Friday, February 5, 2010

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

The whole fam loved this pie.  So did our guests.  I chose this recipe because it looked very easy, and I had a very busy day ahead.  Sometimes, simple recipes taste just that- simple.  But this one was very, very yummy as well.  I broke one of my personal rules and actually bought Cool Whip for this recipe.  I think I've only bought it once or twice before in my whole life.  But I didn't care about that once I tasted this pie- it's worth it.  I think I will change some ingredients around on this pie and make it in different flavors. 

I have limited access to some things over here; my store only had 12 oz. containers of Cool Whip.  So, I just bought the 12 oz. and put it all in the recipe.  It gave it such a nice, light texture.  I loved it!  Because of the exrta Cool W, my version wasn't super-rich like the original blogger mentioned.  It wasn't too rich at all; it wasn't hard to eat two pieces.  (Maybe that's a bad thing!)  Also, I had too much filling to just fill the one pie crust, so I filled 6 mini-graham crusts I had on hand, as well.  It was the perfect amount of filling for one normal-sized pie crust and 6 minis! 
I could not find an Oreo crust at my store either.  I had Oreos at home; I could have made a crust from scratch, but I simply did not have any extra time that day, so I used a purchased shortbread crust.  I'm sure it would have been even better with the Oreo crust- chocolate & peanut butter; but, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do! 

The recipe includes instructions for making your own Oreo crust.  I'll leave those in; you can do that, or just use a store-bought crumb crust.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

Crust:
25 Oreos
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Crush the Oreos until they’re fine crumbs. Pour melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, or until set.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese or Neufchatel
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 or 12-ounce) package Cool Whip, thawed

Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed Cool Whip and beat mixture until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.

Pour filling into crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving. (It’s better the longer it sits in the fridge- mine was in there 4-5 hours).  Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

8 comments:

JelliDonut said...

Cooking Light has this version:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1646405

Your crust is probably way better, judging by some of the Cooking Light comments--lots of people didn't like the CL crust, and most of the comments that loved the pie, used store-bought crusts.

I think I'll give yours a try.

Linda said...

It looks amazing, and I love the dessert dishes! I am imagining what it tastes like, so now I'll have buy creamy peanut butter, since all I have is extra crunchy.

Sonya said...

Im so envious that you can get pie crusts there..lol this weekend Im going to attempt to make my own graham crackers and then I shall attempt this pie. The only thing is..we dont have cool whip and the homemade version isnt the same. Im going to use whipping cream..wat do u think??

What a Dish! said...

Sonya- you could probably crush up any packaged cookie to make the crust. I didn't even use a graham crust for the big pie- it was Nilla Wafer or shortbread, I don't remember. And I would definitely try it with real whipped cream! It would probably have a better flavor- if you do it, let me know how it works! If it works for you, maybe I'll do it that way, lol.

Sonya said...

I cant get nilla wafers either! LOL They have these cookies here with a sandy texture that would work good crushed up. Im going to give it a shot!
I read your comment on my blog..how much did you pay for your cool american chips? we pay 88 cents for a bag..the bag is a bit smaller than the american bag but I was curious since you mentioned it being expensive.

What a Dish! said...

It was about a Euro for a bag, I think, and the bag was like a single (or maybe double) serving; not very big.

Emily said...

I think I'll try this version. I don't have anything against Cool Whip lol!

What a Dish! said...

You should! If you use a 12 oz container, it will be too much for one pie crust, so have another on hand or the little ones. I'd use an 8 oz, but can't get that size here!