A One-Bowl, 4-Step Holiday Pie That's Full of Dark Chocolate and Sweet Pecans

Whether you're baking treats for cozy Saturday afternoons, family get togethers, or that next holiday party, we partnered with Ghirardelli to share a few of our favorite back-pocket sweets you can turn to again and again.

Pecan pie is, for me, always a welcome sight on a holiday dessert table. Amid all the pumpkin and cranberry and apple, it's got something the other custardy, softy pie innards don't: little jewels of crunch, rich pecans all nestled in a filling of eggs and sugar. It conjurs an image, every time I encounter it, of Savannah, Georgia, the first place I had a slice as a teenager.

When I was a kid, my parents and I'd often "take Christmas off" after the hubub of a big family Thanksgiving—to rest and keep things simple. A few of my dad's brothers would mostly likely join us somewhere on the Southeastern coast of the U.S., where'd we pile on sweaters and head to the beach instead of huddled around an evergreen.

One year, we landed in Savannah, and one of our first stops was River Street Sweets, where my parents bought a few of their famous pecan pies. I loved the creamy, sweet filling, dotted with pecans as big as stones. It was a revelation, as I wasn't much for pumpkin or fruit pie when I was a kid. (Things have changed, believe me!)

The addition of chocolate in a pecan pie isn't novel (River Street Sweets has a version, as do countless other bakeries), but Bonnie Meyer's simple pivot on the classic doesn't complicate things: The whole pie filling can be completed in one bowl and the semisweet chocolate and mild golden syrup make it rich and sweet, but not cloyingly so. You can choose to grab a frozen pie shell from the grocery or make your own (such as some of the options above).

It's just the right partner for all the squash and apples for, ahem, picky teenagers, and a light lift in the baking department—just four steps and you have a showstopping pie.

A just-right baked good depends on high-quality ingredients—and good chocolate's a must. This holiday season, our sweetest secret is Ghirardelli's 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips—what's yours? See all of Ghirardelli's baking chocolate here.