Healthy Mini Chocolate Peppermint Pies

For the "Pie Crust"

• ½ C Country Crock Olive Oil stick butter, room temperature
• ½ C brown sugar
• ½ C Stevia
• 1 egg
• ½ Tbsp vanilla
• 1¼ C all-purpose flour
• ¼ C cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

For the Filling

• 1½ pkg. sugar-free white chocolate pudding mix*
• 1⅓ C unsweetened almond milk**
• ¼ tsp peppermint extract
• 10 mini candy canes
• 45 g Reddi Whip Almond Milk Whipped Cream***

For the "Pie Crust"

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
3. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the dough comes together. It will be soft! Stick the bowl of dough in the fridge while the oven preheats.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray two 12-count muffin tins with cooking spray. When the oven is ready, pull out the cookie dough from the freezer. Spoon 1 tablespoon-sized balls of dough into each tin.(Don't worry about flattening them, just scoop the cookie dough into the tin).
5. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes in the pan after baking, then use a small round measuring spoon or cup to press the cookie dough down into the shape of a pie crust. Allow the cookie crusts tocool for an additional 15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.

For the "Pie Filling"

1. To make the peppermint filling, pour the almond milk into a medium-sized bowl and add the peppermint extract. Pour the packets of pudding mix to a glass measuring cup. Whisking constantly, add the pudding mix into the milk and continue to stir vigorously until the pudding has thickened, little to no clumps remain, and the pudding has begun to set.
2. Add 8 of the 10 candy canes to a ziploc bag and crush into fine pieces. Fold gently into the pudding.
3. To assemble the mini Chocolate Peppermint Pies, spoon fill each cookie cup with the prepared pudding. (You will probably have a little bit of pudding leftover, but don't skimp on the pudding!) Squirt a dollop of whipped cream onto each pie, then press a round peppermint into the whipped cream and pie filling. Garnish mini pies with the remaining [crushed] candy canes and serve immediately.

*Purchase the boxes that are 1 oz. If you can't find the white chocolate flavor, just use regular vanilla (sugar-free of course). With the 2nd packet, measure out exactly 2 tablespoons to get the "1⁄2" packet you need for the recipe.

**You can use any non-dairy milk for this recipe, but be sure to follow MY instructions when making the pudding. If you only have dairy milk, follow the exact instructions on the box of pudding mix instead of my instructions, then proceed with the rest of the recipe.

***Don’t worry about the exact measurement, the 45g just represents 18 squirts of canned whipped cream. If you are not dairy-free, you can use any canned whipped cream you like!

Nutrition facts are a calculated estimate of 1 mini pie, including the filling, whipped cream, and peppermint.