Candy Cane Pie is a easy 15 minute Christmas dessert you can make ahead. A delicious peppermint ice cream filling, chocolate truffle sauce ribbons and crunchy Oreo crust make this one a dessert to remember!
One of my favorite Christmas desserts is this luscious Candy Cane Pie. This sweet, creamy treat is a mash up of chocolate peppermint bark, ice cream, and a classic icebox pie. I use my homemade truffle sauce (basically an easy chocolate ganache) to add a little something extra! And since I’m a true chocolate nut I put a nice layer under the peppermint filling and a layer swirled into the top. Of course you can drizzle on even a bit more when you serve it! MERCY but the slices disappear fast.
Homemade Candy Cane Pie
Most Candy Cane Pie recipes call for a big old tub of cool whip or a box of jell-o instant pudding – sometimes both. Many use red food coloring to make the pie pink… I’m no stranger to using a nice tub of cool whip on occasion but this pie is NOT that recipe!
Part of what makes this pie filling SO amazing is that it is all whole food ingredients like heavy whipping cream and real chocolate. The lovely pink color comes from the peppermint itself – no added food coloring!
When I was developing this recipe I actually made the filling from a no-churn ice cream recipe. The pie is served frozen and every bite feels like perfect, artisanal ice cream melting into your mouth. Of course it only takes about 15 minutes to make up one of these pies… So pretty much I’m a food genius and you might not even know what you did before this wonderful icebox pie!
This pie can be made several days before you plan to serve it which makes it a very easy Christmas dessert! All the fun of a decadent homemade dessert but no fuss on Christmas Day!
How to Crush Peppermint
It is easy enough to crush peppermint at home. A store near me always sells crushed peppermint in bulk for Christmas and I buy mine already crushed. If you don’t have that option (or if you need to use up a pile of candy canes and pass it off as a Valentine’s Day Treat) here are my peppermint crushing secrets – no matter what tools are in the kitchen:
- Freeze your peppermint candy or candy canes. Frozen peppermint smashes easier than room temperature. Gotta love chemistry!
- Remove any candy wrappers.
- If you have a food processor toss it into the machine and pulse a few times until it is crushed.
- If you DON’T have a food processor, put the peppermint in a big Ziploc bag.
- Use a rolling pin, wine bottle, hammer, meat mallet – any heavy blunt object and gently smash the peppermint. Try not to take ALL your emotions out on the candy – we are just going for small chunks, not powder!
Oreo Pie Crust
Candy Cane Pie is made with a simple chocolate Oreo crust. To make an Oreo crust you take Oreos and mash them up into crumbs – filling and all! Then you add some butter and toast the curst for a few minutes before filling it. The flavor and texture are wonderful!
Plenty of recipes call for “chocolate wafer cookies” which cost $6 for a small package and don’t make as nice of a crust. If you need to make a chocolate crumb crust just reach for the Oreos and enjoy. And – special tip??? Golden Oreos make a excellent crust for ice cream or ice box pies too! See my list of easy pie recipes below for a few of my favorite ways to use Oreo pie crust.
More Easy Pie Recipes
- Lemonade Icebox Pie (Golden Oreo Crust)
- Easy Key Lime Pie
- No Bake Huckleberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Cream Pie (With chocolate Oreo crust)
Candy Cane Pie with Chocolate Truffle Sauce
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 24 chocolate Oreo cookies (about 2/3 of a package)
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter (melted)
For the Truffle Sauce
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (40% fat content preferred)
For the Peppermint Filling
- 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream (40% fat content preferred)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup crushed peppermint candy (see note )
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Pulse the Oreos in a food processor for about 30 seconds until they are finely ground and no chunks remain. (Alternately put them in a Ziploc bag and smash with a rolling pin or wine bottle.)
- Stir in the melted butter and dump crust mixture into a 9" or 9 1/2" pie pan. Press the mixture into the sides of the pan first and then the bottom.
- Bake the crust for 4 minutes in a 350 F oven until the crust is just set. Remove to rack to cool.
For the Truffle Sauce
- Place the cream in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. You do not need to stir.
- When the cream begins to simmer add the chocolate and turn off the stove. Whisk until no lumps remain.
- Spoon about 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of the pie pan. It does not need to look perfect but it should be fairly evenly spread out. Set the rest of the sauce aside on the counter for later.
- Place the pie pan in the refrigerator to cool down before adding the cream mixture. (30 minutes or less.)
For the Peppermint Filling
- When the pie shell has cooled, add cream, sweetened, condensed milk, and vanilla to a stand mixer. Whip on high for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be thick and hold the lines formed by the beaters.
- Gently fold in peppermint until it is incorporated.
- Scrape filling into the cooled pie shell. Smooth gently on top so the filling sits flat.
- Spoon several Tablespoons of the chocolate sauce in a circular pattern over the top of the pie. Use a butter knife to draw a few "Z"s through the filling and sauce to swirl them together a little.
- Lay plastic wrap over the surface of the pie and freeze for at least 8 hours. Serve directly out of the freezer. Garnish slices with remaining chocolate sauce, whipped cream and peppermint pieces or mini candy canes if desired.
- After serving, cover leftovers tightly with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to a week.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally shared in January of 2015. It was updated with new photos in 2021.
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Wow this looks so delicious!! My husband will go crazy for this as these are his favorite flavors!!
Mirlandra
Thanks, Ami! When I first made it I thought it was going to be a total “girly” dessert but it has been a run away hit with the men who have tried it. Go figure!
Tim
This looks fantastic! Do you have any advice for making it peanut butter flavoured instead of peppermint? I figure just peanut butter in the filling would work but I’d love to hear any suggestions you have 😀
Mirlandra
Hey Tim,
That sounds really yummy! I have not done it but I think it might work really well. Cooking is all about experimenting! I would try folding about 1 cup of your favorite peanut butter into the whipped cream and omitting the peppermint of course. I would garnish the pie with some roughly chopped honey roasted peanuts and of course the fudge sauce. Thanks for asking!
Staci
PINNED!!! I can’t wait to try this.
The Better Baker
WOWOW! Looks like a fabulous holiday dessert. Thanks so much for all you share with us at Weekend Potluck. Your sweet comments mean so much too. Hope you enjoy an awesome weekend.
Mirlandra
Thank you – this is a family favorite!
Nicole
I can’t wait to make this! Do you use regular peppermint candy? Can I use candy canes or starlight mints?
Mirlandra
I have used crushed peppermint candy sold in bulk at Winco or candy canes or starlight mints depending on what I had on hand / what the store had. If you use candy canes or mint the best option is to freeze it first and then when frozen smash it with a rolling pin or bottle of wine (I would put the candy in a ziplock before whacking it) because that makes it crush easier. Good luck!
Amber
This looks incredible! Definitely going to make this for our Christmas dessert. My only question is, does it cut nicely once it’s been chilling? Since there’s no gelatin or stove top required. Just want to make sure it will solidify and not be soup! Thanks so much!
Mirlandra
I love this pie so much. I hope you guys do too! It cuts very nicely and serves nicely. The filly is essentially a homemade ice cream which is how it holds up. I cut it right out of the freezer for the pictures and didn’t do anything special so I would expect yours to look similar to the pictures. I try very hard to make sure that the photos I take of the food show results that anybody can get in their own kitchen.
Maureen
So you use regular oreos or chocolate filled oreos?
Mirlandra
I just use the regular ones.
Alicia
I tried this for Christmas Eve desert for my family. It totally flopped. My filling was soup and the candy canes just dissolved. I also had trouble getting the crust out of the pie dish. When I pulled the plastic wrap off it just pulled off my pretty chocolate design. I whipped it for much longer than indicated b/c it wasn’t setting. It was really disappointing but the flavor was good. I would love to figure out what went wrong and try again. Just my personal preference I would probably also swap the semi sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate, and swap the Oreos for those chocolate wafers you find in the ice cream isle to cut down on the sweetness.
Mirlandra
Hi Alicia,
I’m so sorry the pie didn’t work out. It sounds like a few things might be going on. I will see what I can trouble shoot for you!
1. Make sure you are using heavy whipping cream. It can’t be anything else. You have to have the full fat content.
2. Make sure the candy canes are just folded in quickly at the end – if you beat them in they will dissolve.
3. Don’t whip longer than indicated. Just whip until you get the nice lines in the thickening cream. If you go too long you will end up with texture problems. I think this might also be why the chocolate stuck to the plastic wrap?
4. With the plastic wrap issue it shouldn’t be a problem but it sounds like there were a few different things going on. Next time you could try freezing the pie solid for a few hours and then wrapping the plastic wrap over it. I think my crust comes up high enough that my wrap does not touch the surface of the pie so I have not run into this.
I’m so bummed it didn’t turn out well for you. It is generally such a simple recipe! And I totally agree that you could swap out those chocolate chips and cookies for a different flavor. Good luck! Please let me know how it turns out next time!