Oh hi.  Let's talk about pie.  Or maybe cake.  A pie-cake hybrid?  What makes a pie a pie?  Or a cake a cake?  These are some of life's tough questions.

We've always called this dessert a pie, and it has a crust, soooo....peanut butter pie it is!  It's so so easy to whip up, and is so heavenly.  I remember requesting it quite a number of times for my birthday, and it is definitely a special occasion dessert.  Ha!  

I also tried it with a pretzel crust for the first time, which I loved, but some people might prefer a more traditional chocolate (oreo) crust.  I'm not judging you, that's totally cool.  I will say that the pretzel crust seemed to get a bit soggy or something after a couple days, whereas the oreo crust doesn't.  So there's that!  I just lovvveeeee me some salty-sweet combos, so this was a winner in my books!

peanut butter pie

yields: two 9-inch pies, or one 9x13 pan

Pretzel Crust:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels (*if you can find low sodium pretzels, that will help it from being too salty if you're worried about that!)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

directions:

To crush your pretzels, use a food processor/magic bullet or some sort of blender.  You want the pretzel pieces to be quite small so that the crust will stick together - think graham cracker crumb/oreo crumb texture!

In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter, crushed pretzels, and sugar.  Divide and press into pie plates, or a 9x13 pan. *I used a springform pan for my pie.

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes, and then set aside.

Filling:

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

500 ml whipping cream - whipped

directions:

In a large bowl, mix together softened cream cheese, peanut butter, icing sugar, and milk, and beat until all the lumps are gone.  

In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream.  Then, gently fold whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.

Spread peanut butter filling over crust in your 2 pie plates or in your 9x13 pan.  Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer until firm (about 2 hours minimum).  

Serve with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and/or crushed pretzels on top.

Happy peanut butter pie making!

-Kelsey