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Recipe updated 7/11/16
Update: I was just informed that August 10th is National S’mores Day in the United States. I had no idea. By all means, make this pie this Sunday and celebrate!
A yummy crust…a smooth chocolate pudding…a touch of melt-in-your-mouth caramel…topped with a lightly toasted, gooey-soft marshmallow.
Click here to pin this recipe!
So for a month or so I have been thinking along the lines of chocolate pudding. Chocolate pudding popsicles, chocolate pudding pie…you get the drift. So I made like 2 or 3 attempts at a chocolate pudding pie and the results were less than spectacular. I finally figured out what my problems were – and then I saw a link to this yummy-looking chocolate pudding pie recipe. No way. Someone had already posted an amazing-looking chocolate pudding pie, and what’s more: her recipe was almost exactly like the recipe I had finally almost perfected! I wasn’t quitting without a satisfactory chocolate pudding pie from my own kitchen, though; but who wants to see the same thing twice? Not me.
So I cast around in my head for a way to make this chocolate pudding pie different. S’mores. That’s it. I’ll make a s’mores pie. This isn’t my first s’mores dessert idea, and it certainly won’t be the last. So I made my s’mores pie with my revised revised revised chocolate pudding pie recipe (which is still a little different than the one in the link above, and trust me when I say that I came up with it through my own trial and error) – and all the elements WORKED and came together in one of the best THM desserts I have ever made. The sweetener was perfect, for one thing. The chocolate pudding was not bitter. The meringue was ooey-gooey marshmallowey. And the caramel layer? Well, that was just a fun addition because I wanted something extra special in this pie and I had been brainstorming about how to use the caramel swirl from this Java Caramel Swirl Ice Cream recipe.
If you want a plain chocolate pudding pie, feel free to just make the crust and pudding. Top it with some whipped cream, or eat it plain, or don’t even make the crust and just make pudding. It’s just yummy, yummy, yummy!!! I want to SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD!!! Wait…or maybe hide it in my fridge for a midnight snack. *blush* I actually ate all but 2 pieces of this pie. All by myself. In about 24 hours’ time. (Disclaimer: such high portions are not recommended if you have weight to lose)
You can pin this recipe from my Desserts board here.
You can find this recipe and some other crust options in my cookbook.
PS – The crust in this recipe is a really old recipe that uses ground unsweetened coconut flakes (NOT the same thing as coconut flour!), which I used waayyy back in the day after reading the first ginormous Trim Healthy Mama original book. If you’d like an updated crust option, use the one from this Peanut Butter Cream Pie recipe. In case you’re wondering, ground unsweetened coconut flakes are literally just unsweetened coconut flakes ground to a flour consistency in a coffee grinder or high-powered blender, but they don’t soak up nearly as much liquid as storebought coconut flour.
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 T cocoa powder
- 5 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend
- 1 tsp. Knox gelatin (if using beef gelatin such as Great Lakes brand or THM Just Gelatin, add an extra ¼ tsp.)
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. glucomannan
- 1 T salted butter
- 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup oat flour (use gluten free if necessary)
- ¼ cup ground unsweetened coconut flakes
- 4 T butter, melted
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 4 fresh egg whites, chilled
- ½ tsp. cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp. caramel flavoring
- ½ tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend or 1 tsp. Truvia, ground in coffee grinder
- 2 T salted butter
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 doonks (1/16 tsp.) THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- Make your pudding so it can start chilling. In a nonstick saucepan over medium heat, whisk the first 7 ingredients together, adding the glucomannan while whisking so it doesn't clump. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring often to prevent scorching and lumps. When the pudding is thickened, take off the burner and whisk in the butter and vanilla. Let cool on the counter, then transfer the pudding to the refrigerator to chill.
- Make your crust. In a bowl, combine the crust ingredients. Put the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and use your hands to spread it out and up the sides of the pie plate. It reaches further than you think. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees (leave the oven on for the meringue). Let cool, then put in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Make your meringue. Put all ingredients into a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Put a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and trace the outline of a pie plate onto the paper. Spread the meringue within the circle so you have a pie-shaped disc of meringue. Bake at 350 degrees on the next-to-top oven rack for approximately 17 minutes. You want it to be nice and brown and crisp but not burnt (obviously). Let the meringue cool on the parchment paper and cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer it to a paper towel-covered plate. This can be a little tricky. The best way is to just go very slowly and use a thin metal spatula to gently scrape between the meringue and parchment paper. Go all the way around the meringue in a circular fashion with your scraper, just scraping a little bit at a time, until the meringue is totally loosened from the parchment paper and can be picked up. Let the meringue cool completely on the paper towel-covered plate.
- Make your caramel. In a small nonstick saucepan, combine all the ingredients over medium-low heat. Stir constantly and reduce until the mixture is amber-colored and thick. Take off the heat and let cool on the counter.
- After the pudding and crust have refrigerated for an hour or more, spread the pudding into the crust. Top the pudding with the caramel layer, then the disc of meringue. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for best results (so the meringue can soften up to a more marshmallowy texture). Yields 6 servings
I always eat my s'mores with peanut butter, so I would suggest maybe adding some peanut butter to either the pudding or caramel if that sounds good to you. I realize that the majority of the world does not see peanut butter as an essential part of a s'more, so I tested this recipe the generic way.
Recipe updated 7/11/16
Products I use:
- Hershey Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Glucomannan
- Truvia
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder and THM Super Sweet Blend can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
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Could Gentle Sweet be used instead of Super Sweet? If so, about how much more?
I’m sure that would work. 🙂 You can use this chart to help convert or just sweeten to taste to make sure it’s how you like it. 🙂 https://media.trimhealthymama.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/07222306/THM.Sweetener-Conversion-Chart.pdf
It’s Pie Day (3/14) and my children love our family tradition of having pie today. Some years we try to have pie for breakfast lunch and dinner (think quiche for breakfast, pizza for lunch, shepherd’s pie for dinner) but at the very least we must have pie for dessert! I am so glad to find an ooey gooey pie my husband and I can indulge in!!
You are indeed a blessing! Keep cooking!!
I’m out of caramel flavoring. Can I make it without it?
I don’t think that would be a problem.
This looks delicious! ! Do you happen to know how many carbs (g) per serving?
Thank you! No, I’m afraid I don’t know how many carbs there are per serving. The oat flour in the crust (which could be replaced with more almond flour) is the only real mentionable carb source though, and the carbs from that come out to less than 3 g per serving.
I think your pie looks amazing and want to try it! I was curious though if you think Xanthan Gum would work instead of Glucomanan?
I’ve heard that glucomannan and xanthan gum can be interchanged but I’ve never tried it and don’t know the amounts. Something tells me I’ve heard the ratio is 1:1? All I can tell you is what I tell myself: experiment. 🙂 I need to get some xanthan gum and see how it compares so I can make notes of it in my recipes. Let me know the results of you try it.
can ya substitute arrow root for glucomannan? I am not finding it anywhere, I do have arrow root handy, so was hoping to use it?
I’m not familiar with arrowroot; maybe Google could help you with that. 🙂
Looks soo yummy. I’m curious if there is a reason why you make and cool each layer separately. Usually at least when making lemon meringue pie or chocolate pie, you would make the crust then pour in the hot pudding, cool for chocolate pudding, but with the lemon meringue you add the meringue on top of the hot pudding and bake the meringue. Would that still work, or do you have a specific reason for doing each layer separately? thanks.
Hi Martha, I guess you could probably pour the hot pudding right into the crust, but I’m not sure if the crust would get soggy that way. I definitely wouldn’t bake the meringue on top of the pudding and caramel layer because I have a feeling both would melt.
Do you ever have a problem with your puddings having like a weird slimy taste? Am I putting too much glucomannan?
Glucomannan does tend to make things a bit slimier than “normal,” but it’s not something that has ever bothered me. I think it’s more of a personal thing. In the amounts shown in my recipes, I have no problem with it, but I could see where someone with a sensitive palate might not like it.
Briana I loved your cute personality in this recipe! It’s the first recipe of yours that I have come across, but I sure will be reading through your other ones too!
I have one question, and that is what type or brand of gelatin do i use in this recipe? I’ve never used gelatin before. Thanks again for sharing this recipe and satisfying this girl with a giant sweet tooth!
Sincerely,
Pam Tiemeyer
So glad you enjoyed the post, Pam. 🙂 This is the brand I have used, which I usually get from Walmart or the grocery store: (affiliate link) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Y3HM5C/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007Y3HM5C&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwbrianathom-20&linkId=FB5EQPPCRGDCPDLL
Recently, I found unflavored gelatin in bulk at a bulk food store. It’s definitely cheaper that way, and that’s what I’ve been using nowadays.