This chocolate cream pie recipe has a rich chocolate flavor and a smooth creamy texture with a nutty crust. It’s the perfect dessert for holidays or special occasions and can be made vegan, keto or paleo.

Every holiday or gathering whether it’s thanksgiving or just a BBQ, my Dad always requests this pie and hoards the leftovers!

This recipe is great because it’s made with healthier ingredients than your standard chocolate cream pie recipe. I use coconut cream for the filling (but it doesn’t taste coconutty with the chocolate!) and almond flour for the crust. It is naturally gluten free and can be made paleo, keto or vegan as well.

I initially made this for a dinner party and it was a huge hit. The filling is very easy to make, has minimal ingredients and the crust is one of the BEST parts of the whole dish!

Hopefully, you’ll enjoy making this chocolate cream pie recipe and eating it as much as I do!

Why I love this recipe:

• The main reason why I love this recipe is because it is just so dang delicious! Every time I bring it somewhere it is a hit and gets gobbled up pretty fast. I think this is my most requested recipe by my family too!
• Even though it looks impressive, this chocolate cream pie is pretty simple to make. There are basically just 2 stages of throwing everything in a bowl and mixing. There’s no complicated peeling and slicing like with apple pie and no tough rolling pins or pinching like with regular pie crust. The thing that makes this pie easy is that it can be served cold…in fact, it’s even better that way! And you only have to bake the crust for about 10 minutes, but the rest is no bake!
• This pie can be made vegan, paleo or low carb/keto, so it’s easy to share with a variety of folks with special diets. See the recipe tips below on substitutions for each special diet.
• This paleo vegan chocolate cream pie also keeps well in the refrigerator. I remember having a slice for several days after thanksgiving one year and it felt like it just kept getting tastier and tastier with each passing day!

Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe Tips:

• Selecting the Right Coconut Cream:
  • Unfortunately, coconut cream that is sold commercially can vary in texture quite a bit. You want to make sure to get the thick canned coconut cream for the right texture. Sometimes cans of full fat coconut milk that have been refrigerated will work as well as long as the cream separates to the top and leaves the clear liquid at the bottom (I’ve had luck with Thai Kitchen coconut milk brand). Native Forest brand of coconut cream also works for this recipe. A good rule of thumb for me when shopping at the store for coconut milk or cream is to shake the can, if it sounds like sloshing liquid it won’t work, if there’s no sloshing, then it’s likely solid cream and can be used for this recipe.
  • Avoid coconut cream in a cardboard box because they usually are too watery or sometimes too oily. It should be bright white and the texture of room temperature butter–thick and solid but pliable. It should keep its shape, but you should be able to easily stick a knife through it. 
  • Watch the recipe video below to get an idea of the texture. I generally try to avoid additives so I hate to say it, but I’ve found that brands with guar gum as an additive tend to work much better for this recipe. When scooping coconut cream out of the can, only get the white solid thick cream at the top and leave the clear liquid at the bottom.
• Substitutions:
  • There are a few substitutions that I have tried that will work for this recipe. You can use regular cocoa powder or raw cacao powder–either will work.
  • For a low carb and keto pie, I use this brand of sugar free maple syrup. You can also use regular maple syrup for vegan or honey for paleo.
  • Blanched almond flour or almond meal will work for the crust. You can also substitute this for another nut flour or meal like pecan meal or walnut meal.
  • Apart from those changes mentioned, I can’t speak on any other major substitutions and can’t guarantee any other changes to the recipe. If you do decide to experiment with substitutions, please leave a comment to help others who may be interested in your changes.
• For the pie crust, you can choose from two different recipes. One is paleo and grain-free and made with almond flour and it more of a soft cookie type texture. The other is a gluten-free crust made with gluten-free flour and is a little more flakey like a traditional pie crust. 
• To make this recipe vegan, I use flax seed “eggs” which is basically just ground flax seeds mixed with water that help to thicken and bind ingredients without eggs. To grind whole flax seeds, use a coffee grinder. You can also buy already ground flaxseed meal (like this). I prefer golden flax seeds because the flavor is lighter.
• For the coconut oil in the crust make sure it is softened, but not totally melted. This helps with the crust texture.
• Be sure to let the pie crust cool fully after baking before adding in the pie filling otherwise it can melt the coconut cream too much and mess up the texture.
• You can reserve a small portion of the coconut cream–about 2 tbsp– to top the pie like whipped cream if you want.
• Be sure to store this pie in the refrigerator and keep it away from direct heat–if it sits out in the sun for a while or is on top of a hot oven it could melt. In my experience it holds shape perfectly sitting at room temperature on the dinner table for a while during dessert. But for overnight storage or longer keep it in the refrigerator.

How to Make This Rich Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe (Vegan, Keto & Paleo):

Pre-heat the oven to 350°. (Note: these instructions use the paleo grain-free pie crust recipe. If you choose the gluten-free crust, the instructions will be different. Check the recipe card below for details). Start by combining the ground flax and warm water in a small bowl. Mix it and set aside to allow it to thicken for about a minute.

To make the crust, combine the almond flour, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl and mix together. Then add softened coconut oil, maple syrup and thickened flax mixture and mix until combined.

Grease an 8 or 9 inch pie dish with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Form the crust dough into a disk shape and place into the pie dish.

Use your fingers to evenly press the dough into the shape of the pie dish.

Poke a few holes in the crust with a fork then bake the crust at 350° for 5-10 minutes until the sides start to become golden brown. Remove from the oven then let cool completely.

To make the filling, scoop the coconut cream into a bowl and gently hand whisk it until it is smooth.

Then combine all of the remaining filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.

Once the crust has completely cooled pour the filling into the crust.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours or more or until the filling has solidified.

Enjoy topped with some whipped coconut cream and chocolate shavings or a cup of tea!

Here are some more delicious keto desserts you may enjoy!…

• 3-Ingredient Chocolate Keto Fudge
• Fluffy Keto Coconut Flour Vanilla Layer Cake
• Easy Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies

This chocolate cream pie recipe was originally posted in May of 2014 but has been republished in June of 2021 to include improved images along with new recipe changes and tips.