Chocolate Peppermint Pie

I created this recipe as a smaller batch variation on an old favorite.

Pre-made Oreo cookie pie crust
8 oz container Cool Whip, thawed in the refrigerator
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 small pkg instant chocolate pudding
1-1/2 c milk
9 candy canes
1 2 oz chocolate bar

Layer 1:
Whip cream cheese until soft. Stir in powdered sugar and 1/2 of Cool Whip carton. Crush 6 candy canes (about 1/2 cup crushed) and stir into cream cheese mixture. Spread in the bottom of the Oreo crust.

Layer 2:
Mix package of chocolate pudding with milk until smooth and thick. Pour over cream cheese layer.

Layer 3:
Spread remaining half of Cool Whip container over chocolate layer. Chill pie overnight or several hours.

Chocolate Christmas Garnishes:
Trace some Christmas cookie cutters onto paper. I didn't have Christmas cookie cutters, so I found some Christmas silhouette images online and printed them out so that the printed images were about three inches tall. Lay plastic wrap over paper with shapes on the counter.

Melt chocolate bar in double boiler. Pour melted chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag. Cut a very small piece off of bag corner to make a frosting tip. Use the chocolate to trace the Christmas shapes on the plastic wrap. You could also freehand the shapes, but I'm not that good. I sprinkled some very finely crushed candy canes on some of the the chocolate pieces to make them sparkle. Let the chocolate shapes cool completely.

Serving:
Crush 3 more candy canes. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the top Cool Whip layer of the pie just before serving. Slice pie, and place a chocolate shape vertically in the cream.