Incredibly creamy, luscious peanut butter pie with cream cheese and chocolate, this is the best pie for peanut butter lovers. A super easy, 3-step recipe!
Are you looking for a quick, last-minute dessert for Thanksgiving? Or Christmas? This easy peanut butter pie recipe is what you have been looking for!
A crunchy chocolate cookie crust, a thick creamy layer of mousse-like peanut butter and cream cheese filling, and a luscious chocolate ganache topping. Some more grated chocolate and some lightly salted peanuts on top… it doesn’t get any better!
This chocolate peanut butter pie is one of the most decadent pies I’ve ever made, a delicious dessert for the whole family! And I’ve been making lots and lots of pies over the years. Check out the Cherry Crumb Pie, the Banana Caramel Pie, or The Best Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe.
Table of contents
Recipe ingredients
- Wafer chocolate cookies. Alternatively, you can use graham crackers.
- Butter: Preferably unsalted butter, but if all you have is salted is fine as well.
- Peanut butter: Unsweetened, natural, preferably chunky (See Expert Tips). You can also learn How to Roast Peanuts for Peanut Butter.
- Heavy cream: You will need one cup for the filling and ½ cup for the chocolate ganache.
- Cream cheese: One block of Philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz/ 226 g). That would be 1 cup of cream cheese, softened.
- Sugar: Granulated, white sugar.
- Vanilla sugar and a bit of fine sea salt.
- Chocolate: Dark chocolate with 80% cocoa.
- Semisweet chocolate is fine as well, but the ganache will be sweeter. It is a matter of taste; choose whatever you like best. I like the contrast between the sweet filling and the slightly dark chocolate.
- I used the same dark chocolate to sprinkle on top.
- Peanuts: Slightly salted, roasted peanuts for the garnish.
How to make chocolate peanut butter pie?
This is a super easy recipe; only 3 steps and they are all super quick and straightforward.
The only thing you must consider is that the dessert needs to be made in advance, preferably the day before you want to serve it. It needs plenty of time to set in the fridge.
Step 1: Make the cookie crust
- Food processor: You don’t have to melt the butter, but the butter must be very soft. Process the cookies and the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand (1).
- Without a food processor: Melt the butter. Place the cookies in a robust freezer bag (Ziploc bag) and crush them with the help of a rolling pin. Mix with the melted butter.
- Press the mixture on the bottom of a springform or pie pan of about 8 inches/ 20 cm (2).
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and let it cool completely; it will happen fast.
Step 2: Make the peanut butter filling
- Whip cream until soft peaks form and set it aside. Don’t overbeat it, or it will turn to butter.
- Mix softened cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl with a hand mixer (3).
- Carefully fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture (4).
- Pour the filling into the prepared crust, sprinkle lightly with salt, and refrigerate until set (5).
- The dessert should have plenty of time to set in the fridge, at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
- Once set, transfer it to a wire rack placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. When you pour the ganache on top, the drops will fall on the paper, making the clean-up easier (5).
- If you made the pie in a pie dish, leave it in the dish. Decorate and serve it directly from the dish.
Step 3: Make the topping
- Chop the chocolate finely (the food processor works best – See Expert Tips).
- Bring the heavy cream to a boil and immediately remove it from the heat.
- Add the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes (7).
- Stir well until the chocolate is melted (8).
- Pour the ganache over the set peanut butter pie immediately, place in the fridge and let set; it will not take too long (9).
- Decorate the top with grated dark chocolate (or chocolate shavings) and chopped peanuts (10). Transfer to a serving platter if you didn’t use a pie dish.
- Let the pie chill until ready to serve.
Expert Tips
- Don’t use sweetened peanut butter, or the dessert will be sickeningly sweet.
- If you don’t have chunky butter, use creamy and add a small handful of finely chopped peanuts to the filling. If you add chopped nuts, it is okay if they are lightly salted. But in this case, don’t sprinkle the filling with salt anymore.
- I prefer to chop the chocolate used to make the ganache in the food processor until it is almost a fine powder. This helps the chocolate melt faster and more evenly in the hot heavy cream.
Recipe FAQ
Sure. You can use a homemade or pre-made graham cracker crust. You can use store-bought pie crust or make your own pie crust.
Alternatively, make an Oreo cookie crust.
Not necessarily, but it helps. The crust will be firmer, and it will be less likely to crumble when you cut it.
Keep the chocolate peanut butter pie refrigerated and remove it from the fridge when ready to serve. The filling is very soft and creamy; it keeps its shape best when refrigerated.
The dessert keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Wrap it well with plastic and aluminum foil and freeze for up to 2 months.
Freeze individual slices in an airtight container.
Let the frozen pie sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
More peanut butter recipes
The Best Peanut Butter Pie (with Chocolate)
Equipment
- Pie dish or springform about 8-9 inches/ 20-22 cm
Ingredients
Crust:
- 8 oz wafer chocolate cookies 240 g, Note 1
- ½ cup unsalted butter 4 oz/ 115 g
Filling:
- 1 cup heavy cream 230 ml
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese softened 226 g, Note 2
- 1 cup peanut butter chunky 9 oz/ 250 g
- ½ cup granulated sugar 3.5 oz/100 g
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- a tiny sprinkle of fine sea salt
Topping:
- 3.5 oz dark chocolate 100 g Note 3
- ½ cup heavy cream 125 ml
- 1 tablespoon peanuts roasted, lightly salted, chopped
- 1 tablespoon grated dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/ 200°C.
Cookie crust:
- Food processor: Place the soft butter and the wafer chocolate cookies in the food processor and process until the mixture comes together and resembles wet sand.
- Without a food processor: Melt the butter in a small pan. Place the cookies in a freezer bag (Ziploc bag) and crush them with a rolling pin. Mix with the melted butter.
- Press the crumbs into the pie dish or springform.
- Bake for 10 minutes and let cool completely.
Peanut butter and cream cheese filling:
- Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, don’t overbeat it.
- Mix the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth (no lumps).
- Fold the whipped cream into the mixture.
- Refrigerate: Pour the filling into the baked and cooled pie shell, sprinkle lightly with salt, and refrigerate until set for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Once set, transfer the pie to a wire rack placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. When you pour the ganache on top, the drops will fall on the paper, making cleaning easier.If you made the pie in a pie dish, leave it in the dish and serve it directly from the pie dish.
Topping:
- Chop the chocolate and place it into a small bowl (Note 4).
- Ganache: Bring the heavy cream to a soft boil and pour immediately over the chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir thoroughly until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Decorate pie: Pour the ganache over the pie and refrigerate the pie until just firm, about 10 -15 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and the grated chocolate (or chocolate swirls).
- Refrigerate: Carefully transfer the pie onto a serving platter and refrigerate again until ready to serve.
Notes
- Substitute wafer chocolate cookies with graham crackers, Oreos, or other cookies. You can also use pre-made graham crust or regular pie crust of a similar size (8-9 inches/ 20-22 cm).
- One block of Philadelphia cream cheese works best.
- Dark chocolate with 80 % cocoa. But you can use semisweet chocolate instead, about 60% cocoa.
- I prefer to chop the chocolate used to make the ganache in the food processor until it is almost a fine powder. This helps the chocolate melt faster and more evenly in the hot heavy cream.