Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie

By The New York Times

Updated Oct. 26, 2021

Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
5(1,392)
Comments
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This vegan pie pairs a thick, creamy, chile- and cinnamon-laced pudding from Mark Bittman with a graham cracker crust adapted from the cookbook "Vegan Pie in the Sky." The pudding, whose flavors recall Mexican hot chocolate, can also stand alone. It's made with silken tofu, and it comes together in 10 minutes in the blender, which whips in air for a mousse-like texture. The chocolate is of the utmost importance here; its flavor will be the one that dominates, so be sure to buy the highest quality you can. Top with shaved chocolate if you'd like.

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Ingredients

Yield:One 9-inch pie

    For the Crust

    • 10whole graham crackers (approximately 5.5 ounces)
    • 3tablespoons sugar
    • 4tablespoons melted coconut oil
    • 1tablespoon plain soy milk or almond milk

    For the Filling

    • ¾cup sugar
    • 1pound silken tofu
    • 8ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted (at least 60 percent cacao)
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • ¼teaspoon chile powder, or more to taste
    • ⅛teaspoon salt
    • Chocolate shavings (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. For the Crust

    1. Step 1

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.

    2. Step 2

      Place the graham crackers in a food processor and process until finely ground, about 30 seconds (you should have about 1¼ cups of crumbs). Add the sugar and salt, drizzle over the melted coconut oil and soy or almond milk, and pulse until the mixture begins to clump together.

    3. Step 3

      Pour the crumbs into the pie plate. Press crumbs into the sides of the plate first, then work your way down to the bottom. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until firm and slightly golden. Let the crust cool while you prepare the filling.

  2. For the Filling

    1. Step 4

      In a small pot, combine sugar with ¾ cup water; bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

    2. Step 5

      Put all ingredients except for chocolate shavings in a food processor or blender and purée until completely smooth, stopping machine to scrape down the sides if necessary. Pour into the cooled crust, and press a piece of plastic wrap directly to the top of the pudding. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours and up to overnight. If you like, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,392 user ratings
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Comments

Maggie

For people who are saying that the filling is too soft, I suspect the answer lies in draining the tofu. That's a step that this recipe omits, but that most similar recipes (Alton Brown's, for instance) include.

ck

Thanks to other commenters notes, I used only 1/2 cup sugar in the pie, and as the graham crackers had sugar in them already, I left out the 3 tablespoons of sugar in the crust. Drained the silken tofu on paper towels for 15 minutes and, combined with using only 1/2 cup of water in the simple syrup, the texture ended up being prefect...thick, firm yet creamy, it held its shape and the sweetness was perfect. A major hit at a small dinner party and was entirely demolished.

Sam

The key to this recipe is SILKEN FIRM tofu--this is generally in shelf-stable packaging, but there is zero reason to drain it. With regular silken tofu, your pie will already be much looser, and that can only get worse when you add more water....using Silken firm tofu, mine set up very firmly (moreso than the average cream pie) and was easy to slice cleanly.

amk50

This was amazing and my meat eating 14 yo boy thought it was fantastic. I followed the advice of some of the other comments. I cut the simple syrup to 0.5 cup sugar and 0.5 cup boiling water. I poured it hot over the chocolate chips in the blender and blended this first. Choc chips melted and it cooled sufficiently in the process to finish adding all the other ingredients. I used regular no-brand semi sweet chocolate chips but added 1-2 tsp instant coffee and it came out rich and delicious.

Mary Lewis Grow

I followed the recipe exactly, refrigerated it overnight, even put in freezer for an hour, but it didn't resemble anything like a pie; it was liquid-y mush. If I'd called it a pudding and served it in bowls it would have been better than the "pie" I'd promised neighbors I'd bring. If I dare try it again, I'd reduce the water to 1/4 cup, as suggested by one user. I'm amazed if anyone using 3/4 cup got anything sliceable! Flavor was good though. (I did drain the tofu!)

SJ

I followed the suggestions to reduce the sugar and water to a half cup each, and the consistency and sweetness turned out great. I made a Black Forest-esque pie by omitting the cinnamon and chile, adding a 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and topping with a few cherries in syrup.

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