General Comments:

This pie combines my favorite candy bar with chocolate ganache and peanut butter mousse. What do you think my reaction was upon stumbling across this recipe? If you guessed something along the lines of “Holy crap, I must make this, and I must make it soon,” then you’d be absolutely correct. So, I made it and it was AWESOME.

While it does require making a few different components and assembling them, the overall difficulty level of the pie is pretty reasonable and the ingredients are easily obtained. One thing that immediately comes to mind when I think back on making this particular pie was the discovery that I will likely never buy a store-bought graham cracker crust ever again. Making the crust was super easy (assuming you have a food processor) and in my opinion the flavor and texture was way better than anything you could buy pre-made. Chalk up one excellent discovery.

In terms of the overall taste experience, the chocolate ganache bottom layer and the peanut butter mousse topping fit together rather well. However, I think I personally would have like the peanut butter flavor of the mousse to be a bit stronger. Of course, when you’re also chewing on chunks of snickers that have been sprinkled on top, you don’t necessarily mind the mildness of the mousse.

In terms of storing and serving the pie, the original recipe said that while it was intended to be stored in the refrigerator, putting it the freezer turns it into a sort of ice-cream-like pie, which can give the consumer a different experience if you choose to go that route. Keep in mind, though, that if you decide freeze it, you’ll want to let it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes to soften up a bit before you try to serve it. I tried eating it both ways and didn’t have a strong preference either way.

Baker’s notes:

Spreading the graham cracker crust evenly over the pie pan was probably the trickiest part about this recipe. The trick is to just be patient and work it around the pan until you manage to get pretty even coverage. Don’t fret too much though, it’s unlikely that anyone will notice that the crust is a little thin in some places when they are distracted by the chocolate-peanut-butter-snickery goodness.

Recipe:

Crust Ingredients:
7 graham crackers, coarsely broken (I used Honey Grahams)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:
1 and 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Mousse Ingredients:
1 and 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream, divided
1 cup peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar

Topping Ingredients:
1 11.5 ounce bag of mini Snickers candy bars, coarsely chopped (this is likely WAY TOO MANY, I only used ~2/3 of the bag)
Leftover ganache topping

Crust Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray a 9-inch glass pie pan with cooking spray.
• Using your food processor, pulse the graham crackers until coarse crumbs form.
• Add the melted butter and 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand.
• Using your fingers, press the crumb mixture into the pie pan.
• Bake until lightly browned, about 12-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Chocolate Ganache Directions:

• In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, 2/3 cup whipping cream, corn syrup, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla for about 3 minutes, whisking occasionally to smooth out the chocolate.
• Spread the chocolate (don’t use all of it, keep some extra for the leftover chocolate ganache drizzle) over the bottom of the crust and smooth with a rubber spatula. Freeze the pie crust for about 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.

Peanut Butter Mousse Directions:

• In a separate microwave-safe bowl, microwave the peanut butter chips and 3/4 cup whipping cream at 15-second intervals, stirring occasionally until the chips soften.
• Once the chips have melted, whisk in the peanut butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Set aside to let cool, about 10-15 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, beat the remaining 1 cup of whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar until thickened “but not yet holding peaks”
• Gently fold in the peanut butter mixture into the whipped cream.
• Pour and spread the peanut butter mousse over the prepared crust, spreading gently with a rubber spatula. You may end up with some left over.
• Freeze or chill the mousse until firmed, about 10 minutes.

Topping Directions:

• Once firm, top with the chopped Snickers pieces and drizzle with re-heated leftover chocolate ganache.

Credit: Original recipe can be found here.

Tags: pie, recipe, chocolate, peanut butter, snickers, graham cracker, mousse, ganache

General Comments:

These were super simple to make. Had I been feeling more ambitious, I probably would have tried to make the puff pastry myself, but instead I just used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, which actually cooks up pretty nicely. Additionally, I would have preferred to use Fluff, but unfortunately I had to settle for marshmallow creme (some of you will understand the difference). I also did 6 of them with dark chocolate and 6 of them with milk chocolate. Feedback from coworkers seemed to suggest that it was entirely personal preference which determined the better option, so if you try these out, do whatever sounds good. My final comment is that the peanut butter can easily become the dominant flavor if you get carried away with how much you tuck away inside the pastry, but that’s only a problem if you don’t love peanut butter -- I happen to enjoy it thoroughly.

Baker’s Notes:

First, make sure to cut the small slits in the tops of the turnovers to allow steam to vent. I forgot to do so on the second batch of 6 and it resulted in a higher fraction of turnovers that ruptured and allowed some of the peanut butter to escape.

Second, if you don’t plan on serving and eating the turnovers right away, I suggest that you only apply the marshmallow creme at the time of serving. When I first applied the marshmallow it was plump and fluffy -- as can be seen in the picture. However, once I let the turnovers cool completely and put them in an airtight container, the marshmallow decided to liquify. When I returned to them the following morning, a large fraction of the marshmallow had run off. This left the turnovers with more of a marshmallow “glaze” than the nice topping that can be seen in the photo.

Recipe:

Prep work: Preheat over to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray.

Ingredients

1 box Puff Pastry (2 sheets), thawed
3 whole graham crackers, gently broken into fourths
Small milk chocolate bars (Hershey’s .49 oz. bars work pretty well. If you use these, you’ll need 9)
½ cup creamy peanut butter
small bowl of water (for dampening the puff pastry)
1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp. water (to make egg wash)
½ cup jarred Marshmallow Creme (or Fluff)

Directions

• Lay Puff Pastry on cutting board. Working with one sheet of Puff Pastry at a time, cut on three folds, creating 3 rectangles (about 3″ x 10″ each). Cut each 3 x 10 rectangle in half. You’ll have 6 pieces to work with for each sheet of Puff Pastry.
• Assemble turnovers: Lay graham cracker on 1/2 of each square, top with chocolate that has been cut down to match the length of the graham cracker. Scoop a scant 1 Tbsp. peanut butter on top of each chocolate bar. (If using the .49 oz Hershey’s bar, you’ll want to use 3 sections worth for each turnover)
• Working with one turnover at a time, wet edges of Puff Pastry and fold (over) in half to meet opposite edges. Gently push edges together to stick; use fork to seal edges together and create ridged pattern. Repeat with each turnover until all are sealed up. Gently move sealed turnovers to baking sheet with a small spatula. (At this point, the turnovers may be refrigerated for up to an hour before baking -- cover baking sheet with plastic wrap. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and continue with instructions).
• Brush turnovers lightly with egg wash, then use a sharp knife to cut two small slits into the top of each turnover.
• Bake 15 minutes, or until turnovers are puffed and golden. Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes. Scoop marshmallow creme into a zip baggie (don’t zip). Microwave for 8 seconds to soften. Zip bag and snip a small piece off of the corner of the bag. Drizzle marshmallow onto the top of each turnover. Serve immediately.

Credit: Very slightly modified version of this recipe.

Tags: recipe, marshmallow, peanut butter, chocolate, pastry