Crispy chocolate candy cane crust filled with rich, decadent chocolate peppermint cream and topped with fluffy chocolate peppermint whipped cream, crushed candy canes, and chocolate shavings. The best part? It’s ready in 30 minutes. Up your Christmas game without adding any stress to your life with this pie!

I have some exciting news! I was featured on an awesome new website called Recipes That Really Work! They tested and loved my eggnog latte cake and featured it on their site! They also did a spotlight on me on their Instagram. I feel so honored and humbled!

Which actually is why I made this pie. After a baking frenzy at Thanksgiving (seriously—two pies, my apple pie cake, and four dozen cupcakes in two different flavors with four different frostings all in 24 hours), I needed something simple and easy. Not just for here, either. For the spotlight they needed a photo of me in my kitchen. Which sounds great (and it was!), but that required three things in one day: a clean kitchen, a photographable dessert (not the messy leftovers from Thanksgiving), and me looking nice. There’s a funny rule of baking—either my dessert can look nice or I can. Never both at the same time. They’re mutually exclusive.

So, I decided to test out a recipe I’ve had in the back of my mind. Something simple and delicious and Christmassy. And thankfully it was fast, cause this mama rarely does hair and makeup these days, so I knew I needed some serious time to look photo-ready. 😂

Which means I get to share this very simple, very easy pie with you! It’s the kind of pie I need for my 2020 life. Not at all technical. Customizable. Travels and keeps in the fridge well. Not needy (you can easily run to the store halfway through if you realize you’re out of an ingredient like I was). Decadent. Festive. And obviously delicious.

I actually modeled this off of my 20 minute, no-bake chocolate cream pie. However, I added extra everything, including chocolate, and added hints of candy cane and peppermint throughout!

I hope you enjoy it!

How to make peppermint triple chocolate cream pie

First, you’ll want to prep the chocolate whipped cream by stirring together the heavy cream and cocoa powder. This allows the cocoa to absorb into the cream so it’s not grainy or gritty when you’re ready to whisk it. Refrigerate until the end.

Next, make the peppermint chocolate cookie crust. Grind up peppermint chocolate sandwich cookies (like Candy Cane Joe Joe’s). If you can’t find any with candy canes already in the cookie, you can add some crushed candy canes to regular cookies.

Press it into a pie pan until very tightly packed in and even. Freeze while you make the filling. At this point, you should stir the cocoa/cream mixture again to help it smooth out a little more.

Next, make the chocolate ganache. In a heatproof bowl, stir the chocolate chips and some heavy cream over a saucepan with simmering water (or in the microwave) just until the chocolate’s almost all melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, cocoa powder, heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract until smooth. You can even use cold cream cheese if you forgot to take it out ahead of time, just beat a little longer to smooth it out.

Add in the ganache and beat until smooth.

Taste, adding more sugar, cocoa, or heavy cream as needed. It doesn’t thicken in the fridge, so you want a fairly thick but still spreadable filling.

Spread it evenly in your frozen pie crust. Refrigerate or even return to the freezer while you make the chocolate peppermint whipped cream.

Next, whisk your cocoa and cream again. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract and whisk until well-blended. Taste, adjusting as needed. Whisk vigorously (or with a hand mixer or stand mixer, staring on low then increasing to high as it thickens) for a few minutes, until soft peaks form.

Spread over the filling.

Top with chocolate shavings by using a potato peeler to shave off some chocolate from the edge of a solid bar. Add some ground candy canes as well.

Enjoy!

Tips for this recipe

Crush candy canes with a rolling pin!

Place candy canes in a sturdy plastic bag (or even a double bag—it can get messy) and pound away with a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer. Just watch for any holes in your bag. I’ve been disappointed by more than one instance of candy canes spilling all over my kitchen.

Don’t put whole candy canes in your food processor

The candy canes will get sticky and gummy if you put large chunks in with the cookies. Or, even worse, they could get stuck to the blades. It’s best to add in mostly ground candy canes so they can just grind down a tiny bit along with your cookies.

This is also why you need to stir the melted butter into the cookies and not mix it by pulsing in the food processor. The candy canes will cause the mixture to become gummy and oily rather than crispy.

Make your own chocolate shavings!

It’s not hard, folks! Seriously. Just a potato peeler and a solid bar of chocolate (don’t try peppermint bark—trust me 😂). Also, don’t leave the partially peeled bar of chocolate laying around if you have toddlers. I took some photos then ran into the other room and returned to a very happy two year old with chocolate all over her face and hands and clothes acting like it was perfectly normal for her to be eating half a bar of chocolate. 😂

You might also like:

Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Pie

prep time: 20-25 minutes (including pie shell)

cook time: 5 minutes

total time: 30 minutes

Servings: 8-12 (makes one 8”-9” pie)

Ingredients:

one peppermint chocolate cookie crust

for the peppermint chocolate cream filling:

⅓ cup chocolate chips

¾ cup heavy whipping cream, separated

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (ideally--cold will do, too)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

⅔ to ¾ cup powdered sugar, to taste

½ tablespoon vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)

for the peppermint chocolate whipped cream:

1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, cold

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

¼ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract, optional

Instructions:

First, prep the peppermint chocolate whipped cream by mixing the 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon cocoa in a bowl until combined. It will look grainy, which is fine. The idea is to let it chill together so the cocoa can absorb into the cream while you make the rest of the pie.

Next, make the peppermint chocolate cookie pie crust. Place in the freezer to let it firm up while you make the filling.

Next, make the filling. Place the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons (of the ¾ cup) heavy whipping cream in a heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate either by heating in the microwave at half power in 10 second increments, stirring between each time, or by placing over a saucepan with 1-2” simmering water (make sure it’s already simmering and turned down to medium-low when you put the bowl over it). Stir constantly until almost all of the chocoalte is melted then remove from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, add the remaining filling ingredients. Using a hand mixer or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, beat on high until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Stop to scrape down the bowl and mix again on high for about 10 seconds to combine.

Add in the melted chocolate and beat on high until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and taste. Add more cocoa powder, powdered sugar, or heavy cream (in small splashes) as desired until it’s smooth (but thick enough to slice through--it won't thicken in the fridge), and as sweet/chocolatey as you’d like. But remember, the whipped cream will also help balance out the flavor. Mix on high 10 more seconds to combine.

Spread the chocolate mixture evenly in the bottom of the now-chilled crust. Refrigerate while you make the whipped cream topping.

In a chilled bowl, whisk the cocoa/cream mixture along with the rest of the whipped topping cream ingredients. Whisk gently until combined. Taste. Add more powdered sugar as needed (I think I added one more tablespoon because I made such a rich, chocolatey filling). Then whisk on medium-high (or by hand) until soft peaks form--you want it smooth but just starting to hold some small peaks. Spread over the chocolate filling.

Using a potato peeler, make chocolate shavings by peeling the edge of a solid bar of your favorite chocoalte over the pie. Sprinkle some crushed candy cane pieces on top.

Enjoy! Keep refrigerated until serving. Seal leftovers with plastic wrap or foil. (This helps keep the crust fresh and prevents the whipped cream absorbing any smells in even the cleanest of fridges.) It should last up to a week in the fridge, if sealed well and if all ingredients were fresh.