan over low heat.  Melt them together, mixing occasionally to prevent burning

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add the eggs, egg yolks, coffee, and chocolate mixture.  Stir everything until well-combined and smooth. 

Next, transfer the filling to the pie crust.   Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set and the edges have begun to crack.  Dive in and start eating!  (...or wait until it cools a bit.)

Definitely worth trying chilled post-baking, too!