A Southern Grace: the roof of your mouth will thank you

November 2, 2012

the roof of your mouth will thank you

Yum


I like peanut butter, but I'm somewhat annoyed by the way it coats the inside of my mouth when I try to eat a spoonful of it. It's even a problem between two slices of bread or crackers, particularly if there's no jelly or jam to moisten things up.*

*Ever had a sandwich consisting of saltines and peanut butter? That's dry mouth at its finest!


What better way to combat this dilemma than to lighten the stuff up with whipped cream? Let's put it all in a pie shell and top it with chocolate while we're at it.

Folks, this is a really good pie. The recipe comes from Joy of Cookingso you know it's legitimate. I changed it a little--I bumped up the whipped cream portion by 50% because I love a super light and fluffy filling, but feel free to use just 1 cup of cream. It'll still be magnificent.


The peanuts on top are entirely optional, but I'd encourage that you use them (with stipulations**). The salty crunch that they provide is a nice contrast to the creamy filling.

**What stipulations, you ask? I beg you, please use salted peanuts. As far as I'm concerned, there's no need to ever purchase any unsalted nuts. Those of you feeding folks with salt-intake issues need not heed this plea.


And just like that, we have defeated peanut butter in its attempt to coat the entirety of our mouths. Huzzah!

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie
Adapted from Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006

Ingredients:
  • One chocolate cookie crust
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • l cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 ounces of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts (optional)
Directions:
Prepare the chocolate crust as directed.
To make the pie filling, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed just until smoothly blended.
In a separate bowl, beat 1-1/2 cups cold heavy cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
Using a large rubber spatula, fold half of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining cream.
Spread the mixture evenly in the pie crust.
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.
To make the ganache topping, bring 1/3 cup heavy cream and the butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat.
Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until smooth.
Let cool to lukewarm, then pour the glaze over the pie and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with 1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts, if desired.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.

39 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I can quite imagine... That pie is deadly. I'm drooling now!

Cheers,

Rosa

Barbara said...

Gorgeous pie, Grace! Love the cookie crust too.
PB has fed me and mine during many hurricanes!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Do you know how refreshing it is to see American recipes where proper cream is specified instead of god-awful whipped topping? You are a good woman, Grace!

Beth said...

Ooh, decadent! And I agree with Foodycat on whipping cream vs. whipped topping. Yikes!

Angie's Recipes said...

Sinfully rich and delicious! I am afraid I would have a problem to share this pie if I made it. Can't say NO to peanut butter.

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Mel said...

That looks positively sinful! And anything from Joy of Cooking is pretty much no-fail in my opinion. By the way, have you REALLY eaten a sandwich with PB and saltines? You are crazy, girl!

Marjie said...

One of my daughters made this a couple of months back, but she didn't put the chocolate on top. It didn't matter, because it was still wonderful! I like your idea of the salted nuts.

PG said...

Well, I'll take one for the team and get that pie stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

If I made this pie it would be a no share situation :)
And I'm not even sorry ;)

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Elizabeth said...

I had a peanut butter pie on Tuesday and it was absolutely amazing! This looks so delicious!

Anonymous said...

The texture of the filling sounds wonderfully airy and delicious!

Laura said...

I LOVE peanut butter pie. YUM. I also love salt on my sweets so I could not agree more.

Joanne said...

You realize this is a major addiction just waiting to happen.

Milan Todoroo said...

What yto say it is great, I love peanut

Sandy said...

Hehe I kind of like saltines with peanut butter, but this looks a gazillion times ore delicious!

cocoa and coconut said...

Oh gosh, pies and tarts are my favourite...and this looks incredible. What a combo

Julie M. said...

Dang it. You've done it again. Now I have to raid the reeses peanut butter cups in my kids candy stash as a sad excuse because there isn't a single bite of this beauty in my house. That looks freakin' incredible.

Not Quite Nigella said...

Hehe I thought you were going to tell us that saltines and pb in a sandwich was good! Phew, it did sound very dry!

Caroline Taylor said...

This looks so good! I know what you mean about peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth! Am happily your newest follower!

Rosita Vargas said...

¡QuĂ© bella propuesta me encanta se ve muy delicioso! abrazos y abrazos.

Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic said...

I've seen many versions of penut butter pie and always drool at them - so it's no surprise that yours is making me hungry! And yes to salted peanuts (or yes to salted anything) :)

scrambledhenfruit said...

That pie looks simply divine. Now if only you could come up with a way to keep it from sticking to my hips.... :)

Katerina said...

The pie looks absolutely fantastic! My only probelm is how I am going to burn the calories. I will have to run endless hours lol!

Erica said...

This pie looks wonderful, Grace!I love the addition of peanuts for some crunch!!!

Lisa-Marie said...

Oh my goodness.This looks so good. Like a peanutbutter cup/cream pie/millionaire combination. I must have one!!!

Carolyn Jung said...

Creamy-dreamy to the max! Gorgeous pie.

Hungry Dog said...

OMG. I must make this. Is it Thanksgiving-appropriate? Not the traditional pumpkin-apple-pecan thing but equally delicious I'm sure...

Blond Duck said...

Oh sweet wounded waffles. I need this. Now.

Pam said...

I feel the same way about peanut butter...

The pie looks mouth watering good!

Unknown said...

My boys hate peanut butter for all the reasons you just mentioned. I know they would love this tho

My Kitchen Stories said...

It looks and sounds so good. I just want to make it. Im gonna use your recipe and do just that ....OK?

shaz said...

Whoah! That's a serious pie. Sounds like a giant peanut butter cup!

Nancy said...

Wow! That's all I can say with my watering mouth;) This is going on my possible holiday desserts. Very high on the list. Thanks for sharing!

I Wilkerson said...

Isn't peanut butter and chocolate a classic combo?! And speaking of combos, I recently had some cheese that was coated in ground coffee with lavender. It was an interesting blend and I thought it might be good in a cupcake so I thought of you!

Savor The Baking said...

mmm,.....This look really good. I am going to have to try this recipe. 8-)

Half Baked said...

A classic combo! Looks so fantastic I wouldn't mind if it stuck to the roof of my mouth!

~~louise~~ said...

Would you believe it wasn't until I moved to Pennsylvania that I truly discovered the awesomeness of Peanut Butter Pie??? Yours looks heavenly Grace.

Thank you so much for sharing especially since November is National Peanut Butter Month, lol...

FYI: Fear of Peanut Butter sticking to the roof of your mouth is called Arachibutyrophobia and it's fairly common:)



vanillasugarblog said...

one of my all time favorites.
this, to me, is a meal. lol