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My grandmother on my dad’s side, had an amazing sweet tooth.
How that woman could eat as many jelly-filled donuts as she did and still live to 97, I’ll never know!
A Simple (and Simplified) Grasshopper Pie
One of her favorite pies to make for us was grasshopper pie, a chilled minty green pie with an Oreo cookie crust. I haven’t found her recipe, but my father patched one together from many he found online that turns out a pie just like the one she used to make.
Many grasshopper pie recipes are quite elaborate and call for gelatin, egg yolks, egg whites, etc. In this recipe, we use marshmallows, instead of the eggs and gelatin.
A Make-Ahead Pie
Make this pie at least three hours ahead of when you plan to serve it. It needs this time in the freezer to completely set and firm up. You can also keep it frozen for a few days, but cover the frozen pie loosely with aluminum foil to protect it.
Leftovers can be kept frozen for at least a week, but can start to develop freezer burn or pick up odd flavors from the freezer if stored for longer periods.
Check out These Other Classic Pies
- Lemon Icebox Pie
- Mint Chocolate Cream Pie
- Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Coconut Banana Cream Pie
P.S. Also try this classic Grasshopper Cocktail for another minty-chocolate treat!
Grasshopper Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 Oreo cookies (60 halves), fillings discarded, cookies crushed fine
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 24 large marshmallows
- 1/4 cup creme de menthe liqueur
- 2 tablespoons white creme de cacao
- A drop or two of green food dye, optional
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Chocolate shavings to top, optional
Special equipment:
- 10-inch pie dish
Method
1 Make Oreo cookie crust: Preheat oven to 425°F. In a bowl, mix crushed Oreo cookie halves and 6 tablespoons of the butter. A small handful of the crumbs should hold together when you squeeze it in your fist. If it crumbles apart, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it holds together
Pat into bottom and up sides of 10 inch pie dish. Press firmly with the bottom of a cup to tamp down and compact the crust into the pie dish.
Bake in oven for 5 to 10 minutes; remove from oven and cool completely.
Once cooled, place in freezer to chill.
2 Make marshmallow mixture: In saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until steaming, but not boiling. Add the marshmallows and stir gently until the marshmallows have melted.
Remove the pan from heat and cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge until cool to the touch. If you want, you can speed up the cooling process by setting the pan in an ice water bath. (If the mixture is room temperature or warmer, it has a tendency to break when you add the remaining ingredients.)
3 Mix in the liquors and whipped cream: Add creme de menthe and creme de cacao to the cooled marshmallow mixture, and mix well. Add a drop or two of green food dye if desired.
With a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whip the the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the milk and marshmallow mixture in three separate additions. Continue folding and gently mixing until no more streaks of white remain.
3 Pour into chilled pie shell. Freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate shavings, if desired.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Grasshopper Pie
Made this for my daughter’s birthday and it’s surprisingly great! (I’ve made maybe 2 pies in my life.) This recipe was easy to follow. I did not have either liqueur and it was for kids, so I used 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. I wish I had chocolate to shave on the top, but a chocolate fudge drizzle works well too! Oh, and I crushed up some thin mints for the top too. Thanks!
xxxxxyyyyy
This was my birthday cake many times ! I use the Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies for the crust ! The kind you use heavy cream to make the refrigerator cake, another birthday fave ! This pie is delicious and its different and visually appealing !
Even non mint blinkers, may go for this ! My Aunt also made a s similar pie with Kailua !!
So glad to see one that uses Marshmallows instead of gelatin. I tried making one with it and it was a disaster as the gelatin went all rubbery and didn’t want to mix in Pie never set right. Maybe try this method instead. Could one melt the marshmallows in the Microwave??
Hi, Karen! I’d recommend melting the marshmallows in the milk as instructed in the recipe, otherwise they may overcook. Enjoy!
Save yourself the Oreo step; use 1 1/4 cup crushed Famous Chocolate Wafers..found in most large grocery stores. Mix with 1/3 cup melted butter, press into pan and chill. Then add filling.
PERFECT recipe as-is, do not change a thing!
After having made many “mistake” pies (soup and such), glad to hear the secret is getting everything cold before mixing it together. That really makes the difference.
I just made one in Michigan – easy to keep the crust cool outside in the snow, easy to keep the bowl for the whipping cream outside in the snow…. easy to freeze the pie outside in the snow…..
Do not use store bought crusts, it’s easy to de-cream the Oreos, put them in a plastic Zip loc bag and smash them with a rolling pin. Even the cream de cocoa has a purpose – makes the pie more chocolatey mint. And there’s only 1/4 cup of alcohol in the whole pie, so let the kids have a sliver too. Mmmmm!!
xxxxxyyyyy