{I actually took these pictures last year and meant to write a blog post, but I never got around to it.}
I am not huge fan of cream pies or really anything besides a fruit pie. I mean this generally, just because whenever someone has made some sort of cream/chocolate/custard pie it is often made with a Jello mix, which I am not a fan of. I do believe cream type pies can be really delicious, and I have made some--but I still usually prefer apple, blackberry, pumpkin or any other fruit one to a cream one. However, this pie is the exception.
My mom makes this pie often and she adapted it from a family recipe.
This pie starts off with an Oreo crust. The actual recipe calls for chocolate graham crackers, but I modified it and found it better. I did not actually use Oreos, but used Trader Joe's Jo-Jo's, which I think taste better anyways.
This pie is made up of two peanut butter layers separated by a thinner chocolate layer. Do not be cheap with ingredients! Buy quality chocolate! At the very least, use Ghirardelli's 60% cacao chocolate chips.
This recipe is simple and well, not something I would really look at and think, "Oh, I should make that!"---But---it really is a delicious pie. I am really picky when it comes to pies and crust and what people put on their blogs as recipes. If the blogger does not make their own crust (i.e. store bought), do not trust them, if they use a mix of any kind, do not trust them, if they make pies using exorbitant amounts of candy, do not trust them. Basically, it really bothers me that when I go to find a recipe somewhere on the internet, I find a lot of supposedly "food" blogs that basically just are telling you how to combine store-bought items. Not cooking. Not baking. It is just a lot of preservatives, etc. and it always tastes better to make it from scratch. Granted, I did not make my own chocolate wafers to grind up for the crust--but I did try to find a better, slightly healthier substitute over Oreos. Sorry about the rant. It could have been much longer.
The recipe is as follows:
Crust:
2 cups crushed Jo-Jo's/Oreos (including the cream filling)
2 tbsp melted butter
Mix together and then press into a pie dish, going all the way up the sides. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes, should be fragrant. Let cool.
Pie Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter (use an all natural one, without the added sugar and palm oil--you really don't need more sugar!)
8 oz, cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
8 oz already whipped cream (about 1/2 cup un-whipped cream)
Mix all of the above ingredients with a mixer, except the whipped cream. Once everything is well mixed and smooth, fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Set filling aside.
Chocolate layer:
6-8 oz dark chocolate
Melt over a double boiler over low heat.
To assemble:
Spread half of the peanut butter filling into the pie dish. Pour all of the chocolate over the peanut butter filling and spread out evenly. Spread the rest of the peanut butter filling evenly on top. Chill in the refrigerator until set.
