Pioneer Woman’s 4-Ingredient “Chocolate Dream” Dessert Makes Me Feel Like a Kid Again

Luckily I grew up next to Hershey, Pennsylvania, because I was born with an insatiable sweet tooth, and the town literally smells like chocolate. Even the street lights look like Hershey’s Kisses. It’s basically Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without all the grandparents sleeping in the same bed. 

Never mind Hershey’s Chocolate World, which featured a short theme ride that hauled carts of us kids and our families at a snail’s pace through simulated industrial-style bins of swirling melted chocolate, while blasting an earworm jingle that promised, “Wherever you go, no matter how far, you’re always near a Hershey bar.” (How did they know!)

Then all of us brainwashed children were promptly dumped in the gift shop where we begged and pleaded with our parents to buy five-pound candy bars for the drive home. It was freakin’ fantastic. 

Why I Love Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Dream Tart

Boy, do I miss those days. Happily, I have a way to recreate the chocolate magic because, somehow, Ree Drummond managed to bake the entirety of my childhood memories into a single Chocolate Dream Tart that takes less than 20 minutes to prepare (plus a chill in the fridge).

Easy-to-mix, velvety chocolate ganache in a crust made from store-bought cookies tastes smooth as silk and sweet as candy (that you earned with a little white lie about how you would trade several hours’ worth of cartoon-watching for it, in order to wear down your parents). 

It’s shocking how impressive this pie is for the amount of elbow grease involved, which is zero. I divided mine up among friends, expecting that some might be overwhelmed by the chocolate (Apparently, not everyone is a bottomless pit for sweets like I am), and was thrilled when every single person gave me the mouth-half-full, “Thif ith tho good.” 

My Tips for Making Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Dream Tart

Skip the tart pan and homemade crust. You won’t miss it once you’ve laid eyes on that show-stopping ganache. I used a store-bought chocolate cookie crust.

Keep it simple. Ree’s recipe calls for dark and milk chocolate for the filling, but I went with all semisweet chocolate, in bars, chopped up like I’m a professional baker. (Chocolate chips are tempting—they’ve tricked me a million times—but they don’t melt as nicely as baking bars.)

Bring it to room temp. Take the tart out of the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to serve. 

Make it last. A slivery slice’ll probably do ‘ya. While six to eight servings are recommended, you can definitely swing 12, running your knife under hot water between cuts for flawless edges.

Switch up the toppings. Drummond goes chocolate-on-chocolate, adding a garnish of white chocolate curls. But after reading 17,000 comments from fans who thought the ganache was already very sweet, I figured a generous sprinkle of smoked sea salt flakes might be just the thing. (Highly recommend; it complements the “basically eating a candy bar” vibe, which to me is usually a sign that I’m living my best life.) Of course, a little dollop of whipped cream and a cup of coffee don’t hurt, either. 

However you garnish it, Pioneer Woman’s chocolate tart is so decadent, it feels like a real-life Golden Ticket. It couldn’t be more satisfying for the chocolate-loving kid in all of us.