Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Pie

Okay, so this definitely isn't a food blog. It's not even a dessert blog. As in the most I think I've ever posted in the realm of food is talking about Starbucks.

But since getting to my new university I've made a lot of friends who are vegan, not just vegetarian. For those of you unaware, vegan means that you consume no animal products or byproducts. No dairy, eggs, fish, etc. That includes chocolate chips that contain milk fat. Do you know how hard it is to find chocolate chips that don't have milk fat?! If you still don't understand what I'm saying, just visit Wikipedia.

Anyhow, my group of friends gets together a few times a month for a potluck and I am the dessert-bringer because I can't cook. But by golly can I bake. So I happened across a recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Pie. I know. It sounds divine, and let me promise you it is. I found it on the Healthy, Happy, Life blog by Kathy Patalsky, but wasn't really crazy about the crust included. For those new to vegan baking (date one and you will learn quickly, I promise), Earth Balance vegan margarine is quite oily, and I wasn't crazy about just mixing it with graham crackers. So I added a little brown sugar and no...just no. It failed horribly.  So I decided on using a chocolate peanut butter crust from "Jen's 'Best Godd****d Chocolate Pie You Will Ever Eat" (please excuse the language, I didn't name the pie!) from Please Don't Feed the Bears! (A Vegan Cookbook). Even if you're not vegan (which I'm not) I recommend buying it because everything is super simple and cheap to make, and it's delicious!

The three things you'll need are:
1 Batch of Mousse
1 Pie Crust (store bought is suitable, but I highly recommend the one below)
Chocolate Shell Coating (2 Tbsp Chocolate Chips + 1 Tbsp of Coconut Oil melted together)

Okay! So start out by making this pie crust and letting it cool:

CRUST:
(1) 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flower (unbleached all purpose works well too)
      1/4 cup Dutch cocoa
      1/4 tsp baking soda
(2) 1/2 cup brown sugar or Sucanat
      1/4 cup vegan margarine
      2 Tbsp peanut butter
(3) 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
      1 Tbsp water

Mix together (1) in a small bowl. Mix (2) together really well in a big bowl, then add (1). Now add in (3). It's easiest to mix this all up with you (clean) hands. Just get in there and mash it all up until it's of a gooey ball consistency.

Then press into a big, oiled pie plate (not one of them dinky ones) until up to the edges of the pie plate is filled. Flute the edges (make them wavy) for a fancy effect, then pop it in the oven at 375º for 8-10 minutes. Let it cool completely before filling it full of [mousse].

MOUSSE:
While your pie crust cools, make one batch of Kathy's Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse.

Pour mousse into cooled pie crust.

CHOCOLATE SHELL (from Healthy, Happy, Life):
Melt together the 2 Tbsp Chocolate Chips + 1 Tbsp of Coconut Oil in a double burner (You may want to make more of this depending on the size of your pie. This was not enough for my 10" pie plate). Then gently pour the melted chocolate/coconut liquid over the pie. Swirl the liquid gently into the mousse, creating a design of your choosing.

Place pie in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to quickly chill. Then transfer to fridge. Chill until ready to serve - usually takes at least an hour to fully firm.

Serve with a swirl of vegan soy whip or Homemade Coconut Whip.


And there you go! Enjoy the joy that is a piece of delicious animal product-free pie!

Peace,
Elina