Chocolate Mousse Pie with Joe-Joe's Crust
If you're not familiar with the Joe-Joe's cookies, they are Trader Joe's version of classic Oreos. They have all natural flavoring and no hydrogenated oils. They come with a vanilla bean filling or a chocolate filling, and of course you know the holidays are here when Candy Cane Joe Joe's make their limited appearance on the shelves and cause Trader Joe's fans to stampede down the aisles. You know who you are.
The crust here is easy - crush the cookies, mix with a bit of melted butter, and press into a pie dish. The easiest and best way to crush the cookies is with a food processor. I use my trusty classic Cuisinart that I've had for over 12 years. When I first got it, I rarely used it (in fact Wona was the first one to use it, not me!). I thought that food processors were a pain to take out, assemble, and clean. But the truth is that they shorten lengthy tasks to just seconds and are a breeze to clean despite their multiple parts. Once you get into the habit of using them, they're a great timesaver. If you're like me and you're slow to take out appliances unless you really need them, believe me that this recipe is worth it and the cleanup is a cinch.
The texture of the mousse filling is firm and smooth and silky, and it's only two ingredients! Alternatively you can use Trader Joe's "Instant Chocolate Pudding" mix to fill the pie. The texture and taste is that of eating a thick classic chocolate pudding rather than a silky mousse, but it's an option to try. If you make a pudding filling, use two boxes of the mix and 3 cups of cold whole milk. On the box it suggests 3.5 cups for two boxes, but I think reducing it to 3 cups yields a pie you can cut and serve more easily.
Chocolate Mousse Pie with Joe-Joe's Crust (more appropriately renamed Chocolate Truffle Pie with Joe-Joe's Crust by reader Stephanie)
28 Joe-Joe's Cookies with Vanilla Bean filling (2 rows out of the package)
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter (10-20 seconds in the microwave or low heat over the stove)
Filling:
1 (12 oz) bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 (14 oz) can Light Coconut Milk
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.) Crush the cookies in a food processor. Pulse the processor until the cookies are fine crumbs. Pour in the melted butter and pulse till combined. Press the crumbs firmly into an oven-safe pie dish. I use a glass/cup to press and compact the crust.
3.) Bake the crust for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
4.) Melt the chocolate on the stovetop or in the microwave. (Microwave for 1 minute and then in 30 second increments, stirring well in between until completely smooth and melted. Do not scorch.)
5.) Pour the coconut milk into a blender and add the melted chocolate. Immediately, blend until completely smooth (about 20-30 seconds).
6.) Pour filling into crust and chill for 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Serves 12
Prep and cooking time: 15-20 minutes, not including cooling/chilling time
Posted by Deana Gunn at February 9, 2010 
Categories: Vegetarian and Vegan , Food Recipes
Tags: cake chocolate pie mousse Joe-Joe's
Categories: Vegetarian and Vegan , Food Recipes
Tags: cake chocolate pie mousse Joe-Joe's
do you think it's possible to mix the chocolate and coconut milk with just a whisk (or maybe a hand mixer) instead of a blender! crazy as it may seem, i don't have one!
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Hi Tara,
Using a blender, you get a lot of power in one blast. I've used a hand mixer with a heavy cream + melted chocolate version. It worked pretty well - not 100% smooth but pretty close. You can give it a try but work quickly when you combine the two. If the chocolate begins to solidify before the mixture is smooth, you will have visible tiny grains of chocolate throughout (not a huge deal but that's the difference). I wouldn't try it with a whisk.
If you try it, let me know how it worked and how it set.
Best,
Deana
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maybe if i warmed up the coconut milk a little, it might help prevent solidifying chocolate? anyway, i will give it a shot. sounds so tasty.
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I love love love to use Joe Joe's as a pie crust - Truly no other compares!!
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i'm going to run to TJ's after work and pick up the ingredients for this weekend!!! I'd like to make this with dark chocolate chips though as I'm not a semi-sweet kinda girl.
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This looks great! And easily veganizable by using margarine instead of butter in the crust. I think I have a project for today.
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WOW, this was delicious. I'd only make two changes: 1) Serves 16!
Thanks for this blog, ladies. I'm HOOKED!
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Hi Stephanie,
Glad you liked it! That's a great suggestion to rename it Chocolate Truffle Pie - much better description!
Thanks,
Deana
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Do you think that mousse would hold well straight out the blender onto a two layer cake? I'm hoping the consistency is on the firm side...
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Hi Gina,
I'm not sure what you mean - do you mean using it as a frosting or as a top layer on a cake? Maybe you can clarify.
Straight out of the blender, the consistency is very pourable and not thick enough to hold a shape. Once it is chilled, it is very firm - solid enough to cut and serve.
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Absolutely-
I plan on baking a two layer vanilla cake with the mousse in the middle. A ganache will cover the cake.
I wanted to know if I could put the mousse in between the layers right away or if it will need to firm up in the fridge first-
just want to be sure I'm setting aside the right amount of time.
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Hi Gina,
Yes, I think it would need to firm up first. I haven't tried layering it with cake myself, but I might try firming it up *just* until it can hold a shape - then layer it on and stick back in the fridge just until it can support the second layer.
I guess if you have a springform pan (or other deep pan) the size of your cake, you could layer everything in there while the filling is still pourable since the pan would act as a mold. Then chill and pop back out.
Let us know what ends up working best and if you liked layering it with cake!
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Excellent! Thanks for yor time and such distinctive recipes.
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Tried your recipe. Though it didn't lool like the one in the picture, my choco mousse pie definitely tastes great.
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Networking Witches sent me and I love this pie!
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Ok, I have to say that this did not work out so hot trying to bake a Candy Cane JoJo crust... which I shoulda known, with the peppermint candy in it! But, truly, it didn't turn out so badly, the crust was just more of a "base"... didn't continue on up the sides so well... UGH. But, it tastes really nice and still wowed the guests. They are all coming to visit your marvelous blog!
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Hi Stephanie,
I would have thought the Candy Cane Joe-Joe's would work similarly to the regular Joe-Joe's (I've made the crust with both the vanilla creme filled and chocolate creme filled versions). Once the cookies were crushed, did they not mold to the dish when you pressed it on?
Thanks for turning your friends on to the blog! Much appreciated!
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Hi Deana,
They pressed nicely into the pie plate, but upon baking, they did not hold up properly. The sides slid right down the side and pooled into the bottom. As it was cooling, I recognized the molten candy floating with some butter up to the top. It still was very tasty, but didn't turn out to be quite the success as the last one. AND, the quality of this filling was more moussy than truffly (can one say those things, they aren't really words, are they?). So, Ghirardelli chocolate chips make mousse quality, whereas, chopped bars of Trader Joe's semisweet chocolate make truffle quality for me.
You're welcome! My cooking pals think they've struck gold!
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Networking Witches sent me to your blog!
I love Trader Joe's.
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Ok,had to tell you. Made this again for non-celiac gluten-free, non-dairy guests. Used the Glutino brand of choco sandwich cookies and coconut oil instead of butter. Wonderful. You've gotten me through THREE rounds of company!! Thanks so much.
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Hi Stephanie,
Great to hear! - And thanks for sharing this gluten-free version with us. Great idea to use coconut oil. I'm going to try it myself (my own husband is gluten-free and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't made him a gluten-free version of this recipe yet!!)
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where can i find those glutino cookies? do they have them at TJs? i am not gluten free but want to make this pie for a friend's birthday who is off gluten.
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It varies regionally but you can find them at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Hannaford, Bashas’, Jimbo's, Stop and Shop Markets, & Wegman’s.
Trader Joe's carries/carried a few Glutino items but I don't think I've ever seen the "oreos" there - anyone else?
They look like this:
http://everydayglutenfree.blog.com/2010/03/01/glutino-chocolate-vanilla-creme-cookies/
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I tried this recipe and it was very yummy. I must say this is just amazing. I will recommend this recipe to my friends. Thanks for providing this yummy recipe.
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You have just wonder full writing skills. Its very interesting. I am going to forward it to all my friends. I hope they too will enjoy your reading. I must say this is just amazing.
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I can't stand coconut anything, what other type of milk would resemble the coconut milk? Hemp? Rice? Almond?
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You can use heavy cream to make the mousse - that's the more traditional version but it's much higher fat content.
All those other milks are probably too thin. Soy milk might work but I haven't tried it. If you try them, let me know how it turns out.
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If there is a non dairy milk that could be whipped stiff enough to fold in the melted chocolate, this pie would be lighter & more of a mousse texture.
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This was the best dessert I have ever tried! Anytime I hear of a great recipe with only a few ingrdients, I am tempted to try it! So glad I did! My son has re-named it "slice of heaven" pie! Our Trader Joes is a half hour away and I forgot the Joe Joes! So, as I am the "Queen of substitution", I used chocolate graham crackers. I would have used butter to get the crumbs to stick together, but my husband used all our butter for the mashed potatoes!
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