Boozy Buckeye Pie {Dairy-free option}

Can't go wrong with flaky sea salt on top

I didn't know what buckeyes were until I met my husband who hails from Ohio. The Ohio Buckeye is Ohio's state tree, and produce the buckeye nut, which look similar to hazelnuts but are toxic. This nut is the namesake of The Ohio State's football team as well as the treats created in the team's honor. The OG recipe for these came sometime around the 1960's (read more here). 

Buckeye the treenut
(Kathy Smith, SENR, CFAES)

Buckeyes the candy

I learned about all this when I tried a buckeye for the first time while visiting my husband's family. As you might have guessed from the pictures, the buckeye candies are a core of melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter goodness coated in dark chocolate; essentially another iteration of the perfect duo. Because they're bite-sized, it's hard to stop yourself from eating more than one. Since the time I learned of them, I've had the chance to make a couple batches, including a mega batch in the picture above.  Those were cranked out by my husband and me at a relative's wholesale bakery. We were recruited to help with the holiday orders and ended up making ~500 buckeyes that day! Not that I minded since it's been a dream of mine to work (even for a day!) in a bakery :D 
So what led to the making of the buckeye pie? My husband's birthday was coming up and I was brainstorming what to make for him. For context, he had a phase growing up when all he wanted as his birthday 'cake' was pumpkin pie. To this day he still loves pumpkin pie, but his horizons have also expanded to include a deep appreciation for brownies and peanut butter desserts. With this in mind, I wanted to surprise him with something different. I figured a pie would be a fun twist. Even better would be a buckeye pie. The only issue is there really wasn't a buckeye pie recipe the way I'd imagined them to be. In my mind, I was dreaming up a salty dark chocolate cookie crust filled with a layer of dark *boozy* chocolate custard and another of light peanut butter mousse, topped with a ring of dark chocolate ganache for the signature buckeye look.  Plus some extra flaky sea salt for good measure. The buckeye recipes I found had just the solitary peanut butter filling and a topping of chocolate ganache, which sounded like a fancy peanut butter pie. So I got to work and browsed through chocolate silk pies for good custard bases as well as peanut butter pies for a light cool-whip free pb mousse. The end result was exactly what I'd had in mind, with a kick of Bailey's in the chocolate custard. Needless to say, my husband loved it (yay! mission accomplished). I ended up making a dairy free version over the winter break that turned out just as well! TJ's vegan cream cheese for the win.

|| Boozy Buckeye Pie* ||

*Dairy-free option

Makes one 9" deep dish pie

Ingredients

For pie crust

• 4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped to chocolate chip size; or 4oz dark chocolate chips°
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 /2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened°
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar

For chocolate custard

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 Tb. cocoa powder, Dutch-processed preferred
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 cups 1% milk
• 1/2 cup chilled whipping cream°
• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped°
• 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish cream°
• 1/2 Tb. espresso powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For peanut butter mousse

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter*
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temp°
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream°

*This cannot be the natural kind that has oil separation

For chocolate ganache 

• 4 oz. dark chocolate chips°
• 1/2 Tb. coconut oil

°Dairy-free modifications:

• Make sure the chocolate chips do not include milk fat or milk solids. 
• Instead of unsalted butter, use 1/2 cup refined coconut oil which should be soft at room temperature. If the weather is warm and the coconut oil is entirely liquid, place in fridge or freezer briefly (~5-10 min) until it is a spreadable consistency
• In the chocolate custard, use 1/2 cup coconut cream in place of the whipping cream. I like Thai kitchen's coconut milk, which has been thick enough to function as cream. For the boozy kick, you can use an almond-based Irish cream liquor, bourbon or coffee liquor.
• For the peanut butter mousse, use 8oz of Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese in place of the regular cream cheese. Whip 1/2 cup coconut cream and fold in. 

Directions

1. Night beforehand, make the pie crust: Preheat oven to 325F, grease 9" glass deep dish pie plate and set aside. 
2. Combine flour with cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix.
3. In a large bowl, beat sugar with butter for about 5 minutes--it should become very light and fluffy.
4. Add in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in chopped chocolate. 
5. Transfer dough into pie plate and use a the outside of a measuring cup or large spoon to press the dough evenly into the pie plate. Use a fork to poke a few holes in the bottom of the pie. 
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, when the crust has risen but is still slightly soft. Let cool, then transfer to fridge.
7. Morning of, or at least 3 hours prior, make chocolate custard: in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk in egg yolks, the consistency will be a thick paste. Continue whisking while gradually drizzling in milk. Then whisk in cream. Turn on heat to medium-high, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and boils for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add in chocolate. Whisk until combined and smooth. Then add in Baileys and vanilla. Let cool for 5 minutes, whisking intermittently. Transfer to heatproof bowl, place plastic wrap directly on top of the custard to prevent the formation of a crust. Let cool completely in fridge.
8. About 1 hour prior, make peanut butter mousse: In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and sea salt; set aside. In a large separate bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add peanut butter mixture to whipped cream and gently fold together. Chill in fridge until assembly.
9. To assemble: Start by prepping the chocolate ganache: melt the chocolate chips with the coconut oil in 15 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each interval. Once smooth, set aside. Fill the bottom half of the pie crust with the chocolate custard. You will likely have some left over. This is not a bad thing--use it however you like! Smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Next, use a large spoon to even drop dollops of peanut butter mousse over the custard. Clean the offset spatula and use it again to smooth the mousse layer. Then drizzle a rim of chocolate ganache around the outer edge of the pie to complete the buckeye resemblance. The offset spatula will again be your friend with smoothing out the rim. Lastly, sprinkle on some coarse ground sea salt. 
10. The most important step, cut thick slices and enjoy!

P.S. This pie will keep for at least 5 days in the fridge, so no pressure to consume it all in one go. But also no judgment if it never makes it back to the fridge