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Old fashioned peanut butter pie is made from scratch using creamy peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and heavy cream.
The ingredients are whipped together and poured into a flaky pie crust to create a silky peanut butter dessert that will have everyone begging for more!
Are you ready for a luscious ... creamy ... dreamy pie that literally melts in your mouth??
You've come to the right place! This peanut butter pie is everything that you've been wanting and more!
With every bite, you'll be amazed at the light and delicate peanut butter filling, with just the right amount of sweetness.
Whether you bake your own pie crust or use a pre-made crust, you're going to love how easy it is to put a spectacular dessert together in a jiffy! (pun intended ...)
Ingredients needed
- Peanut Butter: Use either creamy peanut butter or natural peanut butter. See recipe notes for tips on working with natural peanut butter!
- Heavy Cream: Homemade whipped cream is always better in my opinion, but cool whip topping works great too! We like to add cream of tartar to our whipped cream because it helps to stabilize it so it will hold up better.
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese for the best flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar dissolves more easily into the batter than granulated sugar.
- Toppings: We are keeping it simple with chopped peanuts and flaky sea salt.
- Pie Crust: A baked, sourdough pie crust or an all butter pie crust is very easy to make and gives the pie such a delicious texture. A store-bought pie crust can be used if you're in a pinch for time.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Bake a 9" pie crust and let cool completely.
Step 2: In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat 1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Place in fridge to chill.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, creamy peanut butter and powdered sugar with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
Step 4: Gently fold half of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.
Step 5: Fold the remaining whipped cream into the filling.
Step 6: Pour the peanut butter pie filling into the prepared pie crust, smooth the top and sprinkle with chopped peanuts and sea salt. Chill for 3 hours or until set.
Peanut butter pie variations
- Create a chocolate peanut butter pie with a chocolate cookie crust! Use a food processor to crush 25 whole oreo sandwich cookies with 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Press the mixture into a 9" pie plate and let chill in fridge to set.
- Cut Reese's peanut butter cups and/or snickers bars into large pieces and arrange on top of the pie. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
- Spread a layer of strawberry jam on the crust before pouring the filling for a peanut butter and jelly pie!
- A graham cracker crust can be used in place of a flaky pie crust.
How to store and freeze leftovers
This pie stays fresh covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can even make it ahead of time and freeze for later!
To freeze, place the pie in the freezer until frozen solid, a few hours. Wrap the pie in three layers of plastic wrap and one layer of foil. Put the pie back into the freezer for up to 3 months.
Let the pie set at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Tips for making the best peanut butter pie even easier
- For a no-bake peanut butter pie, use a pre-made, baked 9" pie crust.
- Homemade whipped cream can be replaced with an 8 oz. container of frozen whipped topping. Let thaw before using.
More delicious, easy to make dessert recipes
Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Pie
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (9") baked pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
- ¼ teaspoon flakey sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Pie Crust
- Prepare the pie crust dough according to directions, roll the dough to a â…›" thickness and place in a 9" pie plate. (If the crust seems too soft, let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before proceeding to the next step.)
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Place a piece of parchment paper onto the center of the unbaked pie crust and fill with pie weights.
- Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and carefully lift out the paper and weights. Prick the bottom of the crust using a fork to prevent bubbles, return to the oven for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust is golden all over. Remove and let cool completely.
Peanut Butter Filling
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat 1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream with 1 teaspoon cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Place in the fridge to keep cold.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar until smooth. (See notes.)
- Use a large spatula to gently fold half of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream and pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
- Smooth the top of the filling and sprinkle with chopped peanuts and flaked sea salt. Chill for at least 3 hours to set the center.
NOTES
- If using natural peanut butter, add up to 6 tablespoons of heavy cream to thin the peanut butter mixture to a thick brownie batter consistency, before folding in the whipped cream.
- Substitute the homemade pie crust with a 9" pre-made pie crust.
- Homemade whipped cream can be replaced with an 8 oz. container of frozen whipped topping. Let thaw in fridge before using.
- A cup of dried beans can be used for pie weights.
- To Store: Keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Keep frozen for up to 3 months wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
PREVIOUS
Jeanie Berlew says
pb pie was simply perfect. creamy and not heavy. hard to share!!
Inessa Solovey says
OK so good! when you take out the crust, add 1 c chocolate chips and let them melt. then spread chocolate around inside of shell. then add filling. it's what I did and it's so good!
Christie says
The filling is light with delicious and not overly sweet. I had made a pretzel crust a few days ahead and was trying to figure out what to make with it. The peanut butter filling was perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Rhonda says
There is a local restaurant that has my FAVORITE PB pie! I am hopeful yours can be an at-home copycat! I was wondering if you could tell me which brand of PB you find works best for your recipe. TY!
Amy says
I use Smuckers natural for this pie 🙂
Della says
Today is Valentine's Day and my husband loves peanut butter. We have a local restaurant that has awesome pies but were all sold out after going to 2 different locations. I came across this recipe and I know he will love it(I tasted the batter lol). I used my bowl mixer to mix everything and it was a very easy recipe. I did not use the cream of tartar and all I had was fine sea salt so I lightly sprinkled the top.