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    Home » Recipes » Dessert Recipes

    The Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

    Published: May 25, 2022 · Modified: Jun 22, 2022 by Chef Dennis Littley

    807 shares
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    • Yummly
    5 from 51 votes
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    Pinterest image for peanut butter pie

    If you love peanut butter and chocolate, my Peanut Butter Pie with a chocolate graham cracker crust and chocolate ganache will make you do a happy dance!

    It’s going to be love at first bite!

    slice of peanut butter pie on a white plate with the rest of the pie behind it.

    Wouldn’t a slice of this decadent dessert satisfy the sweet tooth of the peanut butter lovers in your house? It was one of my customer’s favorite desserts during my restaurant days and after you taste it, you’ll understand why.

    whole unsliced peanut butter pie

    And it really is an easy peanut butter pie recipe, I promise. It also freezes really well, so if you’re tempted to eat the whole pie, you can always freeze half.

    What ingredients do I need to make Peanut butter Pie?

    ingredients to make peanut butter pie

    Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.

    Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

    How do I make a graham cracker cookie crust?

    Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F.

    four images showing how to make a chocolate graham cracker pie shell
    • Add the melted butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs to a medium mixing bowl.
    • Mix until well blended (you can do this in the food processor too, just pulse it a few times).
    • Press your mixture into a 9 or 10-inch pie pan. Spread the crumbs evenly and try to make the crust about ⅛ inch thick. *If the crumb mixture doesn’t seem quite wet enough and won’t stick where you press them, add a little water to the mix. **It’s a good idea to chill the crust for an hour before you bake it, this will help keep the crust from crumbling when served.
    • Bake your graham pie crust for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Make sure to let the pie crust cool completely before using.

    *If you can’t find chocolate graham crackers, you can make an oreo cookie crust or use regular graham crackers.

    How do I make chocolate ganache?

    Before we start the pie, we need to make a simple chocolate ganache.

    4 images showing how to make the chocolate ganache and adding it to the pie shell
    • Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to the top of the double boiler. *You can use a microwave for this step.
    • Mix the melted chocolate and heavy cream together until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before using.
    • Add about ⅓ of the ganache to the chocolate graham cracker crust.
    • Spread the ganache evenly across the bottom of the pie crust and place the pie crust into the freezer or refrigerator so the chocolate can set up.

    How do I make a peanut butter filling?

    six images showing how to make a peanut butter pie.
    • Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peanut butter to a large mixing bowl, and using an electric mixer whip until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
    • In another large mixing bowl, add the whipped cream, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer whip cream to stiff peaks. This process should be slow, start at a low speed, and increase the speed gradually over 8 – 10 minutes.  *This method is how you keep the whipped cream from breaking. The cream should be ice cold and as fresh as possible. Look for heavy cream with the longest expiration date. **8 ounces of cool whip can be substituted for the homemade whipped cream. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.
    • Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.
    • Mix just enough to incorporate the cream into the peanut butter filling.
    • Fill the prepared pie shell with the peanut butter mixture and if it’s not firm enough to add the ganache, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
    • Top the pie with the chocolate ganache, leaving just a little uncovered around the edges. Refrigerate the peanut butter pie for 1-2 hours to completely set. *You can also freeze the pie to hurry the process.
    slice of peanut butter pie on a spatula being taken out of whole pie

    Your friends and family are going to love this rich and creamy peanut butter filling, surrounded by chocolate.

    One of my other favorite non-traditional pies is my Toll House Cookie Pie.

    Recipe FAQ’s:

    Can I use premade whipped topping to make the peanut butter filling?

    Yes, you can. Substitute 8 ounces of your favorite whipped topping for the heavy cream, vanilla and sugar. Make sure to let the topping thaw in the refrigerator before using.

    Can I freeze peanut butter pie?

    Yes, you can. Freeze the pie solid unwrapped. After it is completely frozen, double wrap it in plastic wrap. When defrosting remove the plastic wrap and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator.
    *You can also slice the pie after freezing and wrap the individual slices.

    Can I use natural peanut butter to make peanut butter pie?

    Natural peanut butter usually doesn’t include added oil to stabilize the mixture. The pie filling can separate and get oily because of this. If you want to use natural peanut butter, use an electric mixer to whip it until creamy and well blended.

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    slice of peanut butter pie on a spatula being taken out of whole pie
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    5 from 51 votes

    Peanut Butter Pie Recipe – Restaurant Style

    If you love peanut butter and chocolate, then my Peanut Butter Pie with a chocolate ganache will make you do a happy dance! It’s love at first bite!
    Prep Time35 mins
    Total Time35 mins
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Servings: 10
    Calories: 703kcal
    Author: Chef Dennis Littley

    Ingredients

    Pie Crust

    • 1 ½ cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
    • 1 tablespoon demerara sugar or brown sugar
    • ½ cup unsalted butter melted

    Chocolate Ganache

    • 6 oz semi sweet chocolate
    • ¾ cup heavy cream 8 ounces of premade whipped topping can be substituted. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.

    Peanut Butter Pie

    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1½ teaspoon vanilla
    • ½ cups confectioners sugar also known as 10x sugar
    • 8 ounces cream cheese
    • 1 ½ cups peanut butter creamy style
    US Customary – Metric
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Pie crust

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
    • Melt the butter, and in a large bowl add the melted butter to the sugar and graham crumbs, mix until well blended. (you can do this in the food processor too, just pulse it a few times)
    • Press your mixture into a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Try to make the crust about ⅛ inch evenly all around.
    • If the crumb mixture doesn’t seem quite wet enough and won’t stick where you press them, just add another tablespoon of water to the mix. Spread the crumbs evenly
    • It’s a good idea to chill the crust for an hour before you bake it, this will help keep the crust from crumbling when served!
    • Bake your graham pie crust for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Make sure to let the pie crust cool a bit before using. (Double this recipe for two pie shells)

    Chocolate Ganache

    • Now before we start the pie, we need to make a simple chocolate ganache, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave, I don’t own a microwave so I use a stainless steel bowl over a sauce pot with about an inch of boiling water in it.
    • Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to the top of the double boiler and melt chocolate and blend together with cream. set aside to cool

    Begin Assembly of Pie

    • Your pie crust should be cooled and now you want to add a few spoonfuls of your chocolate ganache into the bottom of the pie shell and smooth it around until you have an even coating over the bottom of the graham cracker pie shell. Place the shells into the freezer or refrigerator so the chocolate can set up.

    Peanut Butter Pie filling

    • In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peanut butter until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
    • In a separate bowl, add the whipped cream, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer whip cream to stiff peaks (hand mixer or stand mixer is fine). This process should be slow, starting. on low increasing the speed over about ten minutes. **This method is how you keep the whipped cream from breaking. The cream should be ice cold and as fresh as possible. Look for heavy cream with the longest expiration date.
      *8 ounces of premade whipped topping can be substituted. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.
    • Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.
    • Fill the prepared pie shell with the peanut butter mixture and refrigerate for 6-8 hours until firm.
      *You can also freeze the pie to hurry the process.
    • Top the pie with the ganache, use enough to cover the top of your pie leaving just a little uncovered around the edges. Refrigerat about an hour to let the ganache set up.

    Notes

    *This pie does freeze rather nicely and it’s a nice surprise to pull out of the freezer. Just make sure to let the chocolate freeze before wrapping it in plastic wrap!
    *If you can’t find chocolate graham crackers, you can make an oreo cookie crust or use regular graham crackers. You can also buy a premade graham cracker pie shell.
    *8 ounces of premade whipped topping can be substituted. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 703kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 372mg | Potassium: 444mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 890IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 4mg
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    About Chef Dennis

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    Chef Dennis Littley is a classically trained chef with over 40 years of experience working in the food service industry. In his second career as a food blogger he has made it his mission to demistify cooking by sharing his time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen. Let Chef Dennis help you bring the joy of cooking into your home. For more details, check out his About page.

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    1. J. Greiner

      February 23, 2023 at 12:22 pm

      5 stars
      Love this recipe. I added an extra 1/8 cup of powdered sugar to the peanut butter mixture. Perfection!

      Reply
    2. Sharon

      December 07, 2022 at 12:17 pm

      5 stars
      I bought oreo cookies to make the crust before I found your recipe. Would an oreo crust work okay or do I need to go back to the store and buy chocolate graham crackers? 🙂 Thanks! Can’t wait to make

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        December 07, 2022 at 12:21 pm

        you can use Oreos for the crust, I wouldn’t use the filling, it will make it too sweet, but the cookie will work.

        Reply
        • Sharon

          December 09, 2022 at 9:43 pm

          5 stars
          Sounds good! I think you mean leave out the ganache on top of the oreo cookie crust.. not the peanut butter filling?

        • Chef Dennis Littley

          December 09, 2022 at 10:46 pm

          I meant the oreo filling, just use the wafers

    3. Melissa Buessing

      November 21, 2022 at 11:52 pm

      Can full fat coconut milk be substituted for the heavy cream in the peanut butter filling?

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        November 22, 2022 at 7:12 am

        as long as it whips the same as heavy cream and remains whipped, there should be no problem.

        Reply
    4. Dr.Grandma Jeannie

      October 18, 2022 at 3:40 pm

      Question: Under directions for Peanut Butter Pie filling, you said in Step 1 to “…beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and peanut butter…” In Step 2, you said to “…. add the cream, sugar and vanilla.” But the sugar was already added in Step 1! There is only one “sugar” in the Ingredient list for the filling, and it is not marked as “divided”. Is there another sugar missing from the list? (It would be helpful if ingredients were listed in the same order as they are referenced in the Directions.) I assume we should use a total of a half cup of confectioner’s sugar in the filling, and it probably doesn’t matter whether we add it to the peanut butter or to the whipped cream. (But it would matter if you were substituting Cool Whip…) Please clarify. Thanks for your answer and for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Chef Dennis Littley

        October 18, 2022 at 4:00 pm

        Omit the sugar from the whipped cream that’s an error on my part

        Reply
    5. tessa

      July 25, 2022 at 6:50 pm

      5 stars
      Made this and It was amazing. Thanks for the recipe chef

      Reply
    6. Lisa

      May 25, 2022 at 12:11 pm

      5 stars
      You’re killing me Dennis! I remember this pie when you first posted it to your blog back in 2010. I love the new pictures and love your peanut butter pie recipe, it has been made many many times over the years.

      Reply

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    My name is Dennis Littley or "Chef Dennis" as I'm known both at work and across the blogosphere. As a classically trained chef with 40+ years of experience in the kitchen, I share my time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen.

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