Peanut Butter Pie

Slices of this not-too-sweet, not-too-salty Peanut Butter Pie will fly off the pie plate. And if its crowd-pleasing nature wasn't reason enough to make it, here's another one: This Peanut Butter Pie requires no baking.

That's right—this rich, creamy no-bake Peanut Butter Pie is impressive and won't make you break a sweat with the oven's heat. Here, learn more about how to make peanut butter pie and variations you can use to make your pie a little more custom to you.

Peanut Butter Pie, Always a Crowd Favorite

Attention, busy bakers! This recipe calls for less than 10 ingredients and requires only 15 minutes of active prep time, so it's sure to be your new go-to. (Just be sure to give the pie at least three hours to chill in the fridge, plus an hour for the crust to firm up before you add the filling.)

Peanut butter and chocolate will always be a winning combination in our book. If you agree, also consider this Chocolate-Peanut Butter Icebox Pie.

Peanut Butter Pie Ingredients

You'll easily check off every ingredient on the list with one trip to the grocery store.

• Chocolate wafer cookies: The original Nabisco Famous wafer cookies may be hard to find now. You can use chocolate graham crackers instead. See more below.
• Unsalted butter: This helps hold together the cookie crumbs for the crust.
• Cream cheese: This adds body, along with the peanut butter, to the pie filling.
• Creamy peanut butter: We recommend using a peanut butter made of only peanuts and oil if available.
• Unsifted powdered sugar: This adds sweetness to the pie filling and helps it firm up.
• Heavy whipping cream: You'll whip this into fluffy whipped cream, then fold it into the peanut butter-cream cheese mixture. A little will also go on top of the pie to hold the peanuts.
• Peanuts: Finish the pie with a topping of dry-roasted peanuts for crunch. Want other topping ideas? Keep reading.

How To Make Peanut Butter Pie

The texture of the crumbly homemade chocolate cookie crust complements the pie's creamy filling. Once you have a slice, you'll want it again. Thankfully, peanut butter pie is easy to make. Here's how:

• Step 1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse the wafers until they're fine crumbs. Add the butter, and pulse until it's integrated. Dump the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate, and use your fingers to firmly press the crust into the bottom and sides of the plate. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Step 2. Make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Don't attempt to do this by hand; the mixture will be too thick. Beat until the peanut butter mixture is fluffy. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl, and clean the mixing bowl.
• Step 3. Make whipping cream, and add to filling: In the stand mixer bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream for 2 to 3 minutes, until it forms medium peaks. Add 2 cups of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture. Our Test Kitchen pros note that gently folding the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture will help create the light, fluffy filling. Transfer the filling to the prepared (and chilled) pie crust; top with remaining whipped cream. Chill the pie in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Step 4. Serve: Just before serving, top with peanuts or other desired toppings. Then serve.

How To Serve Peanut Butter Pie

This peanut butter pie recipe is rich, so you don't need to do much to it. As is, the whipped cream and sprinkle of roasted peanuts provides a nice contrast to the thicker, fluffy filling.

You can serve it with a scoop of ice cream to put it over the top, if you wish. Or give it a drizzle of warm chocolate sauce.

How To Store Peanut Butter Pie

This pie will need to remain in the refrigerator, and it shouldn't sit out at room temperature for more than an hour. The filling can quickly soften and may collapse if the pie gets too warm.

Wrap the pie with plastic wrap or a pie plate lid, and store in the fridge up to 5 days.

Can You Freeze Peanut Butter Pie?

Yes, the fluffy filling of this peanut butter pie does freeze and thaw beautifully.

Make sure you cover the slices of the pie you want to freeze with plastic wrap, or store them in a freezer-safe container. And don't forget to label it so you'll know what it is.

In the freezer, the pie will be good up to 2 months. You can thaw it overnight in the fridge before you enjoy it, or let it warm up slightly at room temperature and eat it as a slightly frozen peanut butter pie. It's delicious. Trust us!

Variations for Peanut Butter Pie

This pie only takes about 15 minutes to make, but if you're more crunched for time than that, you can use a store-bought cookie crust made with chocolate sandwich cookies. Also, you can use frozen topping (such as Cool Whip) instead of making your own homemade whipped cream.

Sprinkle the top of the finished pie with salty peanuts to counter the sweetness and add a nice crunch. For a chocolate-peanut butter pairing, add chocolate curls. To get pretty curls, run a vegetable peeler along the long side of a chocolate baking bar.

For more fun toppings, consider chopping up peanut butter cups and sprinkling them on top. Sprinkles are always a good idea for birthdays. (Look for all-chocolate ones to keep the look uniform.) Or top with mini chocolate and peanut butter chips.

More Favorite No-Bake Pies:

If it's too hot outside for an oven but you still have to bring dessert, consider these no-bake pies the solution to your problem:

• Lemon Icebox Pie
• Peanut Butter-Banana Icebox Pie
• Millionaire Pie