This Gooey 1970s Dessert Is So Rich, You'll Need A Nap After One Slice

Look, we all try to make healthy choices when we can, but sometimes all you want is a rich, indulgent dessert. And if you're a fan of chocolate, pie crusts, and whipped cream, then you need to try the one 1970s dish that can put you to sleep like no other: Mississippi mud pie.

There are a few different ways to make Mississippi mud pie, but the southern favorite is essentially a layered chocolate pudding pie with a cream topping. A twist on a traditional chocolate mud pie, it began to pop up after World War II, when cooks were trying to utilize cheaper ingredients. Another dessert called Mississippi mud cake was popular at the time, which may have eventually led to the Mississippi mud pie.

The exact origins are a little iffy. Some people trace it back to a woman named Jenny Meyer, who compared a melting slice of chocolate pie she was serving in the town of Vicksburg, near Jackson, to the flooded banks of the Mississippi River in 1927. Others say the dessert didn't come about until the 1970s, when it first appeared in cookbooks. Either way, we know that it really took off after that. And once Mississippi mud pie started to do the rounds on restaurant menus, it was reinvented again and again all over the country.

There are so many ways to make mud pie, and it can have as many elements as you like. Sometimes it features a layer of chocolate cake or brownies, other times there's ice cream or meringue. For the simplest version, all you need is pie crust, chocolate pudding mix, Cool Whip, and cream cheese. You can use a graham cracker or Oreo pie crust, and store-bought or homemade both work.

Start by mixing the cream cheese and Cool Whip with some sugar. You can add a little vanilla if you'd like. Once it's smooth, spread half of it over the pie crust, then top it with a layer of chocolate pudding. You can add butterscotch pudding or mix them together. Once it's set, top the pudding layer with some more of the cream and sprinkle the pie with cocoa powder, chocolate shavings, or chopped nuts.

You can continue layering or add a layer of ultimate fudgy brownies or flourless chocolate cake. You can also make chocolate custard instead of using pudding mix, replace the top layer with some perfectly whipped cream, or whip up some bakery-worthy meringue. You might need a nap after it all, but it will most definitely be worth it.