So the inspiration of this dessert was from watching Studio5 one morning. It was before Thanksgiving & they were talking about the best pies in Utah & where to get them. One of the pies was so unique & I am nowhere close enough to drive to go & get it, wherever it was, so I decided to make it up myself. I have no idea if this is even comes remotely close to the pie that they talked about, but I think I made a nice version of a Christmas Chocolate Mint Pie.
Now for the record, any real deal foodies/culinarian's out there will notice that my ganache is missing a key ingredient: heavy cream (& even corn syrup in some cases.) I am very aware of that fact & in this case you can call it a cheater ganache, but this melted chocolate has similar qualities & is great for dipping your cake balls/pops or truffles in as well. If you have a regular ganache recipe you can try that; it might be a little softer than my cheater ganache since this pie stays in the fridge due to the mint cream cheese mixture.
This recipe seems long & has lots of steps, but if you have your mise en place ready & thoroughly read the recipe first, you should be able to pull it out in a timely manner. It's a nice addition to any holiday party/meal.
p.s. This is very rich, so you might want to cut it into 16 pieces instead of 8. I also adjusted the recipe b/c there was a lot of chocolate & that made it hard to cut or eat with a fork, so less chocolate & more mint filling.
Chocolate Mint Pie
Recipe by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)
Pie Dough
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (+/-) ICE COLD water
- Mix flour & salt in a bowl. Put some of flour mixture on a cutting board or counter top. Roll stick of butter in flour. Using a bench scrape/dough cutter, cut up butter into slices. Cut slices into toothpick shaped twigs. Cut twigs into pea size squares. Rough chop all butter pieces to make sure they are small enough.
- Add ice water until your dough can be molded into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk. (Option: Freeze disk for several hours before pulling out to roll & fit in pie dish. If you use this option you will want to pull the dough from the freezer 10-20 minutes before working with it, but you will need to be fast to not heat the dough too much, or butter will melt before it bakes.)
- On a floured surface roll dough into a round circle. Only roll from center to the edges & turn crust periodically so as to make sure it is not sticking to your surface. Roll till 1/4" thick.
- Roll dough onto your rolling pin & unroll into pie dish. Make sure it is fairly even with dough hanging 1-2" over the edges. Trim any super long pieces.
- Fold/tuck edges underneath for the crust's edge, & crimp all around for a nice finished look. (Option: Cover crust with saran wrap & put in freezer for several hours - overnight. Pull crust 10-20 min before baking; just enough that when you touch the crust it will give a little bit but still be really cold. Don't thaw crust completely.)
- To BLIND BAKE the crust: Dock crust with a fork or knife on the bottom & sides. Place parchment paper into pie crust enough to cover most of the crust (I cut my piece in half & had it going opposite ways to form a "x" but you can cut a large circle if you wish.) Fill your parchment paper with dry beans (I used pinto.) You want to use enough beans as a weight to hold the crust down & keep the pies shape.
- In a 375*F preheated oven (don't turn oven on too early or the room may get too warm for your crust) place prepared pie crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull crust out of the oven & take out the parchment/bean layer. Return crust to oven & bake an extra 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown & dry (if you kept your butter cold enough it shouldn't be greasy, but you want it to not be oily b/c that means your crust may not be done.)
 |
| Mise en Place (Everything in it's Place) |
Mix flour & salt in a bowl. Put some of flour mixture on a cutting board or counter top. Roll stick of butter in flour. Using a bench scrape/dough cutter, cut up butter into slices. Cut slices into toothpick shaped twigs. Cut twigs into pea size squares. Rough chop all butter pieces to make sure they are small enough.
Add ice water until your dough can be molded into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk. (Option: Freeze disk for several hours before pulling out to roll & fit in pie dish. If you use this option you will want to pull the dough from the freezer 10-20 minutes before working with it, but you will need to be fast to not heat the dough too much, or butter will melt before it bakes.)
On a floured surface roll dough into a round circle. Only roll from center to the edges & turn crust periodically so as to make sure it is not sticking to your surface. Roll till 1/4" thick.
Roll dough onto your rolling pin & unroll into pie dish. Make sure it is fairly even with dough hanging 1-2" over the edges. Trim any super long pieces.
Fold/tuck edges underneath for the crust's edge, & crimp all around for a nice finished look. (Option: Cover crust with saran wrap & put in freezer for several hours - overnight. Pull crust 10-20 min before baking; just enough that when you touch the crust it will give a little bit but still be really cold. Don't thaw crust completely.)
To BLIND BAKE the crust: Dock crust with a fork or knife on the bottom & sides. Place parchment paper into pie crust enough to cover most of the crust (I cut my piece in half & had it going opposite ways to form a "x" but you can cut a large circle if you wish.) Fill your parchment paper with dry beans (I used pinto.) You want to use enough beans as a weight to hold the crust down & keep the pies shape.
In a 375*F preheated oven (don't turn oven on too early or the room may get too warm for your crust) place prepared pie crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull crust out of the oven & take out the parchment/bean layer. Return crust to oven & bake an extra 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown & dry (if you kept your butter cold enough it shouldn't be greasy, but you want it to not be oily b/c that means your crust may not be done.)
 |
 |
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*The key to an all butter crust is to keep EVERYTHING cold! If you are going to do the crust from start to finish without putting it in the freezer/fridge to keep the butter cold you need to be quick & have all of your items cold: bowl, flour/salt/water/bench scrape/etc. If you are not fast enough, have kids as a distraction, or the room is too warm the butter will melt too quickly & will make for a greasy, saggy crust that will be tough to eat instead of having the nice flaky layers that the butter makes between the dough. (I guess I should probably do a pie dough 101 post...maybe in the future.)
Mint Filling
- 2-8oz pkg Neufchatel Cream Cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp pure mint extract (not peppermint oil/extract)
- 4+ drops of green food coloring
- 1 (8oz) tub cool whip (I use light cool whip)
- Cream the sugar & cream cheese until well blended.
- Add mint extract & green food coloring to your preferred color green (I like mine lighter b/c you don't want your mouth turning green & the green does darken some the longer it sits.)
- Add cool whip & blend just until it comes together; sometimes the longer you blend it the soupier/stringier it will get. So don't over do it!
- Refrigerate to keep cold until you build your pie.
*
Update 9/21/12: The chocolate layer in this pie is pretty solid coming out of the fridge. I just made a similar pie & it is better to do ganache the traditional way with heavy cream so it won't harden in fridge. To change this part of the recipe heat 1/2 cup heavy cream on the stove until simmering, then pour over 6oz (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit 1 minute & whisk until smooth. Then spread on bottom of the crust. I am still leaving the original directions, with the photos, but I highly recommend changing the ganache with the directions I just provided.- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tbsp butter
- Using a double boiler put chocolate chips in your stainless steel bowl over your pot of water (water should NOT touch the bottom of your bowl) & add butter in cubes.
- Let it sit until it all looks soft & melted; then stir. (If you stir before everything gets melted, then it will cease up & you will most likely freak out.)
- Once everything is melted, pour ganache into your cooked pie crust. Refrigerate/Freeze until the chocolate is solid enough to spread mint filling on top.
- Spread mint filling on top of solidified ganache, sprinkle Ande's baking chips on top & enjoy plain or with an extra dollop of whipped cream.
 |
| Step 1 (I halved the recipe from what I originally did, that is why there is so much butter/chocolate in the picture) |
 |
| Step 2 |
 |
| Assemble: Cooked Crust |
 |
| Add Ganache & Refrigerate/Freeze till Semi-Solid |
 |
| Spread Mint Layer over Ganache |
 |
| Sprinkle Andes Mints on Top (Keep Refrigerated) |
 |
| Remove from Fridge 10-15 min before cutting & serving. ENJOY! |
So the inspiration of this dessert was from watching Studio5 one morning. It was before Thanksgiving & they were talking about the best pies in Utah & where to get them. One of the pies was so unique & I am nowhere close enough to drive to go & get it, wherever it was, so I decided to make it up myself. I have no idea if this is even comes remotely close to the pie that they talked about, but I think I made a nice version of a Christmas Chocolate Mint Pie.
Now for the record, any real deal foodies/culinarian's out there will notice that my ganache is missing a key ingredient: heavy cream (& even corn syrup in some cases.) I am very aware of that fact & in this case you can call it a cheater ganache, but this melted chocolate has similar qualities & is great for dipping your cake balls/pops or truffles in as well. If you have a regular ganache recipe you can try that; it might be a little softer than my cheater ganache since this pie stays in the fridge due to the mint cream cheese mixture.
This recipe seems long & has lots of steps, but if you have your mise en place ready & thoroughly read the recipe first, you should be able to pull it out in a timely manner. It's a nice addition to any holiday party/meal.
p.s. This is very rich, so you might want to cut it into 16 pieces instead of 8. I also adjusted the recipe b/c there was a lot of chocolate & that made it hard to cut or eat with a fork, so less chocolate & more mint filling.
Chocolate Mint Pie
Recipe by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)
Pie Dough
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (+/-) ICE COLD water
- Mix flour & salt in a bowl. Put some of flour mixture on a cutting board or counter top. Roll stick of butter in flour. Using a bench scrape/dough cutter, cut up butter into slices. Cut slices into toothpick shaped twigs. Cut twigs into pea size squares. Rough chop all butter pieces to make sure they are small enough.
- Add ice water until your dough can be molded into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk. (Option: Freeze disk for several hours before pulling out to roll & fit in pie dish. If you use this option you will want to pull the dough from the freezer 10-20 minutes before working with it, but you will need to be fast to not heat the dough too much, or butter will melt before it bakes.)
- On a floured surface roll dough into a round circle. Only roll from center to the edges & turn crust periodically so as to make sure it is not sticking to your surface. Roll till 1/4" thick.
- Roll dough onto your rolling pin & unroll into pie dish. Make sure it is fairly even with dough hanging 1-2" over the edges. Trim any super long pieces.
- Fold/tuck edges underneath for the crust's edge, & crimp all around for a nice finished look. (Option: Cover crust with saran wrap & put in freezer for several hours - overnight. Pull crust 10-20 min before baking; just enough that when you touch the crust it will give a little bit but still be really cold. Don't thaw crust completely.)
- To BLIND BAKE the crust: Dock crust with a fork or knife on the bottom & sides. Place parchment paper into pie crust enough to cover most of the crust (I cut my piece in half & had it going opposite ways to form a "x" but you can cut a large circle if you wish.) Fill your parchment paper with dry beans (I used pinto.) You want to use enough beans as a weight to hold the crust down & keep the pies shape.
- In a 375*F preheated oven (don't turn oven on too early or the room may get too warm for your crust) place prepared pie crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull crust out of the oven & take out the parchment/bean layer. Return crust to oven & bake an extra 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown & dry (if you kept your butter cold enough it shouldn't be greasy, but you want it to not be oily b/c that means your crust may not be done.)
|
| Mise en Place (Everything in it's Place) |
Mix flour & salt in a bowl. Put some of flour mixture on a cutting board or counter top. Roll stick of butter in flour. Using a bench scrape/dough cutter, cut up butter into slices. Cut slices into toothpick shaped twigs. Cut twigs into pea size squares. Rough chop all butter pieces to make sure they are small enough.
Add ice water until your dough can be molded into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk. (Option: Freeze disk for several hours before pulling out to roll & fit in pie dish. If you use this option you will want to pull the dough from the freezer 10-20 minutes before working with it, but you will need to be fast to not heat the dough too much, or butter will melt before it bakes.)
On a floured surface roll dough into a round circle. Only roll from center to the edges & turn crust periodically so as to make sure it is not sticking to your surface. Roll till 1/4" thick.
Roll dough onto your rolling pin & unroll into pie dish. Make sure it is fairly even with dough hanging 1-2" over the edges. Trim any super long pieces.
Fold/tuck edges underneath for the crust's edge, & crimp all around for a nice finished look. (Option: Cover crust with saran wrap & put in freezer for several hours - overnight. Pull crust 10-20 min before baking; just enough that when you touch the crust it will give a little bit but still be really cold. Don't thaw crust completely.)
To BLIND BAKE the crust: Dock crust with a fork or knife on the bottom & sides. Place parchment paper into pie crust enough to cover most of the crust (I cut my piece in half & had it going opposite ways to form a "x" but you can cut a large circle if you wish.) Fill your parchment paper with dry beans (I used pinto.) You want to use enough beans as a weight to hold the crust down & keep the pies shape.
In a 375*F preheated oven (don't turn oven on too early or the room may get too warm for your crust) place prepared pie crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull crust out of the oven & take out the parchment/bean layer. Return crust to oven & bake an extra 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown & dry (if you kept your butter cold enough it shouldn't be greasy, but you want it to not be oily b/c that means your crust may not be done.)
|
|
|
*The key to an all butter crust is to keep EVERYTHING cold! If you are going to do the crust from start to finish without putting it in the freezer/fridge to keep the butter cold you need to be quick & have all of your items cold: bowl, flour/salt/water/bench scrape/etc. If you are not fast enough, have kids as a distraction, or the room is too warm the butter will melt too quickly & will make for a greasy, saggy crust that will be tough to eat instead of having the nice flaky layers that the butter makes between the dough. (I guess I should probably do a pie dough 101 post...maybe in the future.)
Mint Filling
- 2-8oz pkg Neufchatel Cream Cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp pure mint extract (not peppermint oil/extract)
- 4+ drops of green food coloring
- 1 (8oz) tub cool whip (I use light cool whip)
- Cream the sugar & cream cheese until well blended.
- Add mint extract & green food coloring to your preferred color green (I like mine lighter b/c you don't want your mouth turning green & the green does darken some the longer it sits.)
- Add cool whip & blend just until it comes together; sometimes the longer you blend it the soupier/stringier it will get. So don't over do it!
- Refrigerate to keep cold until you build your pie.
*
Update 9/21/12: The chocolate layer in this pie is pretty solid coming out of the fridge. I just made a similar pie & it is better to do ganache the traditional way with heavy cream so it won't harden in fridge. To change this part of the recipe heat 1/2 cup heavy cream on the stove until simmering, then pour over 6oz (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit 1 minute & whisk until smooth. Then spread on bottom of the crust. I am still leaving the original directions, with the photos, but I highly recommend changing the ganache with the directions I just provided.- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tbsp butter
- Using a double boiler put chocolate chips in your stainless steel bowl over your pot of water (water should NOT touch the bottom of your bowl) & add butter in cubes.
- Let it sit until it all looks soft & melted; then stir. (If you stir before everything gets melted, then it will cease up & you will most likely freak out.)
- Once everything is melted, pour ganache into your cooked pie crust. Refrigerate/Freeze until the chocolate is solid enough to spread mint filling on top.
- Spread mint filling on top of solidified ganache, sprinkle Ande's baking chips on top & enjoy plain or with an extra dollop of whipped cream.
|
| Step 1 (I halved the recipe from what I originally did, that is why there is so much butter/chocolate in the picture) |
|
| Step 2 |
|
| Assemble: Cooked Crust |
|
| Add Ganache & Refrigerate/Freeze till Semi-Solid |
|
| Spread Mint Layer over Ganache |
|
| Sprinkle Andes Mints on Top (Keep Refrigerated) |
|
| Remove from Fridge 10-15 min before cutting & serving. ENJOY! |
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