Food and Recipes Recipes Peppermint Pie This cool, creamy dessert showcases the most festive holiday duo: peppermint and chocolate. By Jasmine Smith Jasmine Smith Instagram Jasmine Smith is a recipe developer and tester for Dotdash Meredith. She pursued her culinary passion and graduated with a B.A. in Culinary Nutrition at Johnson & Wales University. Following college, Jasmine worked on the line at multiple farm-to-table restaurants and was selected for the James Beard Foundation: Women in Culinary Leadership Program. In addition to her working in test kitchens, Jasmine is a freelance culinary producer for a variety of food festivals and non-profits. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on December 8, 2021 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Photographer: Frederick Hardy II, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins Servings: 8 Peppermint and chocolate always make quite the festive duo during the holiday season, and there is no shortage of recipes that showcase the complimentary flavor combination, from cakes to sandwich cookies, blondies, and truffles. Now, here's a deliciously cool pie to add to your recipe box and Christmas dessert arsenal. Featuring a four-ingredient chocolate wafer crust and a creamy peppermint filling, this dessert captures the best of the season with little effort and prep time. The filling calls for only six ingredients, and the addition of whipped cream folded into the batter creates an extra fluffy texture. While the crust requires a short pre-bake, the rest of the preparation only needs freezing before serving. Crushed peppermint candies top off the pie as a pretty finishing touch, and you can leave out the red food coloring, if desired. Ingredients Crust 30 chocolate wafer cookies (such as Nabisco Famous) (from 1 [9-ounce] package) ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted 1 tablespoon granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon kosher salt Filling 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1 cup marshmallow creme 1 teaspoon peppermint extract 1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled ½ cup granulated sugar 8 drops of red food coloring Topping Crushed hard peppermint candies (such as Starlight Peppermint Mints) (from 8 round candies) Directions Prepare the Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chocolate wafers in a food processor; process until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add butter, sugar, and salt; pulse until mixture has a wet sand consistency, about 5 (1-second) pulses. Press mixture firmly and evenly into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crust is firm and appears dry, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool completely, about 15 minutes. Prepare the Filling: Beat cream cheese and marshmallow creme in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute, 30 seconds. Add peppermint extract; beat on low speed until fully incorporated, about 15 seconds. Set aside. Beat whipping cream, sugar, and food coloring in a separate large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute, 30 seconds. Gently fold whipped cream mixture into cream cheese mixture until just combined. Spread filling into prepared crust. Freeze until filling firms up, about 2 hours. Decorate with crushed peppermint candies. Serve. Print