Mint Chocolate Brownie Pie

Mint chocolate brownie pie is a clever mash-up of brownies and pie. A flaky pie crust gets a thick scattering of mint chocolate chips on the bottom, followed by a quick fudge brownie batter spread right on top. As it bakes, the chips melt into a thin minty layer between crust and brownie, so every slice has three distinct textures: crisp pastry, soft mint, dense brownie.

The shortcut here is intentional: a boxed brownie mix bumped up with an extra ounce of melted semisweet chocolate. That second hit of chocolate cuts the boxed-mix sweetness and gives the filling a deeper, more bittersweet edge that plays well against the cool mint.

Serve warm, the moment a wedge can hold its shape, with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the cracks.

Pro Tips

• Beat the batter just 50 strokes by hand, as the directions say. Overmixing develops gluten in the brownie and makes it cakey instead of fudgy.
• Watch the crust edge, not the center. The brownie filling bakes faster than the crust browns; if the edges look dark before the filling sets, shield with foil.
• Pull it from the oven when the center still has the slightest jiggle. It firms up as it cools, and pulling it early keeps it gooey.
• Use a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts. Brownie filling drags on a warm blade and ruins clean wedges.

Variations

• Swap mint chips for peanut butter chips and skip the melted chocolate for a brownie-peanut butter pie.
• Top with a few crushed Andes mints in the last 5 minutes of baking for an extra mint hit.
• Use a chocolate cookie crust instead of pie pastry for a more candy-bar feel.