Mini chocolate pudding pie for a mini (pre) Thanksgiving

It's practically Thanksgiving!  No doubt, most of you are busy prepping for the big day (hopefully, there aren't too many last-minute errands...we're slated to get a load of snow tomorrow in NJ!). I'm once again heading out to enjoy a feast with my extended family.  This year, I managed to get out of turkey duty!  There's something about prepping that bird for a crowd that stresses me out.  Apparently, I'm not alone because no one else in my family has turkey duty this year either.  We've decided to outsource that particular task (I hope no one is horrified by this revelation).  

A 6-inch mini chocolate pudding pie for my mini early Thanksgiving for three

Since we usually head out to gather with family for Thanksgiving and since I'm taking that reprieve from turkey prepping on the big day (what will I do with all that extra time on my hands!), I decided to have a mini Thanksgiving dinner for the 3 of us at home this past Sunday.  I'm talking about a cozy, very simple, no-stress, mini Thanksgiving meal before the actual day.  I roasted a small turkey breast and made a couple of quick sides.  Sides are fun!  Everything was simple and it really didn't take much more work than an ordinary Sunday night dinner.

The mini Thanksgiving idea having surfaced, my mind went on to a quick dessert. This lighter chocolate pudding pie is one of my son's favorite things so I thought I'd whip one of those up.  I usually make the crust with graham crackers and have also had a lot of success using digestive biscuits recently.  This time, I didn't have either of those on hand but I did have Nilla wafers.  And in the spirit of keeping things simple and stress-free, I thought I'd just use what I had and give the Nilla wafers a try.

I finally got a chance to use my mini 6-inch, pie plate, which I bought months ago (since it was so cute).  I whipped up the crust, made the simple pudding, which contains no eggs or butter so it's nice and light, and we were ready for our mini Thanksgiving before Thanksgiving.

I may have possibly started a new tradition with this mini pre-Thanksgiving dinner, I don't know yet... 

For this recipe that makes a small 6-inch pie, I started with 18 Nilla wafers to make the crust.  After grinding the cookies with a little sugar and some butter, I baked the crust for about 10 minutes until golden.  This was my first time making a Nilla wafer crust.  It turned out nicely but given a choice, I'd prefer using digestive biscuits or graham crackers to pair with the chocolate.

I divided the light chocolate pudding recipe I typically use in half.  You'll end up filling the 6-inch pie and having a little extra "bonus" left over.  I plopped some whipped cream and crushed Nilla wafers on top of the extra chocolate pudding cup and the fellas enjoyed it.  

This pudding that fills the pie is nice and light, using 1% milk, no butter or eggs.  It has a nice dark chocolate flavor and is a surprisingly light dessert that you'd even appreciate after a substantial meal.  Plus, it's mini after all.

And here's a little snapshot of our mini pre-Thanksgiving dinner this past Sunday.  I slow-roasted a small turkey breast (just under 3 pounds) and we had simple sides of peas with pancetta and shallots, mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted kabocha squash wedges.  We had a lot of fun getting into the Thanksgiving spirit with this trial run!  

I hope you have a very happy and satisfying Thanksgiving!  I'm hopeful we'll be able to dig out of all the snow expected so that we can enjoy our Thanksgiving gathering!


Recipe:

Mini Chocolate Pudding Pie with Nilla Wafer Crust

Chocolate pudding recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger via the Food Network

- For one mini 6-inch pie -

For crust:

18 Nilla wafers 

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For chocolate pudding:

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons boiling water

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa-powder

1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Nilla wafer crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place Nilla wafers and sugar into a food processor or mini chopper.  Process until wafers are finely ground.  Add melted butter and process until mixture comes together, resembling wet sand.  Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 6-inch pie plate.  Bake until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes, then set aside to cool completely.

For chocolate pudding:

Place gelatin into a small heatproof bowl.  Add boiling water and stir until dissolved.  Set aside.

Place sugar, cocoa, espresso powder (optional), cornstarch, and salt into a saucepan.  Add half the milk and whisk until smooth and combined.  Then whisk in the remaining milk and turn the flame to medium.  Cook, whisking constantly to avoid lumps until thickened and pudding comes to a boil. 

Remove the pudding from the heat and add chopped chocolate, stirring until melted.  Add vanilla extract and gelatin mixture.  Stir together thoroughly and pour the filling into the cooled pie crust.  Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours until set.