There was this portion that taught kids little recipes that they could try with very little supervision from Mom. I first encountered the term “mud pie” in this kid’s magazine. The recipe went a little something like this: Ingredients were composed of heavy whipping cream, crushed Oreos, condensed milk, and vanilla. Instructions: Combine all ingredients until they looked like one mad pile of mud, cover with pastic wrap, and place it on the fridge until it’s chilled and hard enough to serve. Top with cherry and drizzle with chocolate syrup. That’s it! That was the mud pie. I made it once with Mom’s supervision.

While it tasted good, it didn’t look that great. I didn’t know back then that real mud pies weren’t supposed to be as simple and as messy as that kiddie mud pie. But it was still an experience nevertheless.

Now that I’m grown up, I can follow instructions well. My mud pies have looked better over the years; and tasted even better too. There are recipes available that can help you create mud pies that you can actually serve to guests over at formal dinners. Here’s one from Food Network. Other than the toppings that I added (I always wanted to put different toppings), this recipe works so well.

I love making mud pies for any occasion. It’s a dessert recipe that you don’t really need to be so precise so I can experiment a lot. I add more whipped cream, I add more toppings, and I add a few extra ingredients that can make it as my own version. You can never go wrong with this dessert recipe. It’s chocolate and cream; ingredients that when combined always turn out so delicious. You can be more creative with this dessert.

Go crazy with the ingredients if you want to. There will be no complaints, I’m sure.

Ingredients

For the crust:

9 Keebler chocolate graham crackers (1 sleeve)

1/3 cup Kirkland chopped pecans

3 tablespoons Land O Lakes unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

1 stick Land O Lakes unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 ounces Hershey’s unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons Gold Medal all-purpose flour

Pinch of Morton salt

1 1/4 cups Domino granulated sugar

2 tablespoons Great Value light corn syrup

2 tablespoons Kahlua coffee-flavored liqueur

1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick vanilla extract

3 large Eggland’s eggs

For the topping:

1 1/2 cups Borden cold heavy cream

1 tablespoon Domino confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon McCormick vanilla extract

3 tablespoons Kirkland finely chopped pecans

Chocolate sauce, for drizzling (optional)

Instructions

Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pulse the graham crackers and pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Add the melted butter and process until moistened. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chocolate crumb mixture for topping, then press the rest into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until set, about 10 minutes; transfer to a rack and let cool.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring. Remove from the heat, then stir in the flour and salt until smooth. Stir in the sugar, corn syrup, coffee liqueur and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake until set and cracked on top (like a brownie), about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool slightly, about 2 hours (the pie should still be slightly warm).

Make the whipped cream: Beat the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla with a mixer until soft peaks form. Top the pie with the whipped cream, pecans and reserved chocolate crumb mixture. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.