When it comes to flavor pairings chocolate and mint just go together. Whether you're making a Shamrock Shake, Chocolate Mint Brownies, or a classic Grasshopper Pie-- these flavors were meant for one another.
What makes a grasshopper a grasshopper?
For me it's a minty, yet rich filling situated in a chocolate cookie crust. The whole thing is topped with more whipped cream and more chocolate! Let the whole thing chill before it’s served. This playful dessert tastes every bit as just as good as it looks. Because I typically make a Grasshopper Pie in March (for St. Patrick's Day!), I'll occasionally make this for our "Pi Day Pie". This year I used chocolate and mint chips to create the pi sign.
Fill me in on the filling
So, traditional Grasshopper Pie – the retro version – is a type of chiffon pie made with whipped eggs and whipped cream folded together into an airy mousse, and often set with gelatin. The filling is feather-light, offering up melt-in-your mouth bites of mint and chocolate flavors. The airy, creamy mousse filling, most often uses both chocolate and mint liqueurs. But my family ALWAYS opts for an ice cream filling. We take softened mint chocolate chip ice cream and spoon it into our chocolate cookie crust for a perfectly simple (and delicious) ice cream filling. If you're feeling like you'd like to earn some extra gold stars, you could certainly make the ice cream from scratch.
Baking a buttery chocolate cookie crust
For as good as an ice cream filling is, you've GOT to have that buttery cookie crust. Start with crushed chocolate cookies, mixed with a little butter and sugar, pressed into a pie pan, and baked until just set, about 10 minutes. This is the only baking you’ll need to do for the recipe. If you're tight on time or oven space, a pre-made chocolate cookie crust can be purchased and used instead. Find the full recipe below!
Grasshopper Pie
Description
Our take on the retro-inspired Grasshopper Pie is an ice cream version!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookie Crust
- 30 chocolate wafer cookies, such as Famous Wafers (about 1 ½ cups crushed)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (⅓ cup) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 4 cups Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, softened
Topping
- ½ heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla or mint extract
- Chocolate chips or chocolate sauce
Instructions
For the crust:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the cookies and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process into crumbs, about 30 seconds. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs still in the food processor and pulse until incorporated, about 10 (1-second) pulses. Transfer to a greased 9-inch pie plate. Press into an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate using your fingers.
- Bake the crust 10 minutes. Place the pie pan on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- In the meantime, whip heavy cream with sugar and extract until soft peaks form. Set aside.
Assembly:
- Spread ice cream into crust.
- Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate chips, or crushed chocolate cookies or candies. Freeze until firm. Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
- If desired, drizzle with chocolate sauce just before serving.
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