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No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

Jessie Sheehan
Cook Time:
4 hrs
Prep Time:
15 mins
Yields:
1 9-inch pie
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Chef notes

A no-bake pie is a gift to those of us that adore pie, but don’t love all the work that goes into making one: making the crust, letting it rest and the long bake time is not everyone’s cup of tea. But a cool and creamy no-bake pie that comes together in about five minutes, crust included?That’s a sweet recipe all of us can get behind. This particular pie recipe calls for easy, pantry friendly ingredients and combines salty sweet peanut butter with a dark chocolate cookie crust. 

The simple crust is made in the food processor or by hand (with a zippered plastic bag and a rolling pin for crushing) with nothing more than cookies, butter, sugar and a little salt. The crust is pressed into a pie plate and placed in the freezer to firm up while the filling is quickly assembled. Cream cheese, heavy cream, peanut butter, sugar, salt and vanilla are processed in that same food processor you just used to make the crust (just rinse it out quickly and you’re good to go — or just wipe it down with a paper towel -—you do you). The cream cheese is included for structure, not for its tangy taste. The sugar, vanilla and salt help the peanut butter flavor to pop. Once the filling is transferred to the chilled crust, a few hours is all you need before you’re eating pie with all your PB and chocolate loving people. A dollop of freshly whipped cream would be welcome as an accompaniment, but if you ask us, all this pie truly needs is a fork. 

Technique Tip: Grind the cookies in a food processor for the finest, most uniform crumbs. You can also place the cookies in a zippered plastic bag, seal it, place it on the counter covered in a dish towel and crush the cookies with a rolling pin. 

To press the crust firmly into the pie plate, use the back of a one-cup metal measuring cup. 

Do not overmix the filling in the food processor, as you do not want the cream cheese to lose its structure.

Swap Option: You can use peanut butter cookies or graham crackers for the crust in place of the chocolate cookies. 

Ingredients

For the crust:
  • 9 ounces (about 2 cups) crispy chocolate cookies, such as Nabisco or Goya chocolate wafers, finely ground
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • cups creamy peanut butter, such as Skippy
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • cups cold heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • cocoa powder, for dusting
Fulfilled by

Preparation

1.

Grease a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray or softened butter.

2.

In a medium bowl, add the cookie crumbs and melted butter and stir to combine. Scrape the crust mixture into the prepared pie plate and firmly press it into the bottom and up the sides, using the bottom of a metal measuring cup. Place the crust in the freezer while you make the filling.

3.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the cream cheese until smooth. Add the peanut butter, sugar and salt, and process until smooth, again. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and process until the mixture is thick and uniform.

4.

Pour the filling into the frozen crust and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

5.

Dust the pie with cocoa powder, slice and serve. The pie will keep for 3 days lightly wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.