Peanut Butter Pie for a Dear Friend

Our very good friend Jeremy and his friend Ben own an audio production company called Tunewelder Music Group they had some great success in 2010 and were nominated for 3 Addy awards which are given by the Atlanta Ad Club. At the awards ceremony they took home a medal for each of their nominations, a Gold, Silver and Bronze! I think that this is something to be proud of and should be celebrated with something sweet and homemade! So, I set out to find something fun and different from what I would usually make. I found just thing on Baked Bree's blog- Peanut Butter Pie.

Peanut butter anything is different for me. All of you that know me well know that I have hated peanut butter for close to my whole life. I think that this stems from eating 5 whole Butterfinger candy bars (I swear I'm not exaggerating) in one sitting when I was about 3 years old. As you can imagine my mother had a very long night. But, last night I tasted the filling to the pie I'm about to tell you about and I have to say, it was fairly tasty! Now.....calm down everyone. I will not be dipping a spoon into a jar of peanut butter any time soon, the texture and smell of it is something I can hardly tolerate. However, when mixed with sugar, cream cheese, and whipped cream it's pretty good!

Here is everything you will need to make this light (as in texture- not calories) pie. Note- You sure don't need sour cream.....just noticed it in the photo. That was used in a totally different recipe to be discussed at a later date. :)

Crust
1 1/2 Sleeves Ground Graham Crackers
1/3 Cup Sugar
6 Tbls. Melted Butter

Filling
2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
4 Oz. Room Temp. Cream Cheese
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

To Make Crust
Pulse Graham crackers in food processor until finely ground. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the ground Graham crackers to a bowl and combine well with sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture evenly into pie tin and bake in a 375 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

To Make Filling
Whip the heavy cream until it creates stiff peaks. Reserve for later.

Cream peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together. It will be the consistency of peanut butter cookie dough.

Then gently fold in the whipped cream. You will need to sacrifice about a quarter of the whipped cream to get the mixture going.

Finally fold in the miniature chocolate chips (reserve a few to garnish the top) and pour into the cooled crust.

Chill for several hours or overnight before enjoying.