Chocolaty-Minty-Boozy Goodness

Adapted from Rah Cha Chow

T'was the night before Super Bowl Sunday, and I found myself as the owner of an excess amount of creme de menthe and creme de cacao.

What to do... What to do...

Then it hit me.  Of course!  Scour Pinterest until I find a fantabulous dessert alternative to grasshopper pie!  Five minutes later I stumbled upon this recipe from food blogger Rah Cha Chow.

After making them -- based upon Rah's general specs, yet adding my own heavy-handed-booze-pourin' flare-- and feeding them to Mr. Pihl and his peeps on Super Bowl Sunday, I can only say one thing.

These?  These are where it's at.

For realz.

Yeah, I just typed out the nonword "realz".  It just demonstrates how serious I am about this dessert.  It's amazing.  It's totally caloric, decadent, rich, chocolaty, cheat-day friendly, and will leave you jiggling over to the treadmill.

But while you jiggle on over... you'll have a smile on your face.

And maybe a leetle smudge of chocolate on your lips.  

That's okay.  I won't judge you if you won't judge me.

I added a little more creme de menthe than Rah's, but I also added some creme de cacao because the voice in my head was telling me too.

The voice sounded strangely like Ree Drummond...

Anyhow, here's the secret!

You'll need:

{For the bottom layer}

• 2 cups graham-cracker crumbs (about 28 squares)
• 1-1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sweet cream salted butter, melted
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon creme de cacao
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

My personal preference with walnuts in my dessert leans more toward the mid-to-finely chopped side than the roughly chopped, so the first thing I did was to run my chopped walnuts through my Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor, and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes at 325 F.  

Mix all ingredients together (after allowing the walnuts to cool) and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch ungreased pan.  Bake at 325 F for 10-12 minutes.  Let this layer cool completely before moving on.

{For the middle layer}

• 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 package (3 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 cup sweet cream salted buter, softened
• 5 tablespoons and one teaspoon creme de menthe 
• 1 teaspoon creme de cacao
• 1 Tablespoon milk

Mix thoroughly until spreadable.  Use a spatula to evenly spread mint layer over bottom layer.  Allow to chill until firm for at least an hour.

(Note: My butter accidentally melted completely, which lead to a big sticky mess.  It still tasted AMAZING, of course, but the headache of wrestling it into the pan lead to quite a few unspoken profanities in my head.)

{For the top layer}

• 1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips, melted
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon creme de cacao

Mix together, spread over the minty goodness, and allow to chill for one hour-ish.  

Slice into them and enjoy!

They were waaaayyyy rich, so I ended up cutting them into small squares the size of fudge, which suited the Super Bowl Party attendees just fine.

Best part?  They freeze and can be used as ice cream topping!  Or can just be gnawed on while frozen by redheads everywhere.

Do I have chocolate on my breath?