Who knew Arkansas was holding out on us?!!! Four layers of crazy delicious! A crust with butter, brown sugar and pecans…then a cream cheese layer, a chocolate pudding layer and topped with whipped cream and more chocolate!
And why is it called “Possum Pie”? Well. Nobody seems to know. The general consensus is that you can’t tell what’s hiding underneath the top layer, as in, it’s “playing possum”. Hmmmm. There may not be a good explanation but I LIKE the name. It’s also called “Four Layer Pie” amongst other things, but it had me at “possum”.
There are many recipes out there with slight variations. The crust is a shortbread with pecans in it, and all I know is that anything that begins like that just can’t go wrong.
So, melt the butter and mix in the brown sugar, flour and chopped pecans.
If you hear “pie crust” and break out in a cold sweat then I have a sweet surprise for you! This is so easy and full proof! You just press it into the pie pan….no rolling out!
You will want to make the chocolate layer next so that it has time to cool.
If you have never made chocolate custard then you should really give it a try. It’s not hard and the finished product is WORTH IT.
Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. Easy peasy.
Next comes the chocolate!
Now top it off with whipped cream and chocolate pieces!
Arkansas Possum Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped
Layer 1
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp whole milk
Layer 2
- 1 cup sugar OR you can substitute 1 box Jello instant chocolate pudding + 1 box Jello instant chocolate fudge pudding + 1¾ cups milk for the chocolate layer.
- ½ cup baking cocoa
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp flour
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream **You can substitute Cool Whip for this layer.
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Garnish
- 1 Symphony chocolate bar with almonds and toffee pieces, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.Mix together crust ingredients and press into 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 16-17 minutes. Cool. **You can cool it in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
- For Layer 1, use beaters to mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. Spread on the bottom of cooled pie crust.
- For Layer 2, Mix all dry ingredients together. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a medium sauce pan.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the milk mixture and cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture bubbles and thickens, about 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully: Pudding can thicken VERY suddenly.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Spread in flat pan and cover with cling wrap, pressing right against the pudding to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes.
- Whisk the cooled pudding and spread on top of cream cheese layer. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- For whipped topping, whip the heavy cream with a hand mixer until fairly firm peaks are formed. Whip in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over chocolate layer.
- Top with chopped Symphony bar.
Awesome,will try.
What temp do you cook crust at
Sorry! 350 degrees. We will fix that right away!