Deep Dish Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

May 15, 2015 Sam 38 Comments

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This deep dish peanut butter chocolate pie is made on an Oreo based crust covered by a thick chocolate ganache, layered with a scrumptious cream-cheese based peanut butter pie filling and topped with sweet, stabilized whipped cream, then drizzled with chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce, and homemade chocolate curls. A classic flavor combination that is delectable, but not cloying. The crust is baked briefly in the oven to ensure sturdiness while the fillings are no-bake.

As the days are getting warmer and the trees growing greener, I find myself feeling less and less inclined to turn on my oven.

It’s not even because of the extra heat that the oven puts off into my kitchen (I never seem to notice it; I’ve realized my body always seems to run colder than others’ and what seems stifling hot to my husband is pleasant to me), but rather it has more to do with me feeling bound to the house.

As we slowly move closer to summer, the green grass and blue skies and sunshine are calling my name, but I’m simply not responsible enough to be trusted to leave the house if something is in the oven. If I run outside for “just a second” to bask in the sunshine or throw a raquetball for my incredibly excitable, ever-demanding (ever-adorable) dogs I’ll invariably forget all about whatever is baking, and then I return to a cake that’s blackened, solid as a brick, and has to be baked all over again (not to mention that it’s a fire hazard).

So, I stay inside when I bake. I keep within hearing range of the oven timer and busy myself with washing dishes (or with finding other random things to do in the kitchen to put off washing dishes as long as possible) or planning how I’ll arrange for the photography of my next dish, or organizing my spice cabinet (no matter how many times I do this, it’s always a mess).

Don’t get me wrong, there will be plenty of baked goods upcoming on the blog (look for one Monday), but treats that can be made without preheats are beginning to look especially appealing these days, and so was borne this wonderful chocolate pie.

And now I should warn you that despite the fact I’ve talked so much about this dessert being no-bake (which it primarily is), there is a little bit of oven preheating that still has to happen. In order to keep the Oreo crust stable and working as a decent shell to contain the ganache, you are going to have to whip that empty shell in the oven for just 10 minutes, and then on to no bake. That’s it, I promise.

This dessert is a timeless pairing of classic, comforting flavors. Crunchy Oreo crust, a thick layer of ganache, creamy, smooth peanut butter (eternally superior to its crunchy counterpart, if you ask me) and then a fluffy, simple whipped cream topping (which is stabilized using dissolved gelatin in order to keep from it separating and moisture from the cream seeping into and watering down the surface of the peanut butter layer).

And then, because I can’t leave well enough alone, it’s been drizzled with peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, and handmade chocolate curls, which are all entirely optional (but are they really?).

There is a considerable amount of heavy cream that goes into each layer of this pie, and this helps create the desired texture of the peanut butter layer while at the same time keeping it from becoming cloying and overbearingly sweet. You won’t find yourself satisfied with just a teensy sliver here; instead cut yourself a generous slice.

Enjoy it sitting in the sunshine on one of these beautiful springtime days.

5 from 3 votes