My family has made this every year since almost half of us can't stand pumpkin. It's nice to have along side the traditional pies as an answer for those with the chocolate tooth. It's been around so long in magazines I thought everyone had had it, but when I took it to DH's family's Thanksgiving one year, it was completely new to all of them. It was the only thing completely devoured, and even one of DH's aunts got a little passive-aggressive nasty about her pie barely being touched and this thing being gone (gotta love the holidays

).
Can be halved and made into a 9" pie shape. Cooking Light also has on their website a lower calorie/fat version of this, which I've also included:
Chocolate Surprise (full cal version)
Crust:
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. fine chopped pecans
Mix together and put in 9x13 glass baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray. Spread thin and bake for 12- 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven. You make have to poke holes in it to keep it from puffing up like pizza. Just be sure to not overbake or it will stick to the pan.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Filling:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 carton large cool whip
Mix and then put on baked crust and refrigerate.
Topping:
1 large pkg chocolate pudding
2 c. milk
Mix until firm and smooth over cream cheese filling. Use rest of Cool Whip to top and then sprinkle chopped nuts and/or shaved chocolate on top.(Miniature Nestle's chips work well also).
Here is the Cooking Light recipe for those who are counting calories. I took this to a party and it was very popular. No one could tell it was light:
Light Cool, Creamy Chocolate Dessert
You can make this up to one day ahead, but spread the remaining whipped topping mixture over the chocolate pudding layer right before serving. TO MAKE A SMALLER SERVING: cut recipe in half, and put into a pie plate.
CRUST:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
Cooking spray
FILLING:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) carton frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed and divided
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 (3.9-ounce) packages chocolate instant pudding mix
Unsweetened cocoa (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool completely.
3. To prepare filling, place 1 cup sugar and cream cheeses in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Fold in half of whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture on cooled crust. Cover loosely; refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Combine milk and pudding mix in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until pudding is set. Spread the pudding mixture over cream cheese layer. Spread remaining half of thawed whipped topping over pudding layer. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Cut into 15 pieces.
Yield: 15 servings (serving size: 1 piece)
CALORIES 268 (34% from fat); FAT 10.2g (sat 6.3g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 92mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.5g; SODIUM 183mg; PROTEIN 5.2g; FIBER 1.1g