Muddy Day Pie

It's been really muddy around here.

A series of downpours has waterlogged quite a few folks.

Fields are flooded. Roads have been closed due to high water. Animals slop around in muddy pastures. And everything is covered in mud.

Just doing everyday chores is a mess. My shoes sink into the ground and get caked with heavy clods of wet mud. Clumps of mud splash up on my pants and my coat. And dogs track it into the house.

I see mud everywhere. Even in my dreams.

And on my plate.

Yes, I have seen so much mud that I just couldn't help myself, I just had to make a mud pie!I made a graham cracker crust for this pie. It was tasty. And really super easy.

This rich tasting pie would definitely be nice with a pastry crust (my pie crust recipe can be found here). But this graham cracker crust was a snap to make. And making it only dirtied one dish (the little pan I used to melt the butter). Having only one dish to wash seemed like a pretty big deal to me after cleaning up ten million muddy dog footprints. A pretty pie crust and just one little dirty dish? Yes, please!

This pie is a rich mocha filling poured over crunchy toasted walnuts that bakes into a delicious brownie like goodness. I used mostly English walnuts, adding just a few black walnuts. To be completely honest, I was just too lazy to shell out a whole cup of black walnuts. Luckily, I think my laziness turned out to be a good thing. Adding a few black walnuts added a nice earthiness to the flavor of the pie, but I think using only black walnuts would have been too strong, and may have drowned out how well the chocolate and coffee blended together.

Speaking of chocolate and coffee... I ate a piece of this pie with my coffee this morning... ohmygosh!!!MUDDY DAY PIE

For the crust:
9 graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

For the pie:
1 cup chopped walnuts (toast them first for a few minutes on the stove to really bring out their flavor)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
3 eggs

Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and then let butter cool to slightly warm. Place graham crackers in a resealable plastic bag and use rolling pin to crush crackers into crumbs. Add sugar. Shake bag to blend sugar and crumbs. Then pour melted (and slightly cooled) butter into bag and squeeze bag all over to blend all ingredients. Pour crumb mixture into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. Press crumbs to bottom and sides of pie plate to form crust. Spread 1 cup of chopped walnuts over crust. Set aside.

Gently heat 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup corn syrup. Stir together well and set aside until slightly cool. When cooled to just warm, add 2 tablespoons of instant coffee, 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur and 3 eggs. Beat well. Pour over walnuts in graham cracker crust.

Cook for 45 minutes in 350 degree oven. Let cool completely before slicing.