One of my favorite things about visiting Kentucky, where my daughter lives, is eating a piece of Derby Pie. It was created by George Kern for the Melrose Inn in 1950 and is hugely popular in Louisville. It’s like a warm chocolate chip cookie in pie form.
I love everything about Kern’s version, except for the walnuts (I’m not a big fan.) My recipe substitutes pecans for the walnuts and is made with my Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust. I like to serve it with fresh Whipped Cream but my husband prefers vanilla ice cream. You can’t go wrong with either one.
Chocolate Derby Day Pie
6-8
servings20
minutes30
minutesIngredients
1/2 recipe Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust for 1 partially pre-baked 9 inch pie shell (refrigerate the other 1/2 of the pastry to use for another pie.)
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Whipped Cream or vanilla ice cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350˚ F.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla paste and mix well.
- Add the brown sugar and flour, mix until thoroughly blended.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans, using a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the partially pre-baked crust and bake until puffed and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack and serve warm with Whipped Cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- This pie is even better the next day, warmed up, with ice cream or whipped cream. I don’t recommend microwaving more than one piece of pie — it doesn’t help the texture of the pastry. Try this method instead: Pre-heat your oven to 350°, put the pie on a cookie sheet, and lightly cover with foil. For a 9-inch pie, heat for 15-20 minutes and then serve.
The vanilla paste makes all the difference, do not skimp out on this to use use regular vanilla!
I agree – I love the Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste!