Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust and Pie- gluten-free, top 8 allergen free

Several months ago we had graham cracker crust on the brain.  Does that ever happen to you?  Do you get a food on your mind and you can’t get it out until you eat that food? That’s how we were feeling about graham cracker crust.  We had just made chocolate graham crackers and thought they would make the perfect crust too.  At that point, we knew we were on to something delicious!  Many of our recipes come out of these food cravings, so we brainstormed with items we had on hand. It didn’t even require going to the store.  The simple recipes that call for typical items in your kitchen already are the best.  Recipes don’t need to be complicated or call for exotic ingredients to be amazing.

With a chocolate crust, I reeled through my mind about what goes well with chocolate, along with what I had on hand.  I had caramel, chocolate chips (because who doesn’t need more chocolate ;) ), and vanilla cream.  Oooh, that sounded amazing!  We also considered that the recipe should come together quickly, as this time of year has tons of hustle and bustle, along with work.  The hands on of this recipe takes about 10 minutes if you make the cookies ahead, which is pretty amazing if you ask me.  This pie will have everyone begging for more and will never realize it’s free from.  Our goal is to always make foods that allow you to live your best free from life and share it with those you love.

We got to work creating this simple yet decadent recipe and had so much fun doing it.  If you have kids, this is a great one to have them help with.  What kid doesn’t love either blending items in a food processor and watching crackers turn to crumbs, or beating them in a bag with a rolling pin to make crumbs?!  Both are great and work well.  I teased my kids as I was beating the chocolate graham crackers that it was good anger management, ha ha.  We give you plenty of options for filling so you can use what you have on hand and whatever suits your fancy.

Then drizzling caramel and sprinkling chocolate chips, what could be more fun and therapeutic?  Each of our kids got one of these jobs and may or may not have snuck some along the way. ;)  Hey, whatever it takes to get the kids helping in the kitchen is a win in our book!  The job got done and it was a delicious masterpiece.  Head on over to grab our Rustic Scoop™ Chocolate Cake and Cupcake mix to make the chocolate graham crackers.  This recipe can be made in stages.  We suggest making the chocolate graham crackers ahead of time and storing them in the freezer until you are ready to make the pie.  If you want to do this all at once, you certainly can, it will just take longer in stages.  Either way, you are going to love this pie!

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crust Ingredients

15 Rustic Scoop™ Chocolate Graham Crackers (just the cookie recipe and directions)

¾ Cup Butter melted, vegan butter works too

Vanilla Cream Pie Filling Ingredients

32oz of Vanilla Ice Cream OR Whipped Topping like Cool Whip or So Delicious Coconut Whip

Toppings (optional but highly suggested)

⅓ Cup Caramel Sauce 

½ Cup Chocolate Chips

Pinch of Coarse salt

Directions

Make the Rustic Scoop™ Chocolate Cookies.  Once those are made and cool, continue below.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Prepare a pie pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

Crumble your chocolate graham crackers.  You can do this one of two ways: Use a food processor and process until crumbs are uniform in size and small, but not powder.  You can also put your chocolate graham crackers in a ziplock bag and use a mallet or rolling pin, cover with a tea towel and bang away until they are small crumbs.  Put the crumbs in a medium sized bowl and mix the melted butter in.  Using a spoon, mix until the butter is evenly distributed and all of the crumbs are coated.  Place your chocolate graham cracker crumbs into the prepared pie pan.  Using a measuring cup, evenly spread and press down the graham cracker crumbs.  Be sure they are even across the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.  Bake on 350°F for 10 minutes.  Pull your crust out of the oven to cool.  At this point you can of course do anything you want with the chocolate graham cracker crust, skies the limit.  If you would like to make the vanilla cream pie then keep on reading.


Once your pie crust is completely cool, add your choice of filling whether it’s ice cream or whipped topping.  Smooth the top with the back of a large spoon or spatula.  If you are adding the topping, which we suggest you do, now’s the time.  Drizzle the caramel sauce with a spoon over your filling.  Have fun and be creative, or just drizzle and move on.  Next, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the whole pie.  If you like sweet and salty together, you can sprinkle a pinch of coarse salt over the top, which takes this recipe over the top!!  Place your pie in the freezer if you used ice cream as the filling or the refrigerator if you used the whipped topping.  Once the pie has set and chilled, dig in, but most of all, enjoy!