Thursday, March 15, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie

Happy National Pi Day!  Yes, I am nerdy enough to know that today, 3/14, is a celebration of the infamous math symbol pi (3.14).  Yay for math being an excuse to make pie!

The good thing is that two weeks ago, I stumbled across a new blog, Love and Olive Oil, that I liked so much, I scrolled through 1 year of her recipes, and stopped when I found this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cream Pie.  HELLO??!!  She is even writing a cookbook completely filled with recipes that ALL have to do with cookie dough!!

I wasn't sure that anything could ever beat the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes that I love so much, but this... there may be a tie.  My son told me this was the BEST dessert I have ever made!

The day I found the recipe was the day I made it and decided this had to be the pie I post in honor of pi day.  I'm not  terribly proud of the pictures I took (I hope you cut me some slack, I had a sick kid in the house and my husband has been away for 10 days now).  I was trying to use natural sunlight to take the pictures, and I'm not complaining that it was 79' on March 14, but it was 79' and the whipped cream started to melt.  When I went to cut the slice out of the pie, it flung off the spatula and landed on top of the opposite side of the pie.  I tried to doctor it as best I could, but seriously, pictures aside, this is something you have to try if you're a fan of cookie dough.

You start off with a crushed chocolate cookie crust.  Top it with a thick layer of raw cookie dough.   Fill it with a brown sugar/cookie dough pudding.  Cover it with a thick smooth layer of homemade whipped cream!  Garnished on top with cookies, are you sold?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie:

Crust:
7 oz. chocolate wafer cookies, finely ground (1 1/2 cups) (I used teddy grahams)
6 TBSP melted butter

Cookie Dough Layer:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/8 cup sugar
3/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 TBSP milk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Pudding layer:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Whipped Cream Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
3 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 350'. Using food processor, grind up the cookies.  Melt butter, then mix with cookie crumbs.  Press into a pie pan, make sure the edges rise up about 1-2 inches.  Bake in oven, 8 minutes, until set.  Set aside to cool.

2) While crust is baking, prepare cookie dough layer.  Beat sugar, brown sugar, and butter in bowl of mixer with paddle, until light and fluffy.  Scrape down sides, add in vanilla and milk.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Add to mixer bowl, mix until combined.  Add in chocolate chips, mix, scrape down sides.

3) Put 3 small balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, lightly press down on the tops.  Bake in the oven at 350, 8-10 minutes.  These cookies will be the cookies that will garnish the top of the pie.

4) While the cookies are baking, press the remaining cookie dough into the cooled cookie crust.  Set aside.

5) Prepare the pudding filling by mixing the brown sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Add in 1 cup whole milk, stir constantly over medium heat until mixture reaches a boil.  Let simmer for 2 minutes, then remove pan from heat to cool slightly.

6) Put egg yolks in a small bowl, whisk until smooth, then add in remaining 1 cup milk.  Whisk, set aside.  Once the mixture in the saucepan is slightly cooled (I usually let it sit about 3 minutes), pour a small amount into the bowl with the egg yolks and milk, while whisking.   This is tempering the eggs.  Add a bit more of the mixture from the saucepan to the egg mixture, while whisking.  Then, add all of the egg mixture into the mixture in the saucepan, whisking constantly.

7) Return saucepan to heat, and stir constantly over medium until mixture comes to a boil.  Let simmer 1 minute, then remove from heat- should be the consistency of pudding.  Add in the 1 TBSP butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla now and mix.  Let cool slightly, then pour into the pie pan ontop of the cookie dough, smooth the top with a spatula.

8) Cover pie so pudding does not form a skin.  Refrigerate until the pie is completely cool.  Before serving, make whipped cream topping.  In medium bowl, beat cream until it forms soft peaks.  Mix in sugar and vanilla, beat again until firm peaks form.  Spread whipped cream on top of pie.  If desired, reserve 1/2 - 1 cup whipped cream and pipe it on to form decorative peaks to insert the cookies into.

9) Garnish the pie with the cookies you made earlier and enjoy it!
While I was eating my pie, I noticed a perfect shot of the cookie dough on the inside.  It was dark out, so there was no natural light, but I wanted to take a picture anyways to entice you further:
This pie was taste tester approved.

Here's something I love even more than this pie:
My little girl can walk!  I want to eat her up too!

And just for kicks, 3 years ago, big sister in the same dress :(






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