This pie is so sweet, creamy, and delicious. It's lusciously smooth with a crumbly chocolate crust. You can easily swap this for peanut butter, it follows the same recipe as a classic peanut butter pie but I can't eat peanuts and as a result my family has grown to love almond butter too. It's amazing. This has a chocolate crust and a layer of chocolate ganache underneath the almond butter filling. Heaven. We made this today to celebrate Pi Day. It was a quick and easy after school project and was chilled and ready to enjoy after dinner.
What you need:
1 1/2 cups of chocolate Graham Cracker crumbs or chocolate wafer cookies
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
1 cup of half and half
1 cup of Almond butter, the smoothest you can find. I like Barney butter.
8 oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 oz whipped topping like Cool Whip, thawed
First preheat the oven to 350° and then make your crumbs. I tend to eyeball it by adding a few sheets of crackers to my blender and then pulsing it into crumbs and adding a bit more as I go. I find the blender is easy to use because it has measurements on the side. Once I have enough crumbs I add the melted butter and blend for about 5 seconds and it's well mixed. Then slowly spread the mixture out evenly in a pie dish and gently push up the sides until the whole surface area is covered. Bake for 5-6 minutes then remove to cool.
Next make the ganache. Add 1 cup of dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli 60%) to a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals and stir until it's smooth. Quit heating when there are still a few small lumps of chocolate and then stir until smooth. You don't want to overcook the chocolate. When the chocolate is smooth stir in the half and half with a fork or a whisk. It will take a minute or two to come together, be patient. All of a sudden it will start to thicken and be glossy and beautiful. Pour the ganache evenly over the pie crust.
Lastly, add the almond butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl. You can use a handheld or a stand mixer. If using a stand mixer use the paddle attachment for easier cleaning. Mix until well combined then add the powdered sugar slowly until well combined. Lastly, stir in the whipped topping until smooth. Pour the almond butter mixture carefully on top of the ganache. If you have extra chocolate chips you can give them a rough chop and scatter on top.
In the past I have crushed up various cookies (Tate's chocolate chip and Walkers shortbread both made excellent topping) and sprinkled on top to make it extra amazing. Use what you've got on hand and be creative! Everyone will love this pie. Yum!
