Friends! One of the most important baking holidays of the year is almost upon us! Pi(e) Day approaches!! I have, therefore, spent much time in the past weeks trying to cultivate the perfect recipe to celebrate this esteemed numeric homonym holiday. As such, I hope to soon share with you a glorious Nutella Cream Pie recipe (test pie #4 is currently chilling in the fridge). In the meantime, though, I can with all confidence share the recipe for the chocolate hazelnut crumb crust that serves as the foundation. This part, I have honed to perfection!

Through a variety of trials and errors, I’ve discovered some important things about the ratio of butter to crumb when putting together an Oreo crust. Too much butter and it will stick to the pan like sweet, chocolate spackle. Not enough butter, and it will come out of the pan in tasty, crumbly bits that scatter all over in messy enthusiasm. Both still result in delicious pie ingredients eventually making it to one’s plate (and mouth), but the ideal is for pie to come out of the pan in the form of a slice, not a gloopy spoonful.

The addition of ground, toasted hazelnuts takes a straightforward Oreo crumb crust from good to exceptional. Chocolate and hazelnut do pair so very well together, after all…

Ingredients are listed in the order they appear in the recipe and anything that requires prep is in bold. Ingredients are bolded in the directions when you first encounter them and the quantity required is included.  I also include notes about any special equipment you’ll need.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crumb Pie Crust

• 1/2 cup (60 grams) hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
• 18 Oreo cookies (approximately 210 grams) – this is exactly half of a standard package of Oreos, and is just shy of 2 cups of crumbs
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark is fine)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Required equipment: a food processor and either a standard 9″ pie plate or a 9″ deep dish pie plate (it will make enough for either).

Prep work: toast the hazelnuts. If you bought them raw, then toast them on a baking sheet at 350° for about 15 minutes. Then, rub them in a hand towel to get as much of the skins off as you can.

In the bowl of a food processor combine the 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, 18 Oreo cookies, and 3 tablespoons brown sugar. Pulse until ingredients are crushed into a sandy meal. Pour the mixture into a small bowl.

Melt the 4 tablespoons butter via your preferred method – I tend to use a small saucepan since attempting to melt butter in the microwave usually results in buttery explosions for me. 

Pour the melted butter into the Oreo-hazelnut mixture and stir to combine.

Once the liquid seems evenly distributed, dump the mixture into your pie plate of preference (9″, 10″, or 9″ deep dish will work).  I like to start by pressing the crumb mixture around the sides of the pan first, followed by the bottom – making sure to create a nice seal along the base.

You’re done! It’s a good idea to pop it in the fridge or freezer for a bit while you make your filling, but this crumb crust is ready to go.