Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I am not above bribery.  If I'm making something for dinner that I'm not sure Gavin will eat, I like to have something truly decadent for dessert to see if he'll go for it.

Behold!  Something outrageously decadent!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Recipe from Ree Drummond
Prep time: 15 minutes   Chill time: at least 1 hour

For the crust
25 whole chocolate sandwich cookies
4 tbsp butter, melted


For the filling
1 cup peanut butter
1 (8oz) pkg softened cream cheese [psst! Use Neufchatel cheese if you're concerned about calories]
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 (8oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

1.  For the crust: In a food processor, crush the chocolate sandwich cookies until they’re fine crumbs. Pour melted butter over the top and pulse until the crumbs look like moist potting soil. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, or until set.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

My camera didn't like the sudden BLACKNESS of the crust.

2.  For the filling: Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed Cool Whip and beat mixture until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.

Be careful beating in the sugar that you don't cover yourself in a fine white coating.

3.  Pour filling into crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Omg.  I could lick the screen.

Gavin likes to keep me on my toes.  As much as my Picky Eater loves sweets, if there's something on his dinner plate that he Really Doesn't Like, the absolute best I can hope for is that he'll consume his required minimum bites with as little drama as possible.  BUT, I'm getting sick of the drama.  I'm getting tired of his squeamishness over trying new flavors and textures.  So yes, you could say that I  decided to fight dirty by making a pie out of his two Most Favorite Flavors in the Entire Universe.

I don't care.  It worked!!

Layered Ice Cream Cake

Just so you know, this dessert takes a couple days to put together so please plan accordingly.

BELIEVE ME when I say it's TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Layered Ice Cream Cake

Recipe from some magazine that I don't remember now

15 chocolate and cream sandwich cookies (such as Oreo)
1 tablespoon milk
8 to 9 ice cream sandwiches, depending on size
3 pints of your favorite ice cream or frozen yogurt flavors
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1.  Coat bottom and side of a 9 or 10-inch round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line side with waxed paper, using spray to help adhere to pan. Trim paper to height of pan.  Finely crush 12 of the cookies in a food processor. Add milk; pulse just until mixture holds together. Set aside.  

Since they're crushed up, I just used generic sandwich cookies

2.  Unwrap 4 ice cream sandwiches. Working quickly, cut each in quarters. Stack strips of sandwiches on end, packing them snugly together, around waxed-paper-lined pan. Repeat with remaining sandwiches to form a stand-up edge. Spoon cookie crumbs into center of pan; press firmly over bottom. Freeze at least 1 hour.  

Quartered

I think it's the ice cream sandwiches that make this look so cool!

3.  Remove all 3 flavors of ice cream or frozen yogurt from freezer and let soften for 15 minutes at room temperature. Transfer each to small bowls and stir until good but firm spreading consistency.  Remove pan from freezer. Spread each flavor out in an even layer in whichever order sounds tasty to you. Top with thawed whipped topping, swirling top decoratively. Crush remaining 3 sandwich cookies and sprinkle over cake. Return to freezer; freeze overnight.

4.  To serve, remove side of pan, then waxed paper. Cut into wedges. 

I want a spoon RIGHT NOW

When you cut into this, you can see all the pretty layers of the different ice creams and whipped cream.  It's a Frozen Dessert Lover's idea of heaven!