Chocolate Peppermint Pie

Happy Cyber Monday! And with that, it's official... we're into the holidays, aka peppermint season! This also should be when Starbucks reveals its red cups and peppermint mochas. These days, they do it far too early, but even a few years ago, they would wait until an appropriate time to reveal these and peppermint mocha would signal the start of the holiday season, finals, and the end of the fall semester. This year, I'm a little less excited than normal for peppermint season. This is because I finally found a deep love for pumpkin. I mean, who wouldn't love a warm, cozy baked good or dinner that's based on a highly nutritious vegetable?? Also, I recently learned that 90% of the worlds canned pumpkin is made by Libby's in a plant that is only open from August to October every year. So they've already stopped producing! I need to go on a shopping spree to hoard all of the pumpkin to get me through the long winter and summer.

To usher in this season properly, I put down the pumpkin and made a chocolate peppermint pie. My taste testing committee has informed me that this is the best thing that I have ever created. Basically it's a super moist, gooey peppermint brownie contained in a chocolate crust. The crust isn't the best part though, so you can also use the silicone baking cups and cook your filling in there to make a gluten free treat. Perhaps the best part is the secret ingredient... of course, I made it with white beans! With the blood sugar stabilizing power of legumes,  this decadent treat will not surprise you with a sugar rush and subsequent crash.

Chocolate Peppermint Pie

Filling

2 3/4c white beans
1c cocoa powder
1/2c brown sugar
5T white sugar
2 candy canes, crushed to a fine powder in a coffee grinder
1T peppermint schnopps (or 1t peppermint extract)
1/4c vanilla almond or soy milk
dash cinnamon
to top: 1 candy cane,  coarsely crushed with a rolling pin

Crust (optional)

3/4c flour
1/4c brown sugar
1T brown sugar
2T vegetables oil
2t baking powder
1/3c warm water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. To make the crust, mix the wet ingredients and then the dry. Kneed it a few times. This crust is difficult to roll, so I ended up just pushing it into the greased 8 inch pie pan. The crust isn't exceptional, so feel free to leave it out for a gluten free recipe.
3. Clean out your coffee grinder, and add 2 candy canes broken into chunks. Grind for a few seconds and you should be set! If you don't have a coffee grinder, your food processor should work as well.
4. Add all filling ingredients to the food processor (except the last candy cane). Food processes for several minutes until smooth. As usual, make sure it's smooth because bean chunks kill the chocolate vibe!
5. Pour filling into crust or into cupcake cups. Use a pinch of sugar to coat the edges of the crust. Top with the coarsely broken candy cane (it will melt, so leave chunks larger than you think you want!)
6. Bake for 50 minutes (pie) or 30- 40 minutes (gluten free cups). Serve warm and enjoy! The center will still be soft and kind of melty, but it's ok! The crust will keep it together.

You choose... make a gluten free crustless cup, or try out the crust and make a whole pie!