Smooth & Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

Yes, I have a thing against Cool Whip.
Yes, this pie actually has a crust that my camera somehow missed.
No… I didn’t save you a piece.
I’m sorry. It was too good. Even my family didn’t get much of it.
It was pretty amazing.

The first thing I love about this pie is that, as you know by now, it has no Cool Whip.
It seems like every recipe I look at for Peanut Butter Pie has Cool Whip in it.
I’m not a die-hard “real food” enthusiast, mostly because I’m too spoiled, but I do try to stay away from things that my body doesn’t recognize as food. Cool Whip falls into that category, along with fake sugar and squid. 

So there has been no Peanut Butter Pie in my house for a while. But all that has changed.
It’s simply a matter of whipping some cream.
I’m not sure why people are so afraid to whip cream. I mean, it’s not like making a sculpture out of sugar, or making a homemade brownie that actually tastes good.
It’s just cream.
As long as you honor that ten second window between cream and butter, you’re good! And if you miss it, well, you now have some butter. Throw it in your next batch of brownies, maybe you’ll be onto something!

 It looks like a lot of steps but that’s just because I took a lot of pictures. I assume that when you’re cooking, you don’t take pictures of each step. If you did, you’d stop cooking. (You can just trust me on that one, I’m about to stop cooking myself!)

I somehow didn’t get a picture of just the peanut butter mixture. So you’ll have to imagine that one.
First, you’ll whip the cream and 1  1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar in a glass bowl. The cream needs to be cold, and I would add the sugar toward the end.

In another bowl, mix the peanut butter, softened cream cheese, and other 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth.
Then gently fold half of the cream into the peanut butter mixture. To “fold” you add some of the cream into the bowl, run your spoon under the peanut butter mixture and then back over the top, gently flipping the two mixes so they incorporate without deflating your beautifully whipped cream.
Don’t be thinking  you’ll be done after two swirls around the bowl. It’s gonna take a minute or two.
But it’s so worth it.
Silky smooth, and just the right amount of sweet.

Pour that into your crust.
Just as a side note, you’re perfectly welcome to make your own graham cracker crust, but the store bought one worked fine for this recipe. Oh, and you could always try a chocolate graham cracker crust. That would be yummy.

Now, if the munchkins in your house haven’t already discovered and devoured the rest of the whipped cream and sugar, use that to top your pie.

And next comes the hard part.
You have to let this baby sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Do something to take your mind off it. Leave the house if you have to. Mop the floor. Whatever you have to do to give this pie a few hours of alone time.
When you’ve waited a sufficient amount of time, top the pie with chopped peanuts and drizzle with hot fudge.
And don’t blame me if you eat the whole thing instead of dinner.

 Your friends will thank you if you invite them over for a piece.
They may even thank me!

Smooth & Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

 

Print

 

Ingredients

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust
• 1 pint Whipping Cream
• 2 cups Confectioner’s Sugar--divided
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 8-oz Cream Cheese
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• ¼ cup Salted Peanuts, chopped fine
• Hot Fudge for drizzling

Instructions

1. In a glass bowl, whip cold whipping cream until soft peaks form.
2. Add 1½ cups confectioner's sugar and whip until stiff peaks form when you lift the beaters out.
3. Be careful not to whip it too much or you'll get butter.
4. In a separate, large bowl, mix the peanut butter, softened cream cheese, vanilla, and the other ½ cup of sugar.
5. Gently fold half of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until smooth.
6. Pour into the prepared crust.
7. Top with remaining whipped cream.
8. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
9. Top with crushed peanuts, if desired.
10. Slice and top each piece with hot fudge.

3.2.2925