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Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

Name: Peanut Butter Pie
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 385 min
Ingredients: 24 Oreos ((don’t remove the cream filling)); 5 Tablespoons salted butter (melted); 12 oz cream cheese (softened (use brick-style full-fat cream cheese) ); 1 ¼ cups creamy peanut butter; 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (divided ); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 ½ cups heavy cream; Half-batch of whipped cream topping ((optional)); 2 Tablespoons crushed Reese’s Pieces ((optional))

By Sam MerrittUpdated Nov 11, 2026

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94 Comments

Servings: 12 slices

6 hrs 25 mins

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An easy, entirely no-bake peanut butter pie recipe made without any gelatin or Cool Whip! The smooth, perfectly sliceable peanut butter filling contrasts beautifully against the crisp Oreo crust. Recipe includes a how-to video!

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

One of my favorite oven-free desserts, this no bake peanut butter pie recipe is chocolate peanut butter perfection! It has a creamy (yet appropriately fluffy), and silky smooth peanut butter filling over a crunchy Oreo cookie crust. I’ve recently improved this recipe based on your feedback, and I am so eager for you to try the version I’m sharing today!

Why This Recipe WORKS

Perfected textures. The pie is thick and sliceable, yet creamy against the crisp Oreo crust. A swirl of homemade whipped cream on top adds a nice light, fluffy texture against the richer pie.
No gelatin or Cool Whip. Just like when making my no-bake cheesecake, I was very intentional about skipping these ingredients in this recipe! Instead, we’ll use brick-style cream cheese and homemade whipped cream. This makes for a slice-able consistency with a richer (and less artificial!) flavor and smooth interior.
Homemade crust! Not only is a pre-made crust too small to hold all of the filling we’re making today, but you just don’t get that same buttery cookie crumb you get from homemade. It’s also just so, so easy to make to make your own Oreo crust–we’re talking literally two ingredients! There’s no need to scrape out the cream centers or pre-bake the crust before using, either. Simply pop it in the freezer while you prepare your filling.

A Recipe Revisited

I originally published this pie a few years ago and I’ve loved it since it was first shared. However, over the years I’ve gotten some feedback that some people found it too sweet or even too peanut buttery. I take your feedback seriously, so last month I made it again and very critically analyzed it with my taste testers (mostly my sisters). I honestly still loved it, but I could see where people where coming from, so I went back to the drawing board!

Smooth slice of no bake peanut butter pie with an Oreo crust on a plate.

We adjusted the amounts of sugar, cream, and peanut butter until we finally landed on a pie that was well-balanced. I did NOT think I would be reducing the amount of peanut butter (it is a peanut butter pie after all; how could there be too much peanut butter?), but after strategically reducing it, we actually preferred the flavor with a bit less. It made the pie less heavy and more balanced while still maintaining a distinct peanut butter flavor.

This new version is sweet (certainly a dessert), but not so sweet that you can’t finish a whole slice. It’s creamy, but not so soft that it needs scooped with a spoon (not that this was a problem with the original, but as we tweaked things keeping the pie stable without adding gelatin, this was important). And yes, it’s perfectly peanut buttery! 🥜

I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Ingredients

Less than 10 ingredients in this recipe! Let’s go over a few before we get started.

Peanut butter. I use creamy peanut butter (usually Jif or Skippy), but crunchy would work if you don’t mind the texture. I have not experimented with natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil separates into the top), but I suspect it will work fine here.
Cream cheese. This not only adds depth of flavor, but it also helps to give it a stable, easy-to-slice consistency. And no, it won’t make your pie taste like cheesecake (though I do have a peanut butter cheesecake, if you are looking for that!).
Oreos. You’ll need 24 sandwich cookies (whole, without the cream removed). I usually have you remove the cream if you are making an Oreo crust for a springform pan (like my Oreo cheesecake), but it’s not necessary here.
Heavy cream. We’ll whip this into thick, fluffy whipped cream. Double cream or heavy whipping cream would also work.
Butter. This is for the crust. Personally, I like to use salted butter to help counteract the sweetness of the filling, but you can use unsalted butter if that’s all you have on hand.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

Sam’s Tip

If you don’t like or can’t eat chocolate, you can make my equally simple graham cracker crust instead, or substitute the Oreo cookies for golden Oreos or Biscoff cookies (also used in my new cookie butter cookies!).

How to Make It (Step-by-Step)

Overhead view of an Oreo crust being pressed into a pie plate.

Make the crust. Pulse the Oreos (whole, don’t remove the cream) in your food processor until they are fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse again to combine. Press the mixture into your pie pan, then place in your freezer while you make your filling. Note: I use a 9.5″ pie plate, but you could use a deep 9″ pie plate (the pie will just be thicker).

Overhead view of a cream cheese and peanut butter mixture being stirred together in a bowl.

Start the filling. Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until combined, then stir in the vanilla and half of the powdered sugar. Set this aside.

Overhead view of thick, fluffy whipped cream in a bowl.

Whip the cream and remaining powdered sugar to stiff peaks in a separate bowl. The cream should be fluffy and thick when you are done, similar to Cool Whip. If you haven’t whipped cream before or have questions about any aspect of the process, check out my guide on how to make whipped cream.

Overhead view of whipped cream being stirred into a peanut butter and cream cheese mixture.

Combine. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese and peanut butter mixture and mix until the filling is completely cohesive. I usually start with a mixer and then switch to a spatula after a few seconds so not to deflate the whipped cream.

Overhead view of a creamy peanut butter pie filing being smoothed into an Oreo crust.

Chill. Spread the filling into your prepared crust, making sure it makes contact with the bottom edges and all the way around the sides of the crust (keeps the crust from crumbling). Smooth the top with a spatula (how it looks now is how it will look when serving, since this is a no bake peanut butter pie recipe!). Cover and place in the fridge to set for 6+ hours.

Overhead view of a no bake peanut butter pie topped with a border of whipped cream and crushed Reeses Pieces candy.

Decorate. Pipe a border of homemade whipped cream over the pie, then top with crushed Reese’s Pieces candies if desired. Chocolate shavings or even crushed peanuts would also be great options for the decoration!

Sam’s Tip

This pie softens fairly quickly at room temperature, so I recommend keeping it chilled whenever you aren’t slicing it. Sometimes I’ll even freeze it for an hour before slicing for neater slices.

No-bake pie made with an Oreo crust and peanut butter cream cheese filling that has been cut into slices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should peanut butter pie be refrigerated or frozen?

You can do either! Refrigerating requires at least 4-6 hours of chilling, and the pie sets up with a consistency that’s softer, similar to my chocolate pie. Most recipes call for refrigeration rather than freezing.

Freezing requires at least 2 hours of chilling. Frozen pie ends up even more firm and has a consistency that’s closer to New York cheesecake or chocolate icebox pie. The photos in this post were of a frozen pie.

Can I use a pre-made crust?

This recipe will make too much filling for a pre-made crust. You can always portion the extra filling into another container or individual cups and top with crushed Oreos (similar to my peanut butter pie dessert shooters).

The easiest (and tastiest!) thing to do though would be to just make the super easy homemade crust I am sharing today 😉

What toppings can I add?

This pie is perfect without any toppings. However, after making and chilling the pie, I like to pipe a decorative border (I use a 2A tip) of homemade whipped cream around the edge and then sprinkle that with crushed Reese’s Pieces. It adds a nice extra pop of color, but again, totally optional.

Alternatively you could drizzle your slice with homemade caramel sauce, chocolate ganache, or chocolate sauce (one of my favorite additions)…yum!

More Pie Recipes

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Mississippi Mud Pie

Key Lime Pie

If you tried the previous version of this pie, I’d really love to hear what you think of this new and improved recipe 😊

Enjoy!

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This recipe was originally published 08/10/2017. I updated it in November 2026 to have a less sweet, more subdued peanut butter flavor based on reader feedback.