Chocolate Cream Cookie Pie

Not that I'm sick of cupcakes or anything, but why aren't pies as popular as they are? Why do bakeries offer slices of cake but not slices of pie? Why are pies reserved for the holiday season? I think it's about time we all realize the potential pies have. You can make crust with any type of cookie or cracker you like, fill them with mousse, pudding, or cream, and you can layer them with stuff like chocolate ganache or caramel or cookie pieces. That's why I made this chocolate cream cookie pie, with chocolate chip and double chocolate cookies folded into chocolate pudding and whipped cream, to make you realize that pies deserve way more credit than they're currently getting. You're welcome.

Ingredients:

Crust- 

2 cups of chocolate cookie crumbs

5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

Ganache- 

4 ounces of dark chocolate

1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder

Filling-

2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups of whole milk
7 ounces of super dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup of powdered sugar

7-10 chocolate chip cookies (homemade or Tate's chocolate chip) 

7-10 double chocolate cookies

(homemade or Nabisco chocolate wafers or Tate's double chocolate chip or Oreos)

Recipe: 

Crust-

-Preheat your oven to 350.

-Mix together cookie crumbs and melted butter until they're combined.

-Pat the mixture into a pie pan and bake for 20 minutes.

-Put aside to cool.

Filling-

-In a medium pot or saucepan, use a whisk to mix together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. 

-Add in the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture is totally combined. 

-Turn the heat to medium and start to add in the whole milk, making sure to whisk constantly.

-Continue whisking over heat until the mixture starts to thicken.

-Once it gets thick like the consistency of pudding, pour it through a strainer into a new bowl. 

-Mix in the melted chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract. The pudding is done! Taste it and be amazed by how easy it is to make your own pudding. 

-Cover your bowl of pudding with some plastic wrap-unless you like pudding skin- and refrigerate it for a while.

-In a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or just with a whisk, mix the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until it's thick and can hold peaks. Aka, until it looks like whipped cream.

-Once the pudding is cooled, mix in the cookies, breaking them in half or in thirds.

-Fold in the whipped cream, just until almost all of the pudding and cream are mixed together, but with some streaks of pudding left. 

Ganache layer-

-Melt ganache with espresso powder in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. 

-Once it's nice and smooth, pour it over the pie crust.

-Place it in the fridge to let it set. 

Pie-

-Now it's time to assemble your pie!  Pour the filling into your cooled crust, and top it off with some cookie crumbs or maybe a drizzle of chocolate. Whatever you want- it's your pie.

-Place back in the fridge or freezer just so that the cookies can soften. It's best if you leave it overnight, but you can most definitely eat it after a few hours. It's great at room temperature, refrigerated, even frozen. So versatile! Reason number 103873737 why pies should be the next cupcakes.