This grasshopper pie is a tasty chocolate-mint frozen dessert inspired by the classic after dinner cocktail drink. The recipe is very straightforward with about only 15 minutes of hands-on prep time and no baking required. It’s typically served in the spring for St. Patrick’s Day or Easter.
To prepare the crust: Combine the baking crumbs with the butter. Press the mixture into a 9” pie plate with a fork. Set aside.
1 ¼ cups chocolate cookie crumbs, ¼ cup butter
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Slowly add the sweetened condensed milk and continue beating, until smooth. Add the food coloring and peppermint extract and mix well.
Crumble 12 of the cookies (larger chunks are ideal--not crumbs). Fold them into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in the whipped topping.
2 cups whipped topping
Spoon the mixture over the prepared crust. Cover and freeze until firm, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Crumble the remaining 4 cookies on top of the pie. Slice and serve!
Notes
Storage: Keep the dessert frozen for up to 3 months. Place the pie dish in a large freezer bag.
Pie Plate: You can use a 9” ceramic or glass pie dish or simply purchase a disposable tin pie pan from any grocery store.
Softening the Cream Cheese: To soften the cream cheese you can place it in a bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds or place the package in warm water for about 20 minutes.
Mint Oreos Substitute: If you can’t find mint Oreos you can use regular Oreos instead. Another fun substitute for the mint Oreo cookies for the filling of the cake would be thin mint cookies or something similar.
Chocolate Cookie Crumbs: Chocolate baking crumbs are a good substitute. You can also process Oreos in a food processor until you have crumbs.
Food Paint: If I can't find mint Oreos and I'm making this for St. Patrick's Day, one of my tricks is to 'paint' green food coloring onto the white parts of the regular Oreo cookies with a food decorating brush.
Whipped Topping Tip: Try not to over-fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese because this will actually start to deflate it and the end result won't be as fluffy.
Thaw Frozen Whip: If using a frozen whipped cream like Cool Whip, make sure you thaw it in the fridge first.