Butterfinger Ice Cream Pie

Hibiscus makes a dessert that deserves you planning the rest of your meal around it.  Skip the salad or vegetable and save room for the Ice Box Pie, a name which I don’t think does it sufficient justice.  A friend suggests that they rename it Better than Sex pie (I won’t name the friend out of kindness for her husband). 

Today is my birthday (that comment might seem self-serving but the point is to set up the rest of this story).  To the kids that means letting me choose whether I want to go to Gattitown or Chuck E. Cheese.  To David that means taking me to a work function rather than treating me to dinner at Hibiscus with this dessert as my main course.  I will put on my resort attire (thanks to the helpful girls at Mal Malouf) and a smile and be perfectly lovely and make witty conversation.  But when I get home, I am changing into my pajamas with the elastic waist (in case I want a second piece), cutting myself a large slice of pie, and plopping myself in front of the TV to see what the gals of GCB are up to this week.

Ingredients:

Butterfinger Ice Cream Pie

1.      1 quart vanilla ice cream (I used Homemade Vanilla by Blue Bell and halved a half gallon)

2.      3-8 Butterfinger candy bars, refrigerated (I used 6: 5 for the pie and 1 for the topping)

3.      1 Oreo cookie crust (premade from the grocery store or homemade, directions below)

4.      Caramel ice cream topping

Refrigerate the Butterfinger candy bars.  Once cold, transfer to a zippered plastic bag, remove most of the air otherwise the bag will easily bust open, and crush (I used my meat tenderizer, flat side).

Place a quart of vanilla ice cream in a bowl and allow to soften (about 10 minutes).  Pour in the crushed Butterfingers (I used 5 candy bars’ worth) and mix well.  Shortcut: buy Butterfinger ice cream at your local grocery store.

Dump the Butterfinger ice cream into an Oreo cookie crust.  Shortcut: use the store bought crust made by Nabisco.  If you want to make your own, read how to below.  Spread the ice cream evenly and smooth the top.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 Butterfinger crumbles on the top.  Refreeze for at least 4 hours.  To serve, either spoon the caramel ice cream topping on the plate and then place the slice of pie on top or place the slice on the plate first then drizzle the caramel on top.

To make your own Oreo crust:

1.      24 Oreo cookies (remove the cream filling first with a knife) – you want about 1 ½ C of crushed cookies in the end.

2.      ¼ C butter, melted

Crush the cookies in a food processor or blender until they are fine.  Add ¼ C melted butter and stir to mix so that everything is moistened.  Press the cookies crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie pan.  Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350.  Allow the crust to cool before filling with the ice cream.