Just so we’re clear… I’m not from Kentucky. I’ve never even been there. But I love Kentucky Derby Pie.
I was first introduced to this heavenly concoction by a neighbor, who actually is from Kentucky. Her broad, half-Samoan sons all played high school football, and to raise the money necessary to fund this activity, the sons would go door to door in the neighborhood, selling her famous homemade Kentucky Derby Pies.
They made a killing. The entire subdivision was waiting with baited breath for football season to begin. Or, I might just be assuming that, because that’s the way I felt. I gladly spent every dollar in my wallet on those pies.
Oh, and?… my pie was still warm when it was delivered!! I wish that woman would have some more football playing sons to sell me derby pies.
Oh, the heavenly aroma of chocolate chips and pecans in a flaky pie crust!
These days I have to make my own Kentucky Derby Pies. It’s actually fine, because they are pretty darn simple to make.
A word about pie crust: I make a mean pie crust. I basically just copy Emeril Lagasse’s recipe, his technique and everything. But, I am terrible at making pie look pretty. My mother-in-law is a pro, and makes it look easy, but I make it look like a 3-year-old made the pie.
And thus, I’m now kind of a fan of frozen pie crust.
Sometimes, you just have to make life easy.
The hardest part about making this pie is the hour or two you have to wait for it to cool and set up before slicing!
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1 frozen pie crust
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
2. Add salt and flour, and mix well. Fold in pecans and chips.
3. Pour mixture into pie crust and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
4. Let cool for 1-2 hours before slicing. Serves 6-8.
Jen Stott is a wife and mom who seeks to rule the world one dessert recipe at a time. Cat hater, chocolate lover, mess maker and eternal optimist; mother of teenagers, she self-medicates with cookies and captures the highlights on her blog, JensFavoriteCookies.com.
Blog: JensFavoriteCookies.com
Twitter: @Jensto2t
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This look so good and loaded with chocolate!
Can’t wait to try this!
I AM from Kentucky, and your pie looks like it is dead on! It looks insanely easy and this will be our pie tomorrow as the three year old horses run for the roses. Thanks for posting this – I’ve never been crazy about my recipe and wanted to try a new one. Yours is the winner! 🙂
I found your recipe while researching for the menu for my murder mystery dinner game, “Death at the Derby.” I make a pecan, chocolate and bourbon pie at Christmas and was going to use the same recipe for the dinner menu. However, I like your twist with the flaky crust on top – sets it apart from the traditional pecan pie – I did, however add 2 tblsp of bourbon. Wonderful!!
Question
If I was to make a homemade crust can I cook everything with it or should I cook the crust first??
I am planning to make your pie tomorrow and thanks for the recipe. Do you use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chips? All purpose flour?
Hi Tera,
So sorry for the delay. It is All-purpose flour and semi-sweet, but it is your preference. You can do milk chocolate if you prefer. Did you make it? I would love to hear how it turned out!
This looks amazing. Is the crispy looking top added on to the posted recipe or does the recipe as posted bake up like that??
I’m from Louisville, Ky. and the only way to properly eat Derby Pie is warm almost hot with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I’f you’ve never tried it that way, I highly recommend it.
do you pre bake the pie crust?
I’ve made this pie and it is wonderful — no need to pre bake the pie crust. Though I did put the pie on the bottom rack for the last 10 minutes to make sure the crust firmed up. Wonderful!!
Made this pie last week for my daughters family and my sweet son-in-law
bragged on this pie like non other I have ever made. He said he was having
a party in his mouth. I’m making it this week to take to a Valentines party.
Will just wait for the raves.
I made this pie for Kentucky Derby weekend and it came out great. I used a frozen Marie Callender’s pie crust and it worked well. I was worried I might have a soggy bottom on the crust without prebaking it, but nope! I just put the filling right in the crust I took from the freezer and baked 1 hour. The bottom of the crust was actually light and flaky. The only modification(s) I made was to split the sugar into half white sugar/half light brown sugar and I added 2 TB bourbon for more depth of flavor. I also put the pie on the bottom shelf of the oven for the last 10-15 mins to ensure a crispy crust. Yum! My husband enjoyed this.
What size if pie crust? As making my own pastry.