Easy and Delicious Chocolate Chip Pie
My grown son is now in his own condo and this collection of recipes I called, Dearest Michael were written when he was younger as you will see by my references, as a gift to him for this very moment.
Whether you read them for the story or the recipe, know that they were written as a tribute to the many people who have influenced my kitchen, my cooking and my notion of family.
STORY
Dearest Michael,
“You’re a really great baker,” you said so matter of factly to me when we were driving somewhere one day.
You were driving me like Miss Daisy. You had sort of become my driver when you lived with me and had your driver's license.
Not sure if this was something you enjoyed as much as I did, but I confess, I loved being driven.
These words from son to mother are like the sound of my favorite cardinal in the morning. They make a mother's heart sing.
I am good at baking and baking anything connected me to your great grandmother, Kitsie and my my mother, your Grandmother.
Baking reminded me of the strength and connection you and I have because baking has always been a great connector in the ktichen.
It is repairing and centering and filled with love. There is no anger in my kitchen, it is always a happy spot and a grounding one.
Anytime I am in the kitchen, this is my zen place. Pulling out pans and sticks of butter to prepare something for you or any guests has given me such a warm feeling in my heart.
Now that I have had the pleasure of watching you in your own kitchen, I know I have transferred this feeling to you. I hope the kitchen will also be your place to head anytime you feel anxious or may be overthinking something.
The kitchen, like the garden always propels me into the present and before I know it, any worry disappears. Just pulling out a special pan, or a certain wooden spoon knowing the thousands of recipes it has stirred or held is enough to feel like I just did a yoga class.
As I thought about the next recipe this morning when I woke up at 3:30 am, besides the brownie recipe (which as you know cannot be made public and is in the vault until I exit), it has to be this CHOCOLATE CHIP PIE recipe.
There are some recipes that are made so often, you don’t even need the recipe. This one I have changed slightly from the original because I have made so many of them, I have discovered a better way to make them over the years.
This dessert is super easy especially if you use a store bought frozen pie crust. For some purist bakers, the thought of a frozen pie crust is counter intuitive, but I have yet to perfect an easy pie crust and this is a really awesome time saver. (Likely loaded with every preservative I am always barking about, but what the hell.)
I always keep a few in the freezer, Grandma Ann turned me onto Oronoque Orchards Frozen Pie Crusts years before I got married like in 1985 or something. This was a time in my life when I should have been finishing college, but instead was living with a boyfriend, searching for some home life or stability that for some reason I didn’t think I could provide for myself.
Thank goodness that silly notion has changed. I have evolved and so has this recipe as years of baking any one recipe does.
This pie recipe I found on the back of one of the hundreds of Nestle Chocolate Chip packages I have had as a baking staple in the kitchen for my entire life since my first apartment.
Thank goodness for BJ's because they sell the nuclear version of Nestle Chocolate Chips and I always have at least one but more often two in my pantry and or freezer.
I hope that anytime you see the golden yellow package of Nestle Chocolate Chips in your adult life, it transports you to the smells and sweetness of our kitchen when you were younger.
I Love You. Love Mom
*Because I make some product recommendations in my blogs, I may get a small commission as an affiliate and or an Amazon affiliate. Anything I recommend I personally use. I want to make it easier to shop for items you may not have, need to replace-- or if you are a lover of all things kitchen like me, just want to add to your collection.
CHOCOLATE CHIP PIE
(original recipe taken from the back of a Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip package at least twenty five years ago).
I have doubled this recipe but I wouldn’t suggest it for your first rodeo of baking; you have to get to know its personality first before assuming that simple doubling is just multiplying by 2 in a baking recipe, it is not).
Start here and you will see that other great recipes along the way will come from some of this prep. Enjoy!
Prep Time:
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 60 min
Total: 75 min
Servings: 8 servings depending on the size of your slices
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup of flour
- ½ cup of sugar
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- 3/4 stick of butter melted (if for some reason you only have a ½ stick this has worked too, this is an area where precision doesn’t seem to matter as much.)
- 1 stick of butter softened This part of the butter ingredient requires the entire stick so no cutting corners on this part.)
- 1 C of Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (I have used Ghiradelli and other brands over the years, for some reason, this is the best for this recipe, maybe it is just tradition)
- 1 Oronoque Orchard Frozen Pie Crust — not deep dish, regular size.
(they come in a two pack, when you have one left, put it in a large Ziploc baggie and stick it back in the freezer for the next round.
WHAT TO COOK WITH
- A nice pie plate e to put the piecrust in (keep the foil base on the shell and just insert the whole thing in the plate before baking, it looks better but it is also for the occasional spillage that occurs when it starts to bake).
- An electric mixer
- Rubber spatula
- Cookie sheet for holding the pie plate in case it bubbles it over.
HOW TO CREATE THE MAGIC
Preheat oven to 325.
- Put a few fork pricks into the unfilled piecrust and place into oven while oven is preheating, this just softens it a bit before baking. Not totally necessary if you forget.
- Melt the 3/4 stick of butter and set aside
- Beat eggs and the 1 stick of softened butter in a mixer or with a mixer until somewhat smooth.
- Add flour, brown sugar, regular sugar and melted butter and beat well until everything is nice and smooth. Go easy on the speed so everything doesn’t fly out.
- Manually stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour into pie shell and put on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or tin foil. This is only necessary if the crust looks a little too full to avoid a mess in your oven.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for almost an hour or until golden brown and not jiggly when you go to take it out.
Please consider sharing this recipe and blog post with someone you love,
recipes are meant to be shared!
SHORTCUT + TIP
- You can make this ahead and it freezes beautifully. Just take out an hour before and reheat at 300 until warmed through.
- Serve this with vanilla ice cream and Kitsie's Hot Fudge Sauce
SHOPPING IDEAS
I love a nice pie plate to set the pie crust in so it looks prettier than the foil that holds it.
This happy go lucky sunshiney yellow pie plate aptly called Sweetie Pie by Great Jones will brighten up any store bought frozen pie crust.
I covet fine and beautiful serving pieces. I have been lucky enough to inherit vast amounts of pieces from both sides of my family. This Georg Jensen pie server piece is simple and stunning if you want to treat yourself or someone you love. If you want a real treat to feast your eyes on head over to the Georg Jensen website and drool over the sterling silver collection. Over the top.
