Messy Mud Pie

To make the crust, place the cookies in a large sealable plastic bag, close it tightly, and crush the cookies with a rolling pin until they resemble dirt. Pour 1 1/2 cups of the crushed cookies into a 9-inch pie pan (save the remaining crumbs for the topping). Stir in the melted butter, then press into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Freeze for 20 minutes. Tip: Our testers had a blast crushing the cookies into dirt with everything from a rolling pin to the bottom of a measuring cup. Remove the chocolate ice cream from the freezer and soften for 10 minutes or microwave for 10 seconds. Spread half of it (2 cups) onto the bottom of the chilled crust. Next, dig potholes in the ice cream. Fill each with 1 tablespoon of fudge topping. Freeze for 10 minutes, or until the ice cream and fudge topping set. Tip: Tell your kids that it's okay to get their hands gooey, just like when they make a real mud pie, as long as their hands are clean and they wear aprons. For an extra-chocolaty mud pie, stir chocolate chip " rocks" into the remaining ice cream. Next, remove the pie from the freezer and spread the rocky ice cream evenly over the top. Place the pie back in the freezer while you whip the cream. Tip: Encourage your kids to improvise with this recipe. Instead of chocolate chips, ask them what other sweets they might add to their mud pies for rocks, such as M&M's, walnuts, or crushed Oreos or Snickers. To make the whipped cream, ask the chef to pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held mixer at high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cream starts to thicken. Add the chocolate milk mix and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the beater starts to leave swirls in the cream. Tip: Using an electric mixer is a job for a chef age 10 or up. Remove the pie from the freezer and spread the whipped cream evenly over the top. Sprinkle the pie with the remaining cookie crumb " dirt." Cover and freeze the mud pie for 3 to 4 hours. Tip: For a personalized pie, have the chef mark it with a B (or whatever his first initial is). Once the pie has frozen solid, slice it into wedges and eat it right away. If you wait too long to dig in, the pie will turn gooey - just like real mud pie. Serves 6 to 8 kids on a muddy spring day.