There’s something about a dessert that requires no baking that sparks joy. And this No Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie is not only easy to make, but seriously delicious. In fact, it’s my go-to dessert for dropping off with friends and family when they need a little pick me up. Here’s why:
- Store bought pie shell means no fidgeting with pie dough! (Though if you want to make your own pie crust and blind bake it, this filling is perfection either way!)
- The creamy, smooth chocolate mousse filling comes together quickly!
- Light as air homemade whipped cream. There is nothing that homemade whipped cream doesn’t make better. Feel free to substitute with our coffee whipped cream for all the coffee lovers out there!
Seriously, this pie is always a winner.
For more chocolate desserts you’ll absolutely love, try these recipes next! Chocolate Chess Pie, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Ingredients Needed
First, you’ve gotta make the filling. Here’s what you’ll need
- 1 prepared walnut pie crust or a graham cracker crust: You can use any variety you like!
- Semi-sweet chocolate, either chips or chopped
- Unsalted butter
- Water
- Egg yolks, room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Instant espresso powder
Our homemade whipped cream is made simply with heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, and a splash of vanilla extract.
How To Make Chocolate Mousse
- Dissolve instant espresso powder in a small bowl with vanilla extract. You could use water instead, but vanilla extract adds even more flavor.
- Melt the chocolate and butter. Combine chocolate, butter, and water in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each addition, until smooth.
- Melt the sugar. Combine egg yolks, sugar, and the instant espresso/vanilla mixture in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. Whisk until thickened, about 3 minutes, being careful not to scramble the eggs.
- Combine to make the chocolate base. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate, then stir until well combined. Place in a fridge to cool slightly.
- Fold in whipped cream. Whip half of your heavy cream with confectioner’s sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the cooled chocolate mixture until no streaks of cream remain.
Assembly
Once you’ve made your homemade chocolate mousse, simply pour it into the prepared pie crust. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top, then refrigerate until set, about 2-3 hours.
When ready to serve, top with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
It seriously doesn’t get better!
FAQs
No, most of the store-bought nut pies are not gluten-free. There’s still a small amount of flour in each. You’d need to look for a gluten-free pie crust to be safe! However, the remaining ingredients in the pie ARE gluten-free.
This can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate until needed, then whip cream the day of and top the pie right before serving.
Absolutely!
Yes! Just be sure to blind bake it before adding the mousse filling.
How To Freeze Pie
Fill the prepared crust with chocolate mousse, then cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Transfer to a freezer and store for up to 3 months.
To serve: thaw completely in a refrigerator overnight, then top with fresh homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings just before serving.
Variations On Chocolate Mousse Pie
Yes! This would be SO delicious with either peanut butter mousse, strawberry mouse, or even pumpkin mousse for Thanksgiving!
Expert Tips
- Be careful not to cook the eggs over high heat! Otherwise, you risk scrambling them, which will affect the texture of the mousse.
- Fold in all of the whipped cream fully. If you don’t, there will be white streaks in the chocolate mousse. This is obviously more of an aesthetic issue than anything else. The chocolate mousse pie will still taste incredible either way!
- Don’t top the pie with whipped cream until just before serving. If left to sit for too long, the air in the whipped cream will collapse and it won’t be as light.
Seriously, this pie is epic. And you better believe we licked the pan clean!
If you make this No-Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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For more chocolate desserts, check out the following:
- Chocolate raspberry rugelach
- Chocolate cupcakes with espresso buttercream
- Flourless chocolate cake
- Chocolate-dipped pecan biscotti
- Chocolate bourbon pecan pie
- Matzo crack
No-Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract can substitute water
- 1 tsp instant espresso
- 1 Store bought pie crust
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped or chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp water
- 2 egg yolks room temperature
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1½ cups heavy cream divided
- 2 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
- ¼ cup chocolate shavings for serving
Instructions
- Dissolve the espresso powder. In a small bowl, dissolve instant 1 tsp espresso powder in 2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract with a whisk or fork.
- Melt the chocolate. In a microwave safe bowl, combine 6 oz chocolate chips or chocolate shavings, 2 Tbsp butter, and 1 Tbsp water. Heat in a microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each addition, until melted and smooth. Place in refrigerator to cool slightly.
- Cook the eggs. Add 2 egg yolks, 2 tsp sugar, and the espresso-vanilla mixture to a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes, being careful not to overcook the eggs (or they'll scramble).
- Stir in the eggs. Pour the cooked egg mixture into chocolate, then stir until very smooth. Return to the fridge.
- Whip heavy cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk ¾ cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the heavy cream into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture until no streaks of cream remain.
- Assemble the pie. Gently pour the chocolate mousse into the pie crust, smoothing out the top with a spatula. Place in a fridge to set, about 2-3 hours.
- Top with whipped cream and serve. When ready, whip remaining ¾ cup heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment on medium-high speed. When soft peaks form, add 2 Tbsp confectioner's sugar. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream on top of chocolate mousse pie, then sprinkle ¼ cup chocolate shavings on top. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Pie can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated until needed, then topped with fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings when ready to serve.
- NOTE that if you double or triple the recipe, the INSTRUCTIONS will not reflect the updated quantities for heavy cream! You’ll need to double or triple those quantities (as updated in the recipe) when you get to that part of the instructions.
This pie is incredibly simple but oh-so-luxurious. The rich espresso, chocolate, and vanilla flavors in the mousse are mellowed by the whipped cream. And the crust… I was tempted to skip out on finding the walnut crust in favor of my tried and true graham cracker one, but I’m so glad I didn’t! The crust is what makes this recipe. The flavors and textures together are almost reminiscent of a Ferrero Rocher, only better. This is a keeper!
YESSSS!!! So glad you love this as much as we do! You definitely could use a graham cracker crust, but DAMN I just love this filling with the walnut crust from Diamond! It’s salty, but I mean that in a good way. The Ferrero Rocher reference is spot on! YUM. xo, Ari
I chose 3 stars because I have not made this yet but had questions on the nutrition facts.
This looks really yummy and I plan to make it but when I put the exact ingredients into MyFitnessPal the nutrition numbers are waaay off (almost double)from what is listed in the recipe…especially in the calories! Used the same number of servings: 8.
Instead of your 1 slice | Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.3g | Protein: 2.9g | Fat: 19.5g | Saturated Fat: 12.1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15.1g
MyFitnessPal says 1 slice | Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 97mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g
Used the same brand of walnut crust – Diamond – and double checked the ingredient quantities several times. I used Bakers Semi Sweet Premium baking bar (1.5 bars = 6 oz).
I can’t figure out why there is such a huge difference….any ideas?
Hi Fran,
It’s actually really hurtful to a blogger to rate their recipe with a low number of stars when you haven’t even tried the recipe. As far as the nutrition facts go, I use a nutrition calculator that is attached to my recipe card (the same plug-in that most large food bloggers use to calculate nutrition). I enter the specific ingredients and then enter the serving size, then press calculate. There is no fidgeting with the numbers on my end, I would literally never do that. I respect my audience and hope that they trust me to not lead them astray. Having said that, I am certainly not a nutritionist or dietician, nor have I claimed that. If it’s helpful, I will add a note to my blog posts moving forward that nutrition facts are our best approximation given specific and careful listing of ingredient names. Ari
No slight intended…I started my inquiry by saying why the # of stars…that’s why I chose the middle # of stars. I thought I would be required to choose some rating but could not rate it having not made it.
Can you tell me what nutrition tool you use? I was attracted to the recipe because of the relatively low # of calories. But since I use Myfitnesspal to log my meals I had to run it through that one and thus I discovered the difference. Never implied that you adjusted anything…I’m just trying to figure out why the big difference.
Of course. The plugin is called Word Press Recipe Maker. I pay for an upgraded subscription for the ease of using the nutrition calculator that is attached to it.
Maybe it has to do with the calorie calculations of International units versus Standard, which a lot of us still use in the US. I don’t know; just a thought. Regardless, this recipe is one of my favorites, ever!
Thanks for sharing that info about the app. Perhaps the app couldn’t match up all the ingredients or something went wrong when it calculated the nutrition…
If you add up the calories from the package labels for the crust (960), the butter(200), the heavy cream (1200) and the chocolate chips (~900) it comes to 3260 calories. For 8 slices, that is 407 per slice without including the other ingredients, like egg and sugar. I have no doubt that your intent was to post the actual nutrition facts but I think the WordPress app let you down on this one.
This still looks like a fabulous recipe…just might have to cut it into 16 slices instead!
Thanks for having the conversation with me!
Hi Beth, I’m sorry to hear that this didn’t work for you. I’ve fixed the typo in the recipe instructions about vanilla extract and espresso powder (thank you!), but stand behind the process of using a double boiler. It’s definitely about heat control. This is my go-to recipe to bring to new neighbors or family/friends visiting and have had no issues with scrambling the eggs. For any recipe you follow that requires a double boiler, if you see the texture of the eggs beginning to change, I would remove the bowl immediately as that means the temperature is too high. Return it to the heat and continue cooking slowly. This is not a technique that I came up with — using a double boiler is a standard method in baking. Best, Ari