Ice Cream Pie

My kids and I stumbled on the Pioneer Woman cooking show last week.  She started with dessert.  Why not?!  That's usually the best part of the meal, anyway.  We were all drooling as we watched her make the simplest ice cream pie.  It looked so good, I went to the store right then and there to get the ingredients for my kids and I to make our own ice cream pie!  

It was super yummy, as expected.  And even though we used over a dozen peanut butter cups, I think it actually could have handled more - yikes!  Straight from the freezer, the pie was pretty firm.  I liked it best after the ice cream had melted just a little and each bite reminded me of a blizzard.  Now I'm churning with ideas of how to do different flavors.  I think mint chocolate is going to be my next try.

18 graham crackers (the 4-section large piece)

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:

2 pints vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (I didn't use these - not a big fan of actual nuts in my ice cream)

4 peanut butter cups, roughly chopped (or more!)

2 large Butterfinger, roughly chopped (I didn't use these, but just bulked up on the Reeses)

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Crush the graham crackers in a food processor or resealable pastil bag.  Pour the drums into a bowl and stir in the melted butter.  Press into a pie pan and bake until golden and set, about 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool completely.

For the filling:  Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften slightly.  Mix in the pecans, peanut butter cups and peanut butter crunch candy bars and pour the ice cream mixture into the crust.  Cover with foil and freeze until very hard.  1 to 2 hours.