Elvis Presley and My Peanut Butter Pie

This recipe requires that you take a moment and stare at Elvis Presley's face.  Only then can you begin to understand the essence of this remarkable pie.  This pie, like Elvis, is intense and provocative yet sweet and dreamy.  This is a good pie.  I believe Mr. Presley would have agreed.

This pie is called MY Peanut Butter Pie or The Peanut Butter Pie.
When you make it, you can call it YOUR Peanut Butter Pie.
Just make it.  It's so darn good.  
It's really really really good.  If Elvis Presley ate this pie he would have curled up his lip and told me I was taking care of business.


For anyone who is not making the connection between Elvis and this pie....it is rumored that Elvis had crazy comfort food addictions.  One of which was a deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich.
How they deep fried a peanut butter and banana sandwich-I don't know, but apparently Elvis couldn't get enough of them.
This pie, in my mind, would have made him throw the sandwich on the floor and declare "This is nothing like Sugarlady's Peanut Butter Pie and I will not eat it!".  Then he would have grinned and said "Thank you, thank you very much!"
Maybe you are thinking "How dare she say what Elvis would do!?".
Once you make this pie, you can be the judge.
You just need a few things that you probably already have around the house.

Let's get started:
PEANUT BUTTER PIE
A 10 inch tart pan or a pie dish.
2 1/2-3 cups of vanilla cookie crumbs or THE PRINCESS COOKIE crumbs from the last blog
8 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 cup of peanuts (salted)
1/2 cup of chocolate ganache *recipe to follow
1 lb of cream cheese (room temp)
2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of heavy cream
An electric mixer or a Kitchenaid mixer with a paddle attachment.
*Chocolate Ganache Recipe
1 cup of chocolate chips-semisweet
1/2 cup of sugar 
1/2 cup of heavy cream
Warm the cream and sugar together in a sauce pan.  Once it starts to simmer, remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and mix until smooth.  Don't use a whip, it incorporates too many bubbles and the chocolate chips get stuck to it.  Use a wooden spoon.

NOW, back to THE PIE!
1) Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter together and pour into tart shell.  Pat crumbs evenly on the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
2) In a 350 degree oven, lightly toast crumbs until golden brown around the edge. Appx 10 minutes.  This is your pie shell.  Cool completely at room temperature.
3) In mixer, with paddle attachment, whip cream cheese and peanut butter until fully combined on medium speed.  
4) Turn mixer off and add confectioner's sugar and heavy cream.  
*If you don't turn the mixer off and add confectioner's sugar, you will be wearing the confectioner's sugar.
5) Slowly whip the ingredients together until combined and then turn mixer up to med/high speed until light and fluffy. (Taste your mixture and if you like it sweeter, keep adding confectioner's sugar until desired sweetness is produced)
6) In the mean time, drizzle the bottom of the pie shell with ganache OR just pour it in because Who Are We Fooling!?
7) Top the ganache with salted peanuts

8) Fill the pie evenly with the fluffy goodness you have just created in the mixer and rap the tart pan lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles caught between the shell and the filling.
9) Chill overnight.  You can even freeze this, well covered, then bust it out for a special occasion.
*Top this pie with more cookie crumb for added crunch.  Chocolate chips or fruit preserves.  When I have extra caramel around, I crush that and sprinkle it on top.


NOW FOR THE KICKER!!!!!!!
Do you want to get really crazy with this pie!? YES YOU DO!
Slice up two slightly under ripe bananas and place them in a frying pan on low/med heat with a cup of sugar and half a stick of butter and heat until the sugar and butter start to bubble.  You can cool this mixture and put it on top of the pie OR add it to the shell with the ganache and the peanuts.  Let the bananas cool a bit either way.

     

  

THIS IS ONE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD PIE!

 

You can thank me later!

Elvis is PSYCHED!