No Bake Inside out Boston Cream Halloween Moon Pies

Author: Terri Gilson

Ingredients:

3 cups cold milk

2 (30g) packages of instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups whipped cream (homemade or frozen dessert topping -e.g. Cool whip)

½ tsp yellow gel paste food/icing colouring

TERRI’S TIP:  I do NOT recommend using food colouring from the grocery store – you won’t get a deep enough colour. Get the gel/icing food colouring sold at many craft/hobby stores (including Michael’s) and online.Here is an example.

1 box (400g) Oreo chocolate baking crumbs

1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 Tblsp white granulated sugar

10 oz melted semi- sweet chocolate

2 Tblsp corn syrup

1 small ( 370g) white pound or loaf cake, sliced

Directions:

1.Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.Crust: Mix oreo cookie baking crumbs, 3/4 cup unsalted melted butter and 2 Tblsp white granulated sugar together in large bowl until they cling together. Press evenly onto the parchment lined cookie sheet, as you would for a pie crust, except it will be a large rectangle, instead of a circle (about 1/4 inch thick). Chill for 15 minutes in refrigerator.

3.Topping: Beat milk and vanilla pudding powder together for approximately 1 1/2 – 2 minutes or until thickened. Add yellow gel food/icing colouring until you get desired colour of yellow and refrigerate to set.

4.Glaze: Melt semi-sweet chocolate in microwave on ½ power (5 on my microwave) for about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes or until melted, then mix with 1/2 cup melted butter and corn syrup. You can also choose to use a double boiler to melt chocolate for this step. *Note: be careful: If you cook the chocolate on too high of a temperature in the microwave or it comes in contact with any water, it will seize.

5.Pour glaze evenly over oreo cookie mix, very gently spreading with a spatula, as to not break up the cookie or get the crumbs into the chocolate mixture. Evenly cover the entire area. Refrigerate until firm (about 20-30 minutes)

6. Remove the chocolate covered crust from the fridge and cut 8 circles the size of the bottom of a mini pie pan (I use 5X 1 & 3/8″ meat pie aluminum pan) with a round cookie cutter or the mouth of a cup/mug about the same size (it doesn’t have to be perfect, just approximate). Place on bottom of mini aluminum pie pan.

7.Scoop 2-3 Tblsp of whipping cream and evenly spread over the chocolate cookie crust, then add a slice (1/2 – 3/4 inch thick) of pound cake (you will likely need to trim the edges to fit.)

8.Top with approximately 3-4 Tblsp of the yellow vanilla pudding. Then use a butter knife to even out, until it’s flush with the edge of the pie plate, adding more or removing excess pudding, as needed.

9.Take a mini bat cookie cutter and cut 16 bats in the remaining chocolate covered cookie area on the cookie sheet. Gently push the cookies out of the cookie cutter and place carefully onto the moon pie with a spatula. (*If the chocolate covered cookie is starting to get warm, put it back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes until firm again. You want to work with it when it’s cold and firm to avoid the cookie bats falling apart.)

10. Serve and enjoy!

Prep time:15 minutes +10 minutes chilling

Total time: 55 minutes, including chilling time