Chocolate Mint Mud Pie :)

Yay for being a quarter Irish! A little Irish goes a long way though. Have you met my temper? :) I get the Irish blood and influence from my Nana who was full blooded and my Grandpa Steve who is also 100%. Truth be told, I don't know if their feisty nature comes from their Irish roots or the fact that they are from around New York City. Anyways, my Nana was incredibly proud of her Irish heritage. (I can't even tell you how many hours of river dancing I watched with that wonderful woman.) ANYWAYS, this post isn't all about my Irish roots, it's about the best dessert in the world. The mud pie. No culinary genius involved here. Just pure and simple goodness. My grandma has been making these for years, most recently at her house I had a coffee mud pie with a layer of dark chocolate poured on top. Heaven I tell you! Heaven! This is my favorite version that my dad makes. So simple, and so amazing. Enjoy!

What you need:

-1 quart Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream

-1 jar of fudge. Use the kind at the end of the ice cream isle. It's thick and doesn't come in a squeeze bottle. We don't want chocolate syrup!


-2 packages of mint flavored chocolate cookies.

**Optional**

-Decorative topping of your choice. I used white chocolate and green gel food coloring. Other options are melted green baking chips, green frosting, sprinkles, whip cream..make it your own!

-1 pre made Oreo pie crust (optional if you don't want to make your own crust)

Directions:


**Take out your ice cream now so it isn't too hard to work with**

1. Crush up about 1 1/2 cups worth of the grasshopper cookies. This can be done quickly in a food processor. Add several small dollops (smaller dollops are easier to mix in) of the fudge to your crumbs and mix up. I think a fork works best, this stuff is sticky! Moisten the crumbs with the fudge just enough to make them all stick together.

2. Using your hands and a big spoon, push the mixture into a regular sized pie pan to form a crust.

3. Using a baking spatula, put large dollops of ice cream on top of your crust. I used almost the entire carton. Smooth it out with your spatula. I used the slow churned ice cream because the texture it easier for me to work with, but regular ice cream will give you a more solid pie. Your choice.

**Put in the freezer while you do the following step**

4. Take your remaining cookies and break them into thirds or fourths, putting them in a bowl. I used a whole carton of cookies. Add more fudge! Give them a good coat of it!

5. Take your pie out of the freezer and layer the cookies on top. I know this seems kind of redundant because the crust is basically the same, but I guarantee you that two layers of cookies is better than one :)

not super attractive, I know :)

**Put it back in the freezer**

6. Put about a third of your chocolate chips in a small bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals until melted, stirring each time. It only took me two times. Add green food coloring. I recommend using gel because when you add the more watery food coloring to white chocolate, it can seize and be hard to use.

7.  Now drizzle your green chocolate, or whatever you have decided to use, on top! I used a pastry bag so Gemma could help me. You can also use a zip lock bag and just cut off the corner.

Gemma and I have mad decorating skills :)

Voila! A very simple, crowd pleasing, delicious mud pie. I know it's not the most beautiful of desserts, but it is damn delicious. And that's what really matters, right?