I grew up watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every year, so it was one of the first blog posts I listed out for fall when planning Veg Out content.

Obviously, I had to pick something with pumpkin, and it’s probably become pretty apparent that I love pie.

Last year, I started experimenting with adding a chocolate layer over the traditional pumpkin pie. This lactose-free, gluten-free and vegetarian recipe makes 8 “servings.”

Ingredients
1 frozen gluten-free, lactose-free pie crust
0.75 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
0.5 teaspoons salt
0.5 teaspoons ginger
0.25 teaspoons cloves
2 eggs
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1 12-ounce carton lactose-free evaporated milk
0.5 cups lactose-free, gluten-free chocolate chips, melted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Look at your frozen crust instructions and follow anything that indicates it needs to thaw or sit out before adding the filling.

In a bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves together.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk the eggs. Add the pumpkin and evaporated milk, and whisk until they’re evenly mixed.

Pour the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. When the filling is mixed, pour it into the crust, leaving about a quarter inch for the chocolate layer that comes later.

If you have excess pumpkin pie filling, you can put it into a greased ramekin or two and bake it alongside the pie as a pumpkin custard.

Make sure you place the pie pan and any ramekins on a flat pan so they don’t leak onto the bottom of your oven.

Bake the pie at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for 40 more minutes.

Let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then put it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

Melt the chocolate chips. Many fancy cooking and baking blogs will tell you to have an intense boiling setup for this, but I just microwaved them in a (microwave-safe) bowl for 30 seconds and stirred them, repeating those two steps until the chips are completely melted.

Note that the chocolate chips alone will create a hard, candy bar-like layer over the top (which I enjoy). If you want something softer, stir in a little lactose-free milk to the chips.

Take the chilled pie out of the refrigerator and spread the melted chocolate over the top of the pie.

Chill the pie in the refrigerator for another hour.

Slice and serve! The slices go well with whipped cream, ice cream or a glass of milk.

The Easy Route
You can buy a pre-made pumpkin pie and just follow the steps putting the melted chocolate over the top.

The Pairing
If you haven’t seen “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” the plot revolves around Linus and his belief in the Great Pumpkin, similar to how many other kids believe in Santa Claus. He writes a letter to it and stays up late on Halloween waiting for it to arrive.

Charlie, Lucy and others in the Peanuts gang give Linus a hard time about it. Lucy even refers to it as stupid. Sally is the only one who stands by him, but even she is skeptical.

While Linus anxiously awaits the arrival of the Great Pumpkin in the local pumpkin patch, the others celebrate Halloween by going trick-or-treating and attending a Halloween party.

There’s also a side plot with Snoopy and his pilot character, Flying Ace, who he dressed up as for Halloween.

I love the Peanuts gang, and this Halloween special plays a big part in why I love them so much. If you like watching seasonal shows and movies, I highly recommend watching this Peanuts classic this month.

Let us know if you make this chocolate-covered pumpkin pie and/or watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes