The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Even if you’ve never watched a horse race before, the Derby is the perfect excuse to make this pie. I made two of them over the weekend. They didn’t last 24 hours.
I can’t officially call this Derby Pie, as it’s known locally, because that name has a copyright. The original recipe is carefully guarded, but many versions exist. The original calls for English walnuts and chocolate chips.
The recipe I’m sharing here was given to me by a friend. I’ve never had the original Derby Pie, but I don’t see how it could taste any better than this version.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 cup butter (the real deal), melted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla (or 3 Tbs. bourbon) – I used 1 Tbs. coffee liqueur in one of the pies
3/4 cup nuts (I used pecans, the original calls for English walnuts)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
pie shell, unbaked
Put the pie shell in a shallow pie plate. In a large bowl, stir together the ingredients in the order given. Pour into the pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I made one pie with vanilla extract and one with coffee liqueur. We all liked the pie with the liqueur better. There was no taste of coffee, just a deeper flavor. A bit more decadent. How can that be a bad thing?
Make this pie this weekend. Post time for the Derby is 6:24 pm. Pull up a chair, grab a fork and a piece of Kentucky Chocolate Nut Pie and cheer for your favorite horse. My money’s on Chocolate Candy. With a name like that, how can he lose?
This is a great looking pie! Do you ever serve it with ice cream or is it just served plain? I am sure it’s spectacular either way! When I was a girl my mother loved to watch the Derby!
I love ice cream and I’m sure it would be good with it.
~~Tiffany
That looks SOOO good! Is that like caramel inside?
It isn’t caramel, just gooyness (is that a word?). I’m actually not sure it was done because it was so gooy, but everyone loved it anyway. It tasted done. Also, that was the pie that I put the coffee liqueur in, so there was more liquid than the one with vanilla. It was a bit runnier.
~~Tiffany
Wow, the pie looks so delicious.
Hi Tiffany, that pie looks fabulous! Ice-cream or creme fraiche would be fabulous with it and nice touch with the coffee liqueur!
BTW: The new blog looks fab, welcome to your new home!
loving the new site…and this looks so yummy
Dang! That looks good.
You know I love this.
This looks so much better than either of the ‘derby’ pie recipes I have. Thanks!
OK… I should stop looking around right now… I’m getting hungry!
HI, just a question. Did you put a top crust on this pie? It looks like it has a think top crust, but the recipe just calls for a pie shell. Thanks!
Tanya, it doesn’t have a top crust. While it bakes, it forms a bit of a crust and that’s what you’re seeing in the photo.
Here in East Texas we have the same pie and recipe; however, for obvious reasons, we call it ‘Gusherville Pie’.