CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

If you've been following my blog, you know that I have been leading the Cafe Treats at PWUMC since the beginning of year. When I started it, I decided it would be a nut-free zone so no one would have to be concerned about choosing something that might have nuts that they were allergic to. Because the Cafe Treats have taken up most of my cooking time, that means whenever I am searching out for interesting desserts in my cookbooks, I have had to pass up a lot of recipes because they contain peanut butter or nuts of some sort.

Yesterday it was my turn to hostess the Quilters' Canasta group and since I needed a dessert I thought I would take advantage of the allergy-free group and make something with peanut butter. 

Sometimes when I am on the hunt for a dessert for a particular occasion, I have a hard time finding just what I want to make. Monday night when I was looking, I must have found four or five recipes that sounded really good. It was really hard to decide which one I wanted to make, but I finally chose this fabulous Creamy Peanut Butter Pie from Paula Dean Cuts the Fat cookbook. 

My apologies to Paula as I had to use regular cream cheese because I didn't have the Neufchatel that she used in her recipe. I also used a chocolate cut pie crust instead of the graham cracker piecrust because I had it and I thought it would go great with the peanut butter. My whipped topping wasn't completely thawed when I got ready to add it to the peanut butter/cream cheese mixture, so I just waited and later spread the rest on top and then melted some chocolate chips to drizzle across the top. It looked so pretty. All of my friends told me how delicious it was.

PRINT RECIPE.

 

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

1       package (8 ounces) low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), at room temperature

2       tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2    teaspoon vanilla extract

1       cup creamy regular or natural peanut butter, softened

1       container (8 ounces) sugar-free or regular frozen whipped topping, thawed

1       9 - inch  prepared graham cracker piecrust

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the peanut butter and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl,

until thoroughly combined.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped topping in two batches. (I didn't do a very good job of dividing the whipped topping in half so had to work a little harder.)

Spoon the filling into the piecrust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. (I made mine the day before.) The next morning I spread the extra whipped topping on the top.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Note: I reserved several spoonfuls of the whipped topping and spread it on top of the cold pie. I didn't quite spread to the edge.

Then I melted about 20 dark chocolate chips with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave and

then drizzled it over the top. With the shortening, it hardened as it cooled but tasted great with the peanut butter and whipped topping.

After everyone left, Wayne and I went to the Platte County Fair. It is the first time we have gone. It is the longest continuing county fair west of the Mississippi River beginning in 1863. I find that so fascinating that during the Civil War, people in the county were getting together for a fair. Anyway, I had the opportunity to wear my first ever pair of cowgirl boots that I bought a couple of years ago but just never got around to wearing them. I didn't get to ride the Ferris Wheel but had to at least take a picture of it. There is a story about a certain young man who ran the Ferris Wheel in a carnival and the beautiful young woman he met and later married and had a daughter that they named Patricia that is very dear to my heart. 

It was a fun evening. I'm sorry it has taken us 15 years to get there.