Preheat your oven to 350℉.
Make the graham cracker crust first. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, melted butter, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. The mix should look like wet sand.
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 6 Tablespoons melted butter, ½ teaspoon salt
Press the graham cracker mix into a 9” pie pan. Bake the crust for 8 minutes then remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.
Next, make the chocolate pudding. Add the unsweetened cocoa powder, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium-sized pot. Whisk together well so there are no cornstarch lumps.
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ¾ cup light brown sugar, ⅓ cup cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add the milk to the pot and whisk again.
3 cups whole milk
Bring the pudding mix to a simmer then stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until the chips are completely melted and the pudding starts to thicken. Stir constantly as the pudding cooks so it does not burn to the bottom of the pan.
1 cup chocolate chips
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Place the pudding in the fridge to chill for 2-3 hours.
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Whip the cream cheese, heavy cream, and powdered sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Whisk until the mix is thick and looks like whipped cream.
¼ cup cream cheese, ¾ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup powdered sugar
Fold the chilled chocolate pudding into the whipped cream.
Spread the chocolate pudding mix into the graham cracker crust, making it nice and even.
Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and chill the pie for at least 4 hours.
Remove the pie from the fridge and spread the cool whip topping over the pie. Decorate the pie with a little cocoa powder sprinkle, a few chocolate curls, or some mini chocolate chips- get creative!
1 container (8 ounces) Cool Whip