Chocolate Pie

Ingredients

For Pie Shell

Graham crackers to yield 2 cups crumbs

Chocolate sandwich cookies (white centers removed) to yield 1 1/2 cups crumbs (recommended: Oreo)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the graham crackers and chocolate cookies to make crumbs.

In a bowl mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter with your hands. Press the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. (It will seem like an excessive amount of crumbs, but will compress down quite a bit with pressure.) Cover the crust with plastic wrap and top with another 9-inch pan, pressing quite firmly to make a smooth surface. Remove the pan and the plastic wrap from the pressed crust prior to placing it into the preheated oven. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

Remove the crust from the oven and let cool completely before filling.

Yield: 1 (9-inch) crust

1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Syrup

1 cup (1/2 pt.)cold whipping cream

1 packaged crumb crust (6 oz.)

Sliced fresh fruit(optional)

Chocolate curls(optional)

1. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl until well blended. Gradually add syrup, beating until smooth. Beat whipping cream until stiff. Carefully fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into crust.

2. Cover; freeze until firm, about 3 hours. Just before serving, garnish with fruit and chocolate curls, if desired. 6 to 8 servings.