Pie!

I made pie! This is a chocolate peanut butter pie from Good Eats. In the episode this recipe is from Alton Brown roasts his own peanuts, makes them into peanut butter and then uses then in the pie. That was a little ambitious for me so I used the home-style peanut butter from the deli section at the grocery store.

Ingredients

6 1/2 ounces chocolate wafers
1 tablespoon sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter room temperature, divided
3 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 3/4 cup
12 ounces of "homemade" peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. I always forget to do this ahead of time.

In the food processor, combine the cookies and sugar. Process until the wafers are fine crumbs.

Melt the first 3 oz of butter in microwave and drizzle into the crumb mixture. Use the pulse button to mix it so that the butter doesn't pool at the bottom. Pour the mixture into the pie pan and press it into place. I used my fingers and a rubber spatula. Bake for ten minutes.

While the crust is cooling put the peanut butter and the last 2 oz of butter in the food processor. Process for 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and process for another 1 1/2 minutes. It totally changes texture as the peanut bits get smaller and more air gets into the mixture.

Dump it into the pie pan.

Carefully spread the mixture into the pie shell and then bake for 10 minutes.

While the pie is cooling make the ganache to go on top. The recipe calls for chopped chocolate but I used chocolate chips because that's what I had on hand.

Place the heavy cream into a heat-proof bowl and microwave on high. I over did mine a little. Next time I pay closer attention. Pour the chocolate into the bowl and let it sit for 2 minutes. I actually timed it so I wouldn't cheat. Mix it up with a spoon. It takes a while to combine.

Pour the topping over the pie and spread with the back of a spoon. It says to chill for 90 minutes but we only waited thirty minutes. Yum! I'll definitely do this one again.