Black Forest Brownie Pie
This Black Forest Brownie Pie features a chocolate crust filled with a decadent chocolate and cherry brownie filling! And don’t forget to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.
Before I met my wife, I’d never really eaten sour cherries. I don’t recall ever seeing sour cherries in our fridge when I was a kid, and they just weren’t really on my radar. (I did eat my share of cherry flavored candy…but that’s not quite the same.) But now I love fresh sour cherries! Whenever cherries show up in the market each year, I always grab a ton of them. Truthfully, I do find them a bit of a pain to eat due to the pit…but I’ll gladly put up with that mild inconvenience since they taste so amazing.
Every July 4th for the past few years, we drive down to a farm about 45 minutes south of here and pick our own cherries and blueberries. I’m not sure why we always go on July 4th other than the fact that it’s a vacation day and we’re both off of work. Either way, the blueberry bushes and cherry trees are loaded with fresh berries, and we seriously stock up. I’m talking like 10+ pounds of berries. We’ll leave some out to eat, but then we freeze the rest in quart-sized bags. Then we have berries for the rest of the year. In fact, I just used the final bag from last year’s cherry harvest for this Black Forest Brownie Pie.
When we first moved into our house about 4 years ago, we planted several fruit trees in the backyard. I’ve always wanted to grow my own fruit trees! For the last several years, we’ve been picking off all of the buds when they form in the spring. This makes the tree send its energy into growing taller and stronger rather than producing fruit.
I’m not gonna lie. Picking off all of the buds made me cry a little bit each year. I knew it was for a good reason, but plucking those little flowers each spring was just not fun. Not this year, though! The trees are big enough now that we’re letting them grow fruit. (We did get one rogue apple last fall…and that was pretty awesome.) I suspect the birds will eat all of the cherries before they ever ripen, but it’s still pretty cool to have a cherry tree in the backyard!
Black Forest Brownie Pie
We went down to visit my aunt and uncle in Texas this past spring, and my aunt made the most amazing brownie pie ever. (I might have scarfed down two slices because we were on vacation. There are no rules when you’re on vacation!) Not that the pie needed anything else, but my wife suggested adding some sour cherries. I took it one step further and added a chocolate graham cracker crust just because I love using graham cracker crusts for pies. The result was this Black Forest Brownie Pie. Since we aren’t currently on vacation, I somehow managed to limit myself to one slice of this pie. But it was a difficult challenge.
Funny enough, I actually prefer this pie cold. I took a tiny bite of one of these slices right after I took the pictures, and it was tasty. But our neighbors had invited us over for pizza and beers, so I just tossed the pie in the fridge before I left. When I got back, I had another bite of cold Black Forest Brownie Pie…and it was delicious!
We’ll be heading out to our favorite farm in a few weeks to pick more sour cherries…and I think another Black Forest Cherry Pie will definitely be in order for the afternoon of July 4th!
Cheers, friends! Oh, and if you make these brownies at home, come back and share your thoughts. Or just snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog).
Love brownies? Check out some of these other favorites, too!
Samoa Brownies
Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
German Chocolate Brownies
Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies
Black Forest Brownie Pie
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust
- 7 full-sized chocolate graham crackers approx. 1½ cups
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the Cherries
- 1½ cups sour cherries pitted and halved
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
For the Brownie Filling
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ½ Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup pecans chopped
For the Garnish
- Vanilla ice cream
- Finely-chopped chocolate
Instructions
For the Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a food processor or mini-chopper, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter. Stir until fully combined.
- Press mixture into a 9” pie pan. (Tip: A flat-bottomed glass helps pack the crust mixture down evenly.)
- Bake crust at 375°F for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the Cherries
- In a medium bowl, toss together the cherries, sugar and lemon juice. (Note: Depending on the amount of liquid in your cherries, you may need to drain these slightly before adding to the pie.)
For the Brownie Filling
- Place the evaporated milk, chocolate chips and butter in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is fully melted and smooth.
- Remove chocolate mixture from heat and whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar and flour.
- Add eggs 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until just blended.
- Finally, stir vanilla, salt and pecans into mixture.
- Spread Cherries on top of the baked Graham Cracker Crust.
- Pour Brownie Filling on top and bake at 375° for 38-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie comes out mostly clean.
- Allow pie to cool slightly before slicing. (Tip: I actually prefer to serve this pie cold.)
- Serve with ice cream and shaved chocolate.
Notes
Oh wow – this pie makes me weak in the knees! You know what, David, picking those buds off those fruit trees those last few years was a difficult enough challenge – this year, I think you should spare yourself from ALL difficult challenges and stop trying to limit yourself to only one slice! AND – I can help you with this – Just send the pie – THE WHOLE PIE down to Atlanta to me! Or, wait till mid July, and I will take this right off your kitchen counter!
P.S. The more I read your posts, the more I see that it’s Mrs. Spiced who is responsible for your growing palate… first the roasted grape pizza and now sour cherries in decadent chocolate pie…maybe SHE’d be less reluctant to part with any leftover pie…
🙂 Happy Friday to both of y’all!
You are totally right, Shashi! I need to keep you around more often to encourage me to just go for it! Forget picking buds. Grab another slice of pie. I could get behind this mission! And wowzers…you remembered the roasted grape pizza! I’m quite impressed with your memory. You know, they say chocolate helps our health. I bet it helps memory somehow. Therefore, you deserve another slice of pie, too. Ok, my logic is a little twisted…but just go with it! 🙂
Ohh yeaaa gimme some of this pie! I’m such a chocolate freak, so this pie is literally calling my name! I cannot resist. I haven’t tasted it yet, but I think I agree with you, this pie looks like it would be excellent cold. Thank you for curing my chocolate craving!!
I’ve never had cold brownies before, but I totally stumbled into trying this pie cold…and it was totally delicious! Go figure! I support this pie calling your name. “Heatherrr…Heeeaatthhhheeerrr…” ~Signed, Pie. You should answer that call!
Yum! I saw the crust and thought it was an oreo cookie crust, but I love that it’s chocolate graham! That’s like the best combination of graham/cookie crust! 🙂
Yeah, I usually use Oreo crusts for pies, but then I stumbled onto the chocolate graham cracker thing a while back. Now I like to throw in the graham crackers from time to time just to mix it up a little bit. 🙂
Hi David! I was looking at a brownie pie recipe just the other day – your pie sounds decadent! We pick vegetables all the time (from our garden) and we also grow raspberries, blueberries and figs which we have to net to keep the birds at bay!
Oh man, figs reminds me of my grandfather’s huge fig tree when I was a kid. They lived in upstate South Carolina, and we would go visit them often. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a taste for figs when I was a kid, but what I wouldn’t do for that tree now!! 🙂
I would love this pie hot or cold! I stock up on cherries and freeze them too. Some of them I make into a compote to serve on pancakes. When Chris asks me what I’m going to do with so many cherries, I tell him he will thank me in January. 🙂
Hahaha….tell me about it, Rachelle! We have a whole corner/section of our freezer dedicated to bags of fresh berries. It makes space a little difficult, but those berries disappear quite fast come winter!
I would cry happy tears if I had a bite of this right now…
Hahaha! Well, don’t cry…gosh. I’ll send you a pie. Just don’t cry!!
Dude, this is outstanding… and it pains me we are not neighbors! 🙂
Oh, seeing all of your creative dishes pains me, too, Kevin. Perhaps a move East is in your future? I always have extra dessert over here! Haha!
This is nothing if not brilliant. I mean black forest. brownie. You’ve got me sold…
Haha…thanks, Anne! This brownie pie did all of the work selling you on it. All I did was eat a slice (or two…or three.) 🙂
This looks so good Dave, and I can only imagine how much better it tastes cold- Why do desserts to that?! I actually grew up eating a tonne of sour cherries- Well, in a jam- It’s a Persian staple and my grandma used to make it often..and sometimes leave a stupid pip in it.
Wait…did the Persians invent sour cherries, too? You guys invented everything!!
Mmm that brownie pie looks so fudgy and chocolatey! And of course, I totally love the black forest spin on it with the added cherries 🙂 Pinned!
Yeah, the added sour cherries was totally my wife’s idea. Good thing I listened to her this time…haha! 😉
The weird thing about cherry candy is it doesn’t even taste like cherries. This brownie however is obviously filled with real flavor through and through. I think it’s almost time for my coffee break. GREG
I’ll join ya on that coffee break, Greg!! And I couldn’t agree more about cherry candy. It tastes so odd. Same as “blue raspberry” candy. There is no such thing as a blue raspberry!!
Sour cherry and chocolate work perfectly, as well as with the ice cream. I must admit I love cherries and I don’t mind the pit that much. I just love their colour and consistency, they are just a joy to look at.
Keep up with the great work and your trees will look magnificent 🙂
I hope those darned trees look magnificent, Emanuele! They are huge and green…but no cherry blossoms this year. I think our winter was too cold…or that’s what someone said. But the apples? Well, those trees are loaded!! Can you put apples into brownie pie? Hmm….
Wow, wow, wow! This pie looks amazing!! I would never have thought to add cherries to a brownie pie, but I guess it makes sense with the whole chocolate covered cherry concept. And yes, I would totally eat a cold brownie pie. Makes perfect sense to me! I’ll also have to look for Folger’s new iced coffee product. I love iced coffees in the summer!
Iced coffees are the best on a hot afternoon, Tamara! I still like my hot coffee in the morning, but the afternoon is a whole different story. Plus, I hear that a slice of this brownie pie goes well with an iced latter in the afternoon…just sayin’! 🙂
Looks delicious! I always loved sour cherries, they are so delicious.
Thanks so much, Valya! Cherries + chocolate = win!!
David, I’ve got to confess – I committed a crime! I’ve skipped this gorgeous pie. To be honest I am mostly concerned that I’m too late and there’s no a morsel left for me. Or is there (saying with a hope)? That’s interesting about sour cherries – I have always loved them. However, it’s quite an issue to find them in Canada. Last summer first time ever we got to a cherry farm and had a lot of fun mostly because it was such a downpour! We got soaking wet and perhaps because of that grabbed too many cherries:) If I’m not mistaken, something like 20 pounds ha-ha! I guess we still have a small package of the frozen cherry in the freeze:)
Well, to be honest, Ben…there was never a hope to begin with on this one! This pie was demolished not long after these photos were taken. But I do appreciate your optimism and hope! Hahaha…20 pounds of cherries! That’s awesome! That’s not far from what we do every summer. There’s something really great about picking them yourself, and then of course there is something great about having berries in the middle of the winter. I say that last package of cherries might be destined for a brownie pie!
Well, David, that’s upsetting. Remember Karlsson-on-the-Roof? He has said that you always should anticipate a friend coming and thus reserve a piece of cake (better the whole one). He’s so right, isn’t he? I hope the next time you will be more thoughtful…:)
woow it looks so tempting…one slice for me please 🙂
Thank you so much, Amallia! I’ll definitely save you a slice…of the next one I make! 🙂