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 the fridge to set.
- Cut Reese's peanut butter cups and/or Snickers bars into large pieces and arrange them 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 when 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, for 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.
Kim lemming says
Best P.B. pie I have ever made. all my family & Friends love this.thankyou so much for sharing
Amy says
Thank you Kim! 🙂
Tammy says
I made a homemade peanut butter cookie crust baked and let cool, added filling topped with crushed peanut butter cups. I already have two request for birthdays. My family LIVED it!
Amy says
That sounds amazing!!
Norma says
The best peanut butter pie I ever made. My granddaughter requested peanut butter pie for Christmas lunch. She loved it. The only thing I changed was I used a chocolate crust.
A delicious dessert and very simple to make.
Laurie says
Simple, silky, and perfectly delicious filling.
I’ve made this twice, once with Jif and once with Smuckers Natural. I had to tweak the Smuckers one. If using a natural peanut butter you might have to sweeten it a bit more and add a little more salt.
Take your time folding the peanut butter mixture into the cream. It’s thick so it takes quite a few turns to blend it well.
I also prefer an Oreo cookie crust, I’ve never tried the plain kind and feel kinda spoiled with the more decadent crust.
Amy says
Thank you so much! 🙂
Danielle says
Delicious recipe! I had a hard time getting the pb mixture to fold in smoothly to the cream. Any suggestions?
Amy says
What kind of peanut butter did you use?
Barbara says
I mixed a little of the whipped cream into the peanut butter batter with the mixer on lowest speed till it was creamy. then folded the rest in.
Adam says
This recipe is fantastic. I made one tweak as I’m a peanut butter freak. I used Nutter Butter cookies for the crust. I scrape the cream from the insides and incorporate that into the feeling for an extra peanut butter punch. Thanks for this recipe!
Karen says
So easy and good
Lisa D. Hamblin says
Can I use regular table salt if I don't have sea salt?
Amy says
Yes you can but you will want to use a little less than called for to avoid it being too salty.
Gary says
We made this for our family Christmas dinner in 2021. We followed the recipe not changing it in any way. This is the best peanut butter pie that we’ve ever had as stated by all who had a piece of the pie. Don’t hesitate to make this pie if you’re wanting a peanut butter pie!
Caitlin says
Our new family favorite!! We tried it with a traditional pie crust (pre-made) first - 5 stars! The second time we decided to try with a premade Oreo crust - also 5/5 stars!!
Amy says
Thank you Caitlin! 🙂