Serving Up {Pie}: Decadent Triple Layer Mud Pie

While my mom's recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie is a standard Thanksgiving dessert at our house, we don't generally stop with only one pie offering. In fact, prior to our move from Vegas, we had a traditional "Pie Night" a couple of days after Thanksgiving and were joined each year by another family that we loved and adored greatly. My husband and I discussed having the tradition continue last fall after our move but my heart was not ready to replace those dear friends and so we will wait until their first visit to Oregon and will then pull out the pie :)
(you know who you are and, yes, that was an invitation).

As traditional as pumpkin pie may be, our family Thanksgiving has always included this recipe for Decadent Triple Layer Mud Pie.  It is a favorite.  You can just never go wrong with chocolate!

I would like to give credit to it's source but all that I can remember is that I got the recipe out of a magazine in the waiting room to donate blood.  Weird that I remember it, but it's probably because I tore the page out of the magazine and I would totally chastise my child if they did that to a "public" magazine.  I guess the call of the recipe was just too great for me to ignore.  I have absolutely no regret :)

DECADENT TRIPLE LAYER MUD PIE      
printable version

3 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 OREO pie crust
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional)
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size) chocolate instant pudding
8 ounce cool whip

Mix chocolate and sweetened condensed milk until well blended. Pour into crust and sprinkle with toasted pecans.
Pour milk into a large bowl. Add both packages of pudding and beat with a whisk until well blended.
Spoon 1 ½ cup of pudding over chocolate and pecans in the pie crust.
Add ½ of the cool whip to the remaining pudding; stir until well blended. Spread this over the pudding layer in the crust.
Top with the remaining cool whip, or just add a dallop of cool whip at the time of serving the pie.
Refrigerate 3 hours, or until set.