Isn’t it amazing how procrastination works. Every year, I resolve to fight it, but by June my best intentions have been led astray. Currently, I have a load in the wash with roughly five more loads to do on top of the five loads that have been patiently waiting for weeks in the hallway to be folded.Ugggh! I was supposed to start this endeavor last night, but I would much rather be designing or reading or taking pictures or playing tennis or making a reeses peanut butter cup pie.
Now, I have to admit, peanut butter is not my first choice for a pie. However, my friend, Rita, loves peanut butter pie and I succumbed to her peer pressure. I came up with this very tasty peanut butter pie concoction, if I do say so myself. I added chocolate to it, because chocolate makes everything better. I will warn you now – it is extremely rich. The other thing this pie has going for it is that you can eat it without guilt because of all the protein in it. I just finished a piece of it for breakfast – totally yummy- and I’m feeling strong already because of that protein.
Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Pie
Ingredients:
- Crust *****************************
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup roasted, non salted peanuts, chopped up
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
- Chocolate Layer *********************
- 1 large (4.4 oz) hersheys milk chocolate bar, broken up
- 3 T. whipping cream
- 4 king size reeses cups, chopped up
- Filling ******************************
- 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup/ 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 t./ 1 t. vanilla
- 1 T. sugar
- 3 packages king size (4 cups in each) reeses peanut butter cups, each cut into 6 pie like pieces or a whole bunch of miniature whole ones
- a little bit of hersheys syrup
Cooking Directions:
- For the crust – mix together flour, butter, peanuts and sugar. Press into a 9 inch pie pan. You will have leftovers. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool.
- Melt the hershey bar in the microwave then mix in the cream. Spread in the bottom and a little bit up the sides of the cooled pie crust. Sprinkle chopped up reeses on top. Place in freezer for about a half an hour.
- Beat together cream cheese and confectioners sugar. Add peanut butter, 1/3 cup whipping cream, and 1 t. vanilla, beating until blended.
- Beat 1 cup whipping cream with 1 t. vanilla and 1 T. sugar on until soft peaks form.
- Fold whipping cream into peanut butter mixture. Spread over chocolate layer in pie crust. Freeze 30 minutes until slightly firm.
- Drizzle hershey syrup over the top and artfully arrange the cut up reeses peanut butter cups on top.
- Cover and chill for at least an hour.
- Do not eat too much!