Cookie Dough Cream Pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. To make the crust, mix together melted butter, almond meal (if using), and cookie crumbs with a fork until uniformly moistened. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake 8 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. To prepare cookie dough, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Press cookie dough into cooled crust. You want an even layer of dough approximately 1/2 inch thick. (You will have leftover dough, to eat or to bake into mini cookies. Refrigerate pan while you prepare the cream filling. Whisk together brown sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Add 1 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until mixture is smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. In a heatproof bowl, beat egg yolks with the remaining 1 cup milk. Temper the yolks by adding the warm milk mixture to the eggs, a little bit at a time, stirring after each addition. Repeat until about half of the milk mixture has been added and egg mixture is warm to the touch. Pour into saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat to low and simmer until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool about 5 minutes or until warm—not hot—to the touch. Pour filling over chilled cookie dough, leveling the top with an offset spatula. Filling should reach about 1/2 inch from the top of the crust. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours. To make the topping, whip heavy cream with an electric mixer until it begins to form soft folds. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until cream holds stiff peaks. With an offset spatula, gently spread all but 1/3 cup of the whipped topping over chilled filling. Pipe or dollop remaining topping evenly around the pie. Refrigerate until ready to serve.