Malika's vegan chocolate and peanut butter cream pie with a graham cracker crust

This amazing pie was made special for a co-worker's birthday. The benefit of any kind of "baking" in our house is that when we bake for a special occasion which is not happening in our home, we double the recipe and make a second batch of whatever it is to enjoy ourselves :) Malika requested this pie recipe and I was ambitious enough to make it! The crust gets baked but the rest of the pie is actually "no bake" and just gets frozen making it super convenient for those that don't really like baking. It sounds like a lot of work but if you think of this as a three step process for the three layers (and each process is pretty simple!) it makes it a lot less overwhelming. Those that tried this couldn't believe there's no dairy in it! It's so thick and creamy that it's basically a peanut buttery cheesecake consistency and taste, but in the form of a giant Reese's cup (with graham cracker crust... mmmmm). I really enjoyed making this (and even more, enjoyed eating it!) Thank you to The Minimalist Baker, (one of my favorite blogs), for this wonderful recipe!




Ingredients:

Crust
1 sleeve graham crackers/gluten free crackers/cookies (or about 15 of them)
4.5 tbsp melted earth balance or coconut oil

Pie
12 oz firm tofu, drained
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup agave or maple syrup
1 14-oz can of coconut cream, chilled in fridge overnight or in freezer for a few hours (do not shake to mix, you want it to layer out.. you will only be using the thicker portion!)

Chocolate topping
1 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (feel free to use the thinner remainder of your coconut cream that gets unused for the pie filling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly oil a round pie or cake pan (8 inch diameter).

Blend crackers in a food processor until fine. Add melted butter/oil and continue to blend until well combined. Add mixture to pie pan and press down on bottom to ensure an even later. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.

Blend together all of the pie filling ingredients in a food processor until fluffy and well combined. Remove coconut cream from fridge/freezer and scoop out the thickened top layer. Add this "cream" to your pie filling and blend quickly until combined but leave it fluffy. At this point, taste test the mixture and add either some sea salt and/or vanilla if needed.

Pour filling over the crust and even out with a spoon. Pop pan in freezer for about 1 hour until chilled and solid.

Heat up chocolate and milk on stovetop or in microwave and mix until well combined and smooth and chocolatey. Pour over your solidified pie filling and smooth with a spoon over top. Pop back into the freezer for about 30 minutes until firm.

Feel free to top the pie with roasted peanuts, chocolate chips or cacao nibs. Keep chilled in freezer or fridge until serving. Keep covered to keep it fresh!