Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

This chocolate peanut butter pie is a no-bake pie: a chocolate biscuit crust, a peanut butter and cream cheese filling lightened with whipped cream, and a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top. It takes about 30 minutes of hands-on work and 4 hours in the fridge, and one 9 inch pie cuts into 12 slices.

The part that decides whether it slices cleanly is the order of the chills. The filling needs a full hour in the fridge before the ganache goes on, or the warm chocolate sinks straight into it.

The Numbers Behind This Pie

• Crust: 200 g (about 2 cups) chocolate biscuit crumbs and 90 g (6 tablespoons) melted butter
• Filling: 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1½ cups heavy cream whipped to stiff peaks
• Ganache: 1 cup (175 g) semi-sweet chocolate and ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream, roughly 3 parts chocolate to 2 parts cream by weight
• Pan: 9 inch pie dish or tart pan
• Time: 30 minutes prep, 4 hours chilling, 4½ hours total
• Yield: 12 slices

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Chocolate Digestives, Graham Crackers or Oreos for the Crust?

Any plain chocolate biscuit works. Chocolate digestives give the most compact crust, with a faint malty note and very few crumbs when you cut it. Chocolate graham crackers are lighter in cocoa and a little coarser, so the edge is more crumbly. Chocolate wafer cookies sit in between and bring the darkest color.

Oreos also work, filling and all. The cream filling already adds fat, so drop the butter to about 4 tablespoons, or the crust turns greasy and slides when you serve it. If you would rather bake a pastry shell, my homemade pie crust recipe works here too, blind baked and fully cooled.

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Pressing a Crust That Holds Together

Grind the biscuits to fine, even crumbs, then stir in the melted butter until every crumb looks damp and the mix clumps when you squeeze a handful. Dry patches are what make a no-bake crust crumble.

Press it hard into the base and up the sides with the bottom of a measuring cup. Chill it for at least 20 minutes while you make the filling. The butter firms up in the cold, and that is what holds this crust together, since it never sees the oven.

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Why Creamy Peanut Butter, Not Natural

Use a commercial creamy peanut butter, the kind that does not separate in the jar. Natural peanut butter releases oil as you beat it, and the filling ends up loose and slightly grainy instead of thick and smooth.

Beat the softened cream cheese on its own first, until there is not a single lump. Then add the peanut butter and beat again, followed by the powdered sugar and vanilla. Cold cream cheese leaves small white specks that will not beat out once the sugar is in, so give it an hour on the counter.

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Folding Whipped Cream Into the Peanut Butter Base

Whip the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks: when you lift the whisk, the peak stands straight up and the cream holds the lines of the beaters. Stop there. Past that point it turns grainy and starts heading toward butter.

The peanut butter base is heavy, so loosen it first by stirring in a big spoonful of the cream. Fold in the rest in two additions with a wide spatula, cutting down through the middle and turning the bowl. You want a pale, even filling with no white streaks. Spread it into the chilled crust, smooth the top, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

If the filling looks soft and droopy before it goes into the crust, the cream was under-whipped. Chill the bowl for 30 minutes and it will firm up enough to spread.

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Ganache Ratio and When to Pour It

Heat ½ cup cream until it just simmers at the edges, pour it over 1 cup of chocolate, and leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes. Then stir from the center out until it is smooth and glossy. This 3 to 2 ratio sets firm in the fridge but still cuts cleanly, without cracking.

Let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes. It is ready when it feels just warm on a fingertip and falls off the spoon in a thick ribbon. Pour it into the middle of the chilled filling and nudge it to the edges with a spoon. For more ways to use the same mix, see my chocolate ganache recipe.

Scatter ¼ cup chopped salted peanuts around the edge. The salt matters more than it looks: it keeps a sweet, rich slice from tasting flat.

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A Timeline for Clean Slices

• Crust: 20 minutes in the fridge while you make the filling
• Filling: 1 hour in the fridge before the ganache
• Ganache: 5 to 10 minutes on the counter to cool before pouring
• Finished pie: at least 3 hours in the fridge before slicing
• Make ahead: up to 1 day, covered, in the fridge

For the neatest slices, dip a long knife in hot water and wipe it dry between every cut. Then let the slices stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes so the ganache softens a little before serving.

Leftovers keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge under a loose cover or a cake dome, which also keeps the ganache from going dull. The pie freezes well for up to 1 month, wrapped tightly; thaw it overnight in the fridge.

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When the Filling or Ganache Misbehaves

• Ganache sank into the filling: it went on too hot or the filling had not chilled a full hour. It still tastes right; next time wait for both.
• Ganache looks oily or grainy: whisk in 1 tablespoon of warm cream, from the center outward, until it turns glossy again.
• Filling will not hold a slice: the cream was under-whipped or natural peanut butter was used. A longer chill helps; overnight is the safest.
• Crust crumbles when served: the crumbs were not pressed firmly enough or were too dry. Press harder next time and serve straight from the fridge.

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Peanut Butter Pie Questions

Is this the same as a classic peanut butter pie?

It is a peanut butter pie with a chocolate crust and a chocolate ganache top. The filling is the familiar cream cheese and peanut butter cream, so if you leave off the ganache you have a plain peanut butter pie.

Do you bake chocolate peanut butter pie?

Not this one. The butter in the crust and the chill in the fridge do all the setting. For a cooked custard version, try my Amish peanut butter cream pie.

Can I make it without cream cheese?

You can replace the cream cheese with more whipped cream, but the filling is softer and sweeter without its tang. Chill it overnight before slicing.

Can I use a graham cracker crust?

Yes. Use chocolate graham crackers in the same amount, 200 g crumbs to 90 g butter, for a crumblier, milder crust.

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If you like this kind of chilled pie, the Mississippi mud pie and French silk pie are the next ones to try. For a cookie crust without peanut butter, there is my Oreo pie, and for a darker, baked chocolate filling, the chocolate chess pie. More ideas are in the pie recipes section.