Soo I’m hoping today’s chocolaty post makes up for my absence over the past week [insert nervous emoji].
If you haven’t noticed (phew) that’s great! But if you did, my apologies. I took a little dip and went M.I.A. strictly on the blog but all for good reasons. I was however, present on other social media which is a good time for a reminder that if you’re on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, come say Hi! I’ll say hi back and I always enjoy hearing about and seeing your creations. And thank you so much for tagging me in them too!
Now that, that’s out of the way, let’s get back on track to these deliciously, nutty, chocolaty pies!
A few months ago while running social media coverage for celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s culinary event held at Macy’s, I tasted one of the most amazing chocolate pies. Now if you don’t already know, chocolate with nuts are another one of my weaknesses, second to cake. Just can’t say “no” when offered. No matter how hard I try, it will always land in my mouth!
After tasting several of Chef Marcus’ savory dishes from his latest cookbook, it was such a pleasure to close the evening with a taste that I will forever remember, his Black Bottom Peanut Pies. From the end of the first bite, I just knew, I needed to make this for myself! Lo and behold, here it is today.
Now you may wonder, “What’s up with this crazy picture?!” It’s quite funny actually. Unlike my hazelnut chocolate cheesecake that I deliberately made a mess for photos, this one here was out of uncontrollable frustration.
The original recipe calls for a 10-inch pie and I, trying to recreate something that was already perfect, decided to make them into mini’s. Here’s the thing. The mini’s will work however, it may be a pain in the rear to get them out of the little tart shell unless they have removable bottoms in which mine, did not.
During my photo shoot, trying to remove the rest of the mini pies from the tart shells, a few of them broke. Like a mad woman that I can be at times when food photos don’t go my way, crazy thoughts began to run at an all-time high. I glanced over at the extra ganache just sitting in a bowl next to the photo set doing nothing and without thinking twice, I began to forcefully splash the ganache over the broken pieces with rage – this was my tantrum. After a few moments, I took a deep breath, stepped back, and stared at the mess I just created. I then thought, “Wow, this actually looks kind of nice.” What you see here, is a love-hate relationship I just had with food.
Next time, because I love this pie so much, I’m making a 10-inch pie!
Mini Black Bottom Peanut Pies
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
Ingredients
CRUST
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 (11-ounce box) vanilla wafer cookies, such as Nilla wafers
- 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
GANACHE
- 8 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
PEANUT TOPPING
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 4 teaspoons molasses
- 10 oz. (about 2 cups) unsalted roasted peanuts
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter until it becomes a dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat and transfer melted browned butter to a bowl and stir for a minute to cool.
- In a food processor, pulse wafers to a coarse crumb. Add vanilla, sugar and melted butter; continue to pulse until the crumbs are moistened. Divide crumbs evenly among tart shells and press evenly down and up sides sealing any gaps.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven to cool on a wire rack. Reset oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl with chocolate chips and whisk until smooth with no visible streaks of cream or chocolate. Set aside to cool while making peanut filling.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs, corn syrup, molasses, peanuts and sea salt; set aside.
- Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of ganache into each cooled pie crust. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut filling over ganache covering it entirely.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until crust is browned and topping is set. Allow mini pies to cool completely within its tart shell over a cooling rack. Once cooled, use a butter knife for assistance in removing from its shell.
- Optional: pour remaining ganache over the pies and allow it to set before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Cuisine: American
For 10-inch pie, follow directions as shown HERE