Frozen Peanut Butter Cup Pie (Creamspot)

A luscious creamy frozen peanut butter cup pie that’s easy to make without an ice cream maker.

You are going to find many recipes for frozen peanut butter pie if you search the web. I have tried quite a few of them too.

Some have crushed peanut or vanilla wafer crusts, some even have cream cheese in the mix. Many, if not most, have sweetened condensed milk in the recipe and quite a few have chocolate on the bottom.

Finally, I got around to creating my own version of this delicious dessert. My idea was to make it sort of like an interpretation of a big frozen peanut butter cup which both my daughter and I particularly love.

I went with a chocolate cookie crumb crust to mimic the shell of the peanut butter cup while adding a crunchy element. In addition, I used the sweetened condensed milk that seemed to be in almost all the recipes.

I didn’t use cream cheese, instead opting for mascarpone cheese for a less tangy, more neutral creamy taste and texture.

Finishing off the pie.
Many of the recipes I’ve seem have an open top but I opted for a soft ganache top. I thought that would complete the peanut butter cup look and taste and would soften quickly out of the freezer before serving.

For the crust

 * 2 2/3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
 * 2/3 cup melted butter
 * 3 rounded tbsp white sugar

For the filling

 * 1 cup whipping cream
 * 2 tbsp icing sugar, powdered sugar
 * 1 tsp vanilla extract
 * one 10 ounce (300 ml)can of sweetened condensed milk, (In the USUS 14 Ounce can, see Notes below)
 * 1 cup mascarpone cheese
 * 3/4 cup peanut butter

for the Chocolate Ganache topping

 * 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
 * 2/3 cup whipping cream, heated in the microwave to almost boiling

Instructions

 * 1) Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan. Line with parchment paper and then very lightly grease the parchment paper as well.

For the crust

 * 1) Mix together the crumbs, butter and sugar.
 * 2) Press the crumbs into the bottom and 3/4 of the way up the sides of the prepared pan. Set aside.
 * 3) Whip the whipping cream, icing sugar ans vanilla extract to firm peaks.
 * 4) Slowly beat in the condensed milk.
 * 5) Next beat in the mascarpone cheese and peanut butter.
 * 6) Pour into the prepared crust and freeze for several hours or preferably overnight.

For the chocolate topping

 * 1) Melt together the chocolate chips and scalded whipping cream in a double boiler.
 * 2) Reserve a little of the chocolate mixture to drizzle over the whipped cream if you like, then spread the rest over the top of the frozen pie.
 * 3) Return to the freezer until ready to serve. Before serving you can garnish with whipped cream and a drizzle of the chocolate ganache as well as some roasted peanuts.