Grasshopper Pie !

Chocolate and mint is always a winning combination in my humble opinion! Looking at this Grasshopper Pie gives me the shivers ! It may be cold, but what I'm really shivering about is the idea that it has that magic combo ... I get the same feeling when I break into a sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies or pull the top off the cookie jar and find a trove of Pseudo Thin Mint Cookies waiting for a raid. This pie, though, is just a tad more dramatic than the humble cookie jar ...

I originally found this recipe at The Pioneer Woman. Leave it to good old Ree Drummond to get a cold classic like this onto her website! Thanks, Ree! Of  course, I changed it up just a bit ... I used plain chocolate wafers in the crumb crust instead of smashed Hydrox/Oreos. The sugar in the cookies' icing seemed a bit extreme. Lord knows there's enough of it elsewhere in this cold concoction! Ree has creme de menthe and creme de cacao flavour the marshmallow and cream pie filling - killer - and with such a small amount, I'd not hesitate to let little ones have a sliver for a special dessert treat. If you have issues with that, I'm sure you could sub in peppermint extract and eliminate the creme de cacao all together. I also softened chocolate and shaved curls of it over the top of the frozen pie ... much prettier and flavouful than cookie crumbs, although a few of those also adds to the effect, don't you think?

Now, excuse me while I cut into this pie and enjoy thoughts of a hot summer afternoon and the image of grasshoppers on a lush green lawn ... a girl's gotta dream.

Grasshopper Pie

a Pioneer Woman recipe with a couple changes

Ingredients:

36 chocolate wafer cookies, smashed to crumbs

¼ c. sugar

3 tbsp. butter, melted

15 oz. Marshmallow Fluff

⅔ c. half&half creamer

3 tbsp. green Crème de Menthe

2 tbsp. Crème de Cacao

1 c. heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks

A small dark chocolate bar, for making chocolate shavings

Making the Pie:

1. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl and toss with a fork until the mixture is saturated with the butter.
2. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of a ten inch deep dish pie plate.
3. Chill to set up the crust.
4. Mix the Fluff and half&half in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring to melt down the Fluff and make a smooth sauce.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and place the pan into a bowl filled with ice.
6. Cool the mixture, whisking it frequently to hasten the process.
7. While the marshmallow sauce cools, whip the cream to stiff peaks.
8. When the marshmallow mix is cool, stir in the liqueurs and fold in the whipped cream.
9. Turn the grasshopper filling into the pie shell. Carefully cover with plastic wrap, so as to not disturb the top of the filling, and place the pie in the freezer forat least four hours.
10. Before you wish to serve it, unwrap and warm a chocolate bar (on a plate) in the microwave (high power) for 30 seconds. When the bar is slightly warm to the touch, quickly shave long curls off the edges with a vegetable peeler. Let the curls settle onto a piece of waxed paper and chill them to firm them back up.
11. Use a toothpick or skewer to pick up the curls and place the big ones around the top of the frozen pie, sprinkle the rest of the chocolate shavings around and serve the pie right from the freezer.

Note: Because the pie has alcohol in it, it will not freeze solid, but will be ‘cut-able’ right from the freezer.  After you’ve cut the slices you need to put the pie right back in the freezer so it doesn’t turn to mush.