Easy as Pie

My grandmother is known for her delicious southern cooking. One thing she has learned how to do well is to balance making things from scratch, and then having some super simple go-to recipes that will make you think they were way more complicated than they are.

That's the case with this super easy chocolate pie. I have eaten it at every Thanksgiving for my whole life and was surprised to know the filling was composed of just 3 ingredients.

Since it is the day before Thanksgiving, it is not worth the stress of scouring Pinterest for the perfect, possibly elaborate, pie. Also, I remember when I was first learning to cook, I wanted to contribute something, but felt Thanksgiving was not the day to be experimenting. So if you are looking for a simple and cheap can't-mess-it-up recipe to whip up in a jiffy...look no further! TFP's got your back!

My grandmother starts with a store-bought pie crust. I decided to make my own pie crust just for the fun of it. Whatever you choose to do will work just fine!

Start by putting your graham crackers into a food processor and blending until they are fine.

Pour graham crackers into a bowl along with sugar and melted butter. Mix until it becomes the consistency of wet sand. (Adjust your crust taste by adding sugar or butter according to your preference!)

After the crust is mixed, put it in the bottom of a pie platter and stick it in the fridge to set up while you mix the pie filling.

Also, make sure you enlist only the best of sous chefs while making your pie (he's really just a real live vacuum cleaner for when I inevitably spill graham crackers on the floor).

In a separate bowl, add the instant chocolate pudding with 2 cups of cold milk. Whisk the two ingredients together until the mixture is completely smooth. Next, fold in 5-8 ounces of whipped cream. (At this point my husband wanted the mixture more chocolatey so he added Hershey's chocolate syrup right into the batter.) Whisk the batter until the ingredients are all evenly distributed.

Grab the pie crust from the fridge and pour your filling into the platter (again...my husband with the syrup - this time on the crust).

Add another 5 ounces of whipped cream (the best way to to pipe it through a bag) to the top of the pie. I also added crushed oreos for garnish. Stick it in the fridge and let it set up for at least 4-6 hours.

There you have it! Contributing to Thanksgiving doesn't have to be stressful or super expensive. This pie is so simple but the effort goes a long way. Plus, everyone loves some chocolate pie! Enjoy your Thanksgiving!