Mud Pie

The best Mississippi Mud Pie recipe everyone will beg you to make again and again! 

This Mississippi Mud Pie is a repeat request at our house!  It’s wonderfully rich, crazy creamy, and outrageously delicious with 4 EASY layers of decadence!  This heavenly Mud Pie recipe start with an Oreo cookie crust followed by a fudgey chocolate sauce, chocolate pudding, chocolate whipped cream and finally fluffy whipped cream!  Of course, we garnish it all with crushed Oreos and raspberries and you can add nuts too if you like.  No matter how you finish your Mud Pie, one thing is for certain, EVERYONE will will beg you for this sensational TO LIVE FOR recipe!

a slice of easy mud pie with oreo crust and chocolate pudding


 

WHAT IS MUD PIE?

Mud Pie can be a lot of things! In the simplest definition, it is a chocolate-based pie with a crumbly cookie crust.  As you might glean from the name,  this pie was created in Mississippi and I love that it is just about my age – the first printed recipe circulated in 1975.  Classic, now traditional recipes don’t have to be handed down from the old country to be worth it!

Those southern smarty-pants took the new food options (i.e. instant pudding and Oreos) and made something new and amazing – Mud Pie! Older versions of chocolate pies are around., however, the Mud Pie with cookie crust is a new and proud creation from the south.

The Mud Pie, commonly known as “Mississippi Mud Pie” after the dark goopy banks of the Mississippi river is also known as Chocolate Lasagna or Chocolate Delight.  It is one of our favorite, most requested, most made desserts over at our house  – and soon to be at yours!

I first found this epic Mud Pie Recipe years and years ago when Patrick requested a Mississippi Mud Pie for his birthday. I have been making an adapted version ever since and most recently made two pies for Easter because, I knew one pie just wouldn’t be enough.

The layer upon layer upon layer of creamy chocolate nestled in a buttery Oreo crust all topped with fluffy whipped topping is ridiculously cravilicious.

It’s rich and decadent yet somehow so light and luscious at the same time that I could easily eat half a pie.  It’s a dessert that calls to you, nay, screams to you as it chills in the refrigerator, beckoning for its sensational chocolate layers to glide down your throat.  It’s a chocolate lover’s dream come true.

top view of Mississippi mud pie with Oreo crust

Mississippi Mud Pie Ingredients

This Oreo mud pie calls for just eight simple ingredients. Seriously!! Here’s all you need to make this mud pie dessert:

  • Oreos: You’re going to use the entire Oreo here, not just the chocolate cookie.
  • Butter: Always use unsalted butter when baking.
  • BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate: I prefer using semi-sweet chocolate so this pie is rich without being overly sweet.
  • Sweetened condensed milk: Not to be confused with evaporated milk!
  • Vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon of oil gets mixed into the chocolate layer to prevent it from hardening once cool.
  • Chocolate instant pudding: Make sure to buy instant pudding and not cook and serve!
  • Milk: Any kind will work, just make sure it’s cold.
  • Cool Whip: You may use homemade whipped cream as well. Cool Whip just holds up better over time.
the best mississippi mud pie with a few slices taken out

How to Make Mississippi Mud Pie

OREO LAYER

This Mud Pie recipe starts with a traditional Oreo base of crushed Oreos and butter that you bake for 8 minutes.  A lot of recipes don’t bake their crust, but I find the simple step of baking a few minutes really solidifies the crust and prevents the crust from cracking and crumbling all over when cutting into the pie – thus this pie is almost no bake.

We want our crust nice and cool before adding our first chocolate layer, so feel free to make your crust up to a day in advance and cover with foil.

FUDGEY CHOCOLATE SAUCE LAYER

For Mud Pie Chocolate Layer 1, we create an easy chocolate sauce by melting chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and vegetable oil together until nice and silky then pour it into the cooled pie crust.

This creates a delectably rich, fudgy layer.  It’s important that you cool your pie crust completely before adding this Layer or the crust will come up as you try and spread the chocolate. Also, you want your crust nice and cool so you can immediately pour the chocolate into the Crust before it thickens/hardens.

process shot showing how to assemble an oreo mud pie

PUDDING LAYER

For Mud Pie Chocolate Layer 2, use a hand whisk to beat 2 boxes of pudding mix with some milk.  You will use significantly less milk than with traditional pudding so the chocolate pudding will be quite thick, just how we want it.  Spread half of this chocolate into the pie.

process shot showing how to assemble an oreo mud pie

CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM

For Mud Pie Chocolate Layer 3, mix half of a tub of Cool Whip with the remaining thick chocolate pudding to create a light and fluffy layer that you spoon into the crust.

process shot showing how to assemble an oreo mud pie

COOL WHIP LAYER

For Mud Pie Layer 4, spread the remaining Cool Whip over the pie.

process shot showing how to make a mud pie with oreo crust

GARNISH

Finally, I loooooove to garnish my Mississippi Mud Pie with raspberries, and even serve with extra raspberries so I can devour a sweetly tart refreshing raspberry with rich, decadent chocolate in every bite.  Highly recommend it.  But above all, I highly recommend you make this Almost No Bake Mud Pie Recipe SOON!

It will scream to you.

Mud Pie Variations to Try

There are more variations of Mississippi Mud Pie recipes as there are names – it comes in all shapes and sizes with varying layers and ingredients –  some with ice cream, cream cheese or meringue, some with a cake or a brownie base, others with pudding, whipped cream and/or nuts, marshmallows, Oreos, but this version is our favorite.  If you want to get creative, here are some fun options to customize your Mud Pie recipe:

  • Nuts: Add nuts into the pudding or as a garnish.  If you like pistachios, chocolate and pistachio are a winning combination. Crushed peanuts and pecans, macadamia nuts, hazlenuts are also delicious.
  • Fruit:  As I mentioned earlier, I love the raspberries on my mud pie but you can also add strawberries or cherries as well or even bananas and coconut.
  • Crust: Basic original pie crust works, or a thin layer of cookie dough pressed into a pie shell like in my Million Dollar Cookie Pie. You can also use store bought cookies in any variety such as lady fingers, shortbread, chocolate graham crackers, peanut butter cookies, vanilla wafers or Samoa cookies to create your own cookie crust.
  • Pudding variations:  Substitute chocolate pudding for coconut, banana or butterscotch puddings with the chocolate, or use both!  Garnish with roasted coconut shavings or sliced bananas.
  • Ice cream:  Nix the pudding and add in any flavor of ice cream in its place.  Have it thawed a bit, not runny but not frozen solid so it is more malleable.
  • Fun Serving options: If you do not bake the crust, it’s always fun to layer this beautiful pie in a trifle dish. Alternatively, for a shower, birthday or event serving individual dishes in mason jars.  Just make the crust crumble and press into the bottom of the serving dish or trifle pan.  Then layer in the amazing other goodness!
traditional mud pie with oreo crust, fudge chocolate sauce, chocolate pudding and cool whip

Tips for the Best Mud Pie Recipe

  • You can place the crust in the freezer for it to cool more quickly, otherwise, it may take about an hour to cool completely at room temperature.
  • You must have the crust completely cooled or it rubberizes the pudding placed right on top of the crust.
  • You can bake your pie crust up to a day in advance then cover with foil once cooled.
  • Don’t microwave the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and vegetable oil at full power or it can scorch.  You also need to stir in between 30 second intervals so it melts evenly and prevents any chocolate at the bottom from scorching.  
  • The fudgy chocolate sauce will be thick and will become increasingly hard to work with, so as soon as its melted and you give it a good stir, pour it into the crust. 
  • But above all, I highly recommend you make this Almost No Bake Mud Pie Recipe SOON!

CAN I MAKE MY MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE AHEAD of time?

Yup! Wrap your Mud Pie tightly and it keeps great in the fridge for several days – that is if you can keep yourself and everyone out of it!

CAN I FREEZE MUD PIE?

Yes you can freeze Mud Pie, but with some caution.  You can freeze the crust no problem.  If its cooked it will freeze for up to 4 months, a non cooked crust will only last 2 months.

As for the Mud Pie you, can freeze it, but I would not freeze it with the cool whip topping as it can become soft and runny once defrosted.  The texture of the overall pie is also not quite as creamy. once defrosted but the  flavor remains the same.

a slice of authentic mississippi mud pie

Looking for more pie recipes?

Want to try this Almost No Bake Ultimate Mud Pie Recipe?

Pin it to your DESSERT, CHOCOLATE OR SUMMER Board to SAVE for later!

Find me on Pinterest for more great recipes!  I am always pinning :)!

©Carlsbad Cravings by CarlsbadCravings.com

Wonderfully rich, crazy creamy, heavenly Mississippi Mud Pie with 4 EASY layers of decadence! Everyone will beg you for this TO LIVE FOR recipe!

BEST Mud Pie

This Mississippi Mud Pie is a repeat request at our house!  It's wonderfully rich, crazy creamy, and outrageously delicious with 4 EASY layers of decadence!  This heavenly Mud Pie recipe start with an Oreo cookie crust followed by a creamy chocolate sauce, chocolate pudding, chocolate whipped cream and finally fluffy whipped cream!  Of course, we garnish it all with crushed Oreos and raspberries and you can add nuts too if you like.  No matter how you finish your Mud Pie, one thing is for certain, EVERYONE will will beg you for this sensational TO LIVE FOR recipe!
Servings: 10 -12
Total Time: 28 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

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Ingredients

  • 24 Oreos with filling finely crushed (I use my food processor)
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 oz. BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup canned sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
  • 2 (3.9 oz. each) pkgs. JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding
  • 2 1/2 cups cold milk
  • 1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip Whipped Topping thawed, divided

Instructions

Crust

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine Oreo crumbs and butter in a large bowl and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into a 9” pie plate and firmly press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides to form an even layer.

Layer 1

  • Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F then COOL COMPLETELY before proceeding to the next step. You can bake your pie crust up to a day in advance then cover with foil once cooled.
  • Add chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and vegetable oil to a medium bowl and microwave at 50% power at 30 second intervals until melted, stirring in between intervals. Stir until smooth then pour IMMEDIATELY into cooled pie crust. Smooth along the bottom of crust. Set aside.

Layer 2

  • Beat pudding mixes and milk with a handheld whisk for 2 minutes (it will be thick). Spoon 1-½ cups over chocolate layer and smooth.

Layer 3

  • To the remaining pudding, stir in HALF of the Cool Whip. Spread over pudding layer in crust.

Layer 4

  • Top with remaining Cool Whip and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best if overnight.

Garnish (optional)

  • Garnish with raspberries (highly recommended!), crushed Oreos and shaved chocolate if desired.

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Recipe slightly adapted from KRAFT

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11 Comments

  1. Karen says

    My husband loves Mississippi Mud. This is an interesting version. All that chocolate, he’s going to love it. We’ll be having it with Sunday supper.

  2. Keiko says

    Hi Jen! I made this tonight. We all loved it! So good! I loved the oreo crust! I used the 14 oz of sweetened condensed milk, and have lots of left over from making this recipe. Do you have any suggestion what I can do with the left over condensed milk besides licking it? 🙂

    • L says

      My favourite use for sweetened condensed milk is to make a key lime pie!

  3. Kristin says

    My family and I love this simple, easy, but totally satisfying pie. I’ve made it 3 times in the past couple weeks, so I can use up more of the sweetened condensed milk. (I have a large family so 1 pie doesn’t last long.) It comes together quickly. It’s a pie that makes my picky eaters happy (nothing suspicious in it). This is one of t hose recipes that I’ll make often. Thanks!

    • Jen says

      yessss! Thank you so so much for taking the time to comment Kristin! I am thrilled your family loves this Mud Pie so much and you have already made it 3 times – now that is the ultimate compliment!

  4. L says

    Hi Jen! I went to make this tonight, then realized in Canada Cool Whip comes in a 1 litre tub. EEK! How many cups of Cool Whip would I need for this pie?

    • Jen says

      You will need about 3 cups, I hope that helps!

  5. Jennifer Fulk says

    Hi Jen! If you use a Ready Made Keebler Oreo Crust would you still bake it first?

    • Jen says

      Nope, it is pre-baked so you are good to go!

  6. Jennifer Fulk says

    Hi I have an aluminum pie pan. Will the bake time for the crust be the same? I heard they bake faster.

    • Jen says

      The same amount of time is okay because it is for such a short amount of time. If it was a whole pie then you might need to make adjustments.