This chocolate peanut butter pie recipe is oh-so delicious. With a graham cracker crust, a smooth peanut butter filling, layer of chocolate ganache, and a whipped cream and candied peanut topping, this dessert is deluxe and irresistible.
I typically like to mix up the flavors and styles of the desserts I make on my website, so it is unusual for me to make two peanut butter and chocolate treats in a row. But, I just loved the Peanut Butter Cup Meringues I recently made and it set off a craving for this pie. Maybe it is the comfort food aspect as we enter into fall and the chilly weather has me hunkering for something rich, smooth and satisfying.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Tips
- Be sure to chill your chocolate peanut butter pie for two hours or overnight before serving. If you’d like these into cute little mini pies, here’s a version I created for the Cooking Channel.
- You can watch me make this luscious pie in my instagram video and the recipe follows.
- Do you have pie questions or need to troubleshoot your recipe? Check out my guide on how to make pie crust.
Pie-Making Equipment
Below are affiliate links to the equipment I used to make my chocolate peanut butter pie.
Cuisinart Food Processor
Stand Mixer
Rosle Stainless Steel and Silicone Spatula
Offset Spatula
Balloon Whisk
9-inch Pie Plate by Emile Henry
Silicone Baking Mat
Chef’s Knife
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust
- 12 (185g) whole graham crackers
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 5 tbsp (71g) unsalted butter, melted
- pinch salt
- 2 oz (57g) milk chocolate melted, for painting on the finished crust
Filling
- 8 oz (227g) cream cheese softened
- 1 cup (260g) smooth or chunky peanut butter
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 14-ounce (396g) can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 tbsp sour cream creme fraiche or Greek yogurt will also work
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice*
- 4 oz (113g) milk chocolate melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream whipped to stiff peaks
Chocolate Ganache
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
- 4 oz (113g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
Candied Peanuts
- 1 cup (128g) salted peanuts
- ¼ cup (50g) sugar
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 1/2 cups (350ml) heavy whipping cream whipped to stiff peaks for top of pie**
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grind the graham crackers, brown sugar, butter and salt together until it is uniform and sticks together when squeezed. Dump it into a 9-Inch Pie Dish and press the crust into an even crust. Bake for 15 minutes, until set and toasted. Allow to cool.
- Paint with the melted milk chocolate. Chill the crust to set the chocolate for about 10 minutes.
Filling
- Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer on medium speed using the paddle attachment, until it is light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar; continue beating on low speed for about 1 minute. Add the condensed milk, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice, mix until smooth. Add the melted and cooled milk chocolate and mix until evenly distributed. Fold in half the whipped cream to lighten the batter, and then fold in the remaining cream until it is evenly distributed.
- Pour into the chilled crust. Place the pie into the refrigerator to chill uncovered for about an hour.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a small sauce pot heat the heavy cream on low to a gentle simmer. Turn off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirl together gently and then let it sit for one minute. Gently whisk until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, spoon the ganache over the chilled peanut butter filling. Return the pies to the refrigerator to chill for another hour.
Candied Peanuts
- In a large skillet mix together the raw peanuts, sugar and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar begins to melt and the nuts start to toast slightly, stirring constantly. Once the sugar starts to melt, turn the heat to low and cook until the nuts are lightly caramelized. The mixture may smoke a little, as they get darker.
- Pour the nuts onto a Silicone Baking Mat to cool. Once they are cool, you can chop them into small pieces or leave them whole.
- Once the pie is thoroughly chilled (about 2 hours or overnight) top with the whipped cream and candied peanuts.
Notes
*Don’t skip the lemon juice in the filling! Adding a bit of acid helps balance the sweetness of the pie and helps to set the proteins so it sets up well.
**I left the whipped cream for the topping unsweetened, since the pie is pretty sweet, but you can add a teaspoon or two of confectioners’ sugar if you prefer.
Want to make these as individual mini pies? Check out this recipe I developed for The Cooking Channel.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
This is delicious! I added an extra tbsp of butter to the crust because it seemed too dry, but it might’ve work out anyway. The filling and the ganache made more than enough for my 9.5 inch pan, but I can live with that 🙂
I made this pie for my husband! Everyone loved it! It is lovely and quite delicious! It offers different textures and definitely a must for the peanut butter lover!
I recently made the peanut butter pie in a vegan version. My friend is dairy free and he absolutely loved it. I also made the original version and it is now the most requested birthday pie in our family, thank you Zoe I adore watching your show.
Best wishes to you and your lovely family ❤️
I’m a little confused. The directions for the crust appear to be for a single graham cracker crust. Yet in the instructions for the filling it mentions “pies” and I feel like I have way too much filling for a single pie? There are other comments that seem to imply a different crust???
Hi Kim, thank you for calling this out! The recipe was originally written in 2011 for individual pies, which is why it states “crusts.” So sorry for the confusion and we will update the recipe accordingly!
Thank you so much for responding!! I was panicked when I posted. I flipped over to Zoe’s Key Lime Pie crust after two attempts. I had to go ahead with semi sweet chocolate because it’s all I had. I am hopeful!
The recipe needs revisiting because ingredients do not match the narrative. I’m on Instagram so I am still not sure why the video won’t launch?? I would have lived to see the individual cakes referenced in the comments!
I am in the middle of making this pie. The crust is failing for me, not enough to cover 9” pan and 15 minutes seems too long to bake. I keep trying to find the video link to see what I’m doing wrong but the link isn’t working. Also, could semi-sweet be used instead of milk chocolate? My stores don’t carry the former.
Hi Lisa, so sorry you’re running into trouble with the recipe. I double checked the link to the video and it is working, but it may be giving you an error if you’re not an Instagram user. As for the crust, perhaps your pie dish is a little bigger or deeper and that’s why it’s not enough crust? Or the crust is too thick and could be spread out more? If you want to add more, you could add a bit more of the crust ingredients until you believe it’s enough to cover your pie plate. Semi-sweet chocolate won’t work in this recipe as it has a different makeup than milk chocolate and doesn’t work in the same way. Zoë hasn’t tested the recipe with semi-sweet chocolate and you’d likely need to reduce the amount to get it right.
I just want to make sure that this calls for a regular 9″ pan and not a deep dish? Thank you!
Hi Andi, yep! Regular 9-inch. This is the exact pan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016ZS6GS/
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes
Does the the cream cheese shine through this pie tasting like a cheesecake or is the cream cheese more in the background?
Hi Julianna—The cream cheese is definitely more of a background flavor. It’s more for texture and thickening.
Great. Thank you! And how long can the pie be made in advance (if stored in the fridge of course)?
It can be made up to two days in advance!