Sunday, October 16, 2011

Last Minute Peanut Butter Pie

Here's the story behind this pie. A few weeks ago, I was planning to go to Andrew's apartment to eat dinner. He and his roommates were having "hibachi night," which is basically where they try to recreate a Japanese steakhouse in their kitchen. Around 3:30 on Monday afternoon I get this phone call from Andrew. After finishing up some small talk, he ends the conversation with this...

 "So just come over around 6 for dinner. Oh yeah, do you think you could bring a dessert?"

 "Well, it's 3:30 and I still have to go to a meeting with a teacher and was hoping to go to cycling class at 5...what exactly did you have in mind, and why am i just now hearing about this?"

"I don't know...maybe a cake or some cupcakes?"

"There is no way you're getting a cake or cupcakes. Those take a lot of time to make."

"It's ok Laura. You'll figure out something. I know you won't let us down. See you at 6!"

I was shaking my head as I hung up the phone. The easy thing to do would be to pick up a frozen pie at the grocery store. But I couldn't. My pride wouldn't let me. My friends know me as the one who bakes yummy desserts. I couldn't bring anything frozen. While I waited for my meeting with my teacher to start, I found a recipe and made my grocery list. I swung by the grocery store on the way home and got started on a Peanut Butter Pie. I got the recipe for the filling from this blog, and then modified it a little.

Peanut Butter Pie
1 chocolate cookie pie crust (I bought mine pre-made from the store, but you could make your own if you have time - I didn't)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate chips and pour over bottom of the cookie crust. Unwrap Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and put on top of melted chocolate. You can cover the whole pie with these or just use a few. You can chop them into smaller pieces and sprinkle them on top of the chocolate or leave them whole. I left them whole to save time, but I might cut them into smaller pieces next time. Put pie crust into the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.  Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl (I used the same bowl I used for the whipped cream-didn't even clean it).  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream).  Fold in the remaining whipped cream.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust.  If you want, drizzle the more melted chocolate on top or sprinkle some more Reese's on top. Refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving. Obviously, I didn't have time to refrigerate it that long, so I stuck it in the freezer for an hour while I went and worked out before dinner.

The pie was a hit. The boys loved it. Perfect for a last minute dessert and so delicious.

Here's a picture. It's not a good one, but I still wanted to show you.

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