Today I’m bringing you another recipe from my cookbook! One of my absolute favorites. Whenever someone asks me what my favorite recipe in the book is, it’s this! Peanut Butter Chess Pie. It was one of those recipes I was thankful I was shooting by myself in my apartment because I wanted to hoard it all! I’m just being honest. I didn’t, though. I made myself take it into work, which was for the best because my coworkers loved it too!
Chess pie is such a classic southern dessert. Anyone who is familiar with baking and southern comfort recipes has more than likely heard of it. When deciding on recipes for the book, I was lucky to have exclusive access to both of my grandmother’s recipe books (one of my grandmother’s didn’t hand out her recipes to just anyone!) and they both, of course, had classic chess pie recipes.
There are all different versions of this pie on the internet these days, too. Chocolate, coconut, pecan, black-bottomed, chocolate chip. I wanted to add something I hadn’t really seen, and as soon as I thought of peanut butter I knew I had to make it. If you’re a fan of chess pies or chess bars, you know how delicious and luscious the filling is. Now imagine it full of peanut butter! It’s seriously heaven. And absolutely perfect with a scoop of ice cream and some chocolate sauce 🙂
This pie is pretty simple to make, too! You probably already have all of the ingredients except for evaporated milk. In the cookbook and in the recipe below, I include a recipe for homemade pie crust, but you can use a refrigerated or pre-made frozen crust if you prefer. As per usual, the hardest part is waiting for the pie to bake and cool!
Peanut Butter Chess Pie
Ingredients
- PIE CRUST
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp cold butter cubed
- 6 tbsp cold water
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- PIE FILLING
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs slightly beaten
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- GARNISHES
- Ice cream
- Chocolate sauce
- Chopped peanuts
Instructions
- PIE CRUST. To make the pie crust, combine flour and sugar in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until crumbly. With processor running, add water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together and forms a ball. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Chill for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured sugar, turn out dough and roll into a 12-inch circle. Lift dough using a rolling pin (if dough is hard to work with, return to the refrigerator to help it firm up a bit) and lay over a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate. Gently press into pie plate. Trim and flute the edges. Beat egg and milk with a fork until pale and frothy. Lightly brush egg wash over edges of pie crust.
- PIE FILLING. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Mix on medium high speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add butter and mix well. Pour into the prepared pie crust.
- Bake 20 minutes, then tent a sheet of foil over pie. Continue baking for 25 more minutes, or until center is set and top is slightly crackled. Remove from oven; let cool. Pie is best served slightly warm.
Notes
My cookbook, Hello, Sugar! is available on Amazon, B&N, or BAM!
Your photos look great and with the ice cream, yummm!
Is PB pie recipe with unsalted butter I presume?