"Imagine an ultra-rich brownie baked in a shortbread crust. Sound good?" Oh my goodness, yes please. I read the first line describing this recipe and I was sold. Chocolate = Yes. Walnuts = Yes. Shortbread = Yes. Chocolate + walnuts + shortbread crust = amazing! This chocolate walnut pie was fabulous. It's a little bit more involved than a standard recipe since it's basically two-step, but the results will pay off. Yes they will.
This is a bit of a riff on my classic Truffle Tart (which I haven't blogged about because, well, honestly, it's a bit of a pain in the behind), except much quicker and easier. And with less waiting. Like I said, yes please! I'm probably one of the most impatient people on the planet, so the thing I dislike the most about my Truffle Tart is that the crust needs to be made and patted in a disk. Then cooled. Then rolled out and placed in the tart pan. Then cooled. Then baked with pie weights. Then cooled. See a pattern there? It practically takes all day, not to mention it drives me crazy! This shortbread crust wasn't quite as good as my usual recipe, but I was willing to sacrifice a little bit of flavor in favor of practicality and time. The crust was super-crumbly (as in, it was crumbling everywhere as I tried to slice it) so don't serve it with a fancy dinner party in mind, unless you don't mind funny looking slices. 🙂 I believe it was so crumbly because I slightly over-cooked it... my oven runs hot, it's not my fault! It should work better with a slightly lower temperature and with pie-weights, I believe. Not to mention, if you watch your oven... oops. 😉 Anyways, here is how I made this scrumptious chocolate walnut pie. 🙂
{Adapted from Good Housekeeping's Best-Loved Desserts}
chocolate walnut pie
Ingredients
- *for the crust*
- ½ cup all-purpose unbleached flour
- ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick butter
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- *for the filling*
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick butter
- ⅓ heaping cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- First, make the crust. Preheat the oven to 325F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (at medium speed), beat butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture until combined. Dump the dough into an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
- To make handling easier, place large piece of plastic wrap over the dough and use your hands to spread and smooth dough over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Discard plastic wrap, and use a fork to poke holes all over the dough.
- Cover the tart dough with parchment or aluminum foil, and pour in pie weights.
- Bake the tart for 27-30 minutes, removing the foil/pie weights halfway through cooking.
- While the crust cooks, make the filling.
- In a medium non-stick saucepan, heat butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar.
- Add eggs, one at a time, whisking very quickly and vigorously after each addition (to prevent scrambled eggs in your pie 🙂 ).
- Stir in flour, vanilla, salt, and nuts until evenly blended. Pour into your prepared shortbread crust.
- Bake at 325F for about 30 minutes, until top is just set. Cool for 30 minutes to one hour to serve warm, or cool completely to serve later
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