Chocolate Chip Cookie Tarts

Do you love chocolate chip cookies? Do you love the buttery goodness of a pie? Do you want to whip up something quickly with what you have in your pantry? You'll want to bookmark this post.

I first read about Bakerella's Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, when a friend of mine told me she was making this recipe alongside pumpkin pie for their family's Thanksgiving celebrations. I was intrigued, and I couldn't resist searching for the ingredients in my pantry.
I usually have a frozen pie crust or two in my freezer but when I realized I ran out, I thought I was out of luck. Fortunately, I found a box of frozen tart shells which I used instead. About half of the batter was left over but I just froze it until I was able to buy the frozen pie shells and make the pie version on another date.

Long story short: This recipe is easily adaptable. Add more nuts, or less chocolate chips if you wish and it will still be a winner.

Substitutions: Tart shells rather than pie shells. Just keep an eye on them as they bake, they will bake in about half the time the recipe calls for (about 30 minutes rather than an hour) but it will depend on your oven. They may still seem slightly under baked after you pull them out, but don't forget they keep baking even after they're out of the oven.

Would I make this again? Yes, like I mentioned I pulled out the leftover frozen batter, let it sit at room temperature for a bit and then filled another frozen pie shell when I had company coming over unexpectedly. This is not the most, shall we say, high-brow of desserts. But it will do the trick with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Grade: Four stars out of five. No matter what, I will always feel guilty for using a frozen pie shell or tart.  And I wouldn't necessarily serve this to my foodie friends who have come to except something fancy at the end of dinner. But you can get the goodness of a chocolate chip cookie without worrying about burning it, and without worrying about the batter spreading. And there isn't a single person who wouldn't take at least one bite of this tart. This recipe is a home cook's dream come true.