10.17.2008

Peanut Butter Pie


There is no greater combination than peanut butter and chocolate when it comes to dessert, so when I went to meet my boyfriend's family for the first time, I knew exactly what I had to make: peanut butter pie. And we're not talking PB pie like you get at a restaurant that's so dense it's almost cheesecake. And we're not talking one that's sprinkled with peanuts and drizzled with chocolate either. We're talking crunchy cookie crust; light, airy, and creamy peanut butter filling, and soft chocolate ganache.

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust
1 3/4 cup chocolate wafer crumbs
(I always use Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
3 TBS sugar
5 TBS melted, unsalted butter

Blend together and press into 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 10 min. Let cool.

Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I'm a Skippy snob)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream

Beat cream cheese with peanut butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat until well combined. In chilled bowl with chilled beaters, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold 1/4 into peanut butter mixture, then fold in the rest. Gently mound filling in crust and chill 4 hours or overnight.


Topping
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips. Let cool 15-20 minutes. Pour over pie. Chill for 30 minutes.


I made a little whipped cream to go on the side, which isn't necessary, but it does help cut the richness of the cake if you don't make your cream too sweet. This pie was a crowd-pleaser, as it always is. My only regret was that I was too full from dinner to even have any. It's good that I was snitching some as I was making it, and licking the bowls, of course.