No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients

It’s a grab-n-go kind of ingredients list for this no-bake peanut butter pie.

• Chocolate pie crust — I always find these crusts right next to the graham cracker crusts in the baking aisle. 
• Half and half — The trick to an extra-creamy peanut butter pie is using half and half. You can use milk if you want but I prefer fat free half and half, actually.
• Sugar — I use regular refined sugar. Any brand is fine. 
• Vanilla — Just a hint of vanilla for extra flavor. I do prefer to use pure vanilla extract rather than imitation but you can use whatever you have. 
• Creamy peanut butter — For creamy consistency use creamy peanut butter. I’ve not used chunky peanut butter so I can’t really say if it’ll work or not. If you use it, let me know how it turns out!
• Cream cheese — Any cream cheese is okay here. I used fat free but you can use the full-fat cream cheese block. 
• Frozen Cool Whip — Use Cool Whip or a generic whipped topping, whatever you prefer, just make sure it’s not frozen when you add it to the peanut butter pie. 
• Peanuts Roughly Chopped — These are optional but I like to have some rough chopped peanuts on top of this pie for extra crunch.
• Chocolate Shavings — Another optional topping I like to add to this dessert. If you don’t have shavings, you can just use chocolate chips (mini work best). 

Here’s How You Make It

1. First, get out a large bowl and beat the half and half (or milk) with the sugar for 1-2 minutes. To this mixture, add the vanilla and the peanut butter and mix it until it’s smooth. Then pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes. (photos 1-2)
2. Next, whip the cream cheese until it’s fluffy, and then add it to the chilled peanut butter mixture from Step 1 til just incorporated. Add the whipped cream topping in and mix until smooth. (Optional: add 1/4 roughly chopped peanuts.) (photos 3-5)
3. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and freeze, uncovered, for 4 hours or overnight. (photo 6)
4. Top the frozen pie with the remaining chopped peanuts and chocolate shavings if desired. Transfer to the fridge to thaw for about 30 minutes before serving. (see below)

Expert Tips and Tricks

• This frozen peanut butter pie will keep in the freezer for up to 1 week. Be sure to cover tightly.
• If you don’t like or can’t find a chocolate pie crust, you can substitute graham cracker crusts or make your own. 
• If you want to make the pie really fancy and over-the-top, I sometimes add mini Reese’s cups, mini chocolate chips and drizzles of both peanut butter and chocolate over the top of the pie.