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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie is a combination of a classic pie crust, peanut butter pastry cream with chocolate chips, and a real whipped cream topping.

peanut butter chocolate chip cream pie in a metal tin with a knife that has some filling on it

Recipe Overview

I grew up in Kansas near an Amish community. The staple restaurant in the town makes the absolutely best cream pies, and any day of the week they have at least a dozen different kinds.

This pie is my take on their peanut butter chocolate chip cream pie. I was aiming to make one that was at least as good as theirs, but I have to say, I think this one is maybe even better!

peanut butter chocolate chip cream pie with a slice cut out of it so you can see the filling

The base is a classic pie crust, and it is filled with a peanut butter pastry cream. I used mini chocolate chips in the filling so that you get little pieces of chocolate all throughout. The texture of the chocolate chips really contrasts with the creamy custard which makes it just perfect.

To top the pie, I used real whipped cream. There’s nothing easier or more delicious to top a cream pie! Let’s dive into making it!

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cream Pie

Make the Pie Dough

You are more than welcome to use store bought pie crust for this pie! But if you would like to make your own, I have a detailed video tutorial for how to make the perfect pie crust from scratch.

I love using a traditional pie crust pastry for cream pies, which is what I used here. But you could also opt to use a graham cracker crust if you prefer!

If you’re going to make a traditional pastry, I suggest doing this first in your pie making process because it needs to chill for an hour before rolling it out.

Make the Pastry Cream

The filling for this pie is a homemade pastry cream with peanut butter added to it. It is creamy, salty, and sweet, and absolutely decadent.

Pastry cream going through a strainer

My traditional pastry cream can be flavored with any number of things. The only change you need to make to make this filling is to stir in peanut butter while it is still hot. I also leave out the butter from the traditional recipe since the nut butter has so much fat in it.

Once you have the filling made, place a piece of plastic right on top of the custard and place it in the refrigerator until needed.

Roll Out the Crust

Once the crust has chilled for an hour, you can roll it out to be baked before filling. You can crimp the edges however you prefer, but I show a very classic crimping technique in the pie crust video.

Bake the Crust

This crust is going to be “blind baked” which means that it will be baked without the filling in it. To do this, you want to put some pie weights into the crust.

I keep a container of dried beans and rice to use as my pie weights. But you can use traditional ones if you like. Anything to hold the pie crust down so it doesn’t puff up while you’re baking!

Once it is baked through fully, allow it to cool completely before filling. You don’t want the crust to melt the filling and topping.

Make the Whipped Cream

I like to make a barely sweet whipped cream for the topping. Just a touch of powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla. The filling is already really sweet and the richness of the whipped cream really balances everything.

If you’d like to make the whipped cream in advance, make a stabilized version that contains gelatin. My recipe for stabilized whipped cream can be made up to 4 days in advance.

Assemble the Pie

To assemble the pie, stir the mini chocolate chips into the cooled filling and pour it into the crust. Top the pastry cream with the whipped cream and a few more mini chocolate chips.

I like to put it in the refrigerator for at least another hour or two to make sure the filling is really set up before slicing!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip pie
Yield: 8-10 Servings

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cream Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups (5.3 oz, 149 gr) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 5 TBSP (2.5 oz, 70 gr) unsalted butter, cold
  • 2 TBSP (0.9 oz, 25 gr) shortening or lard, cold
  • 2-4 TBSP ice water (*see notes for using part vodka or vinegar to ensure a flaky crust)

For the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Filling

  • 2/3 cup (4.6 oz, 130 gr) granulated sugar
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (1 oz, 28 gr) cornstarch
  • 1/8 tsp Morton kosher salt or table salt (use 1/2 tsp if using Diamond kosher)
  • 2 1/2 cups (20 fl oz, 590 ml) whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter

For the Whipped Cream

  • 1 pint (2 cups, 16 fl oz, 473 ml) heavy cream, whipping cream, or double cream, cold
  • 2/3 cup (2.75 oz, 77 gr) powdered, confectioners, or icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips (for serving)

Instructions

  1. PREP: Read through this recipe in its entirety to get a feel for the workflow.

MIX THE CRUST: 

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the butter and shortening to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the fat through the flour until it is evenly distributed in pea size pieces.
  2. Add the ice water to the bowl 1 tablespoon at a time and use a fork to gently nudge the flour into the water. Do not aggressively stir or mash the flour and butter down. Once large clumps of dough start forming, gather the dough up and press it together. If it crumbles, add a little more water. If it holds together than you are ready to chill.
  3. Press the dough together into a ball and wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap, pressing it down into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days before using.

MAKE THE PASTRY CREAM: 

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until foamy and about double in size. Whisk the cornstarch into the egg/sugar mixture.
  2. In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Slowly pour about half of the hot milk into the egg/cornstarch mixture while whisking continuously. A damp towel nestled around the mixing bowl can help it from sliding around while whisking.
  3. Pour the milk/egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and cook over medium/low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens considerably.
  4. Pour the hot custard through a fine mesh sieve and stir in the vanilla extract and the peanut butter while the custard is still hot and whisk to combine. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard and refrigerate until ready to use.

BLIND BAKE: 

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C). On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pie crust to about 1 1/2" wider than the diameter of your pie plate.
  2. Transfer the crust to the pie plate and lift up on the sides to let it naturally fall into the pie plate without stretching it. Trim and crimp the edges of the crust.
  3. Place a piece of parchment paper over the crust and fill it with pie weights, dried beans, or rice. Weighing down the dough keeps the crust from puffing up and shrinking in the oven. Place the shaped crust in the freezer to firm up and to relax the gluten- about 10 minutes. This helps prevent the crust from shrinking
  4. Bake at 425 F (420 C) for 20 minutes. Pull the crust out of the oven and remove the parchment with the pie weights. Return the crust to the oven for 5-7 more minutes until the bottom of the crust looks fully baked.
  5. Set the baked crust on a cooling rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before filling.

MAKE THE WHIPPED CREAM: 

  1. Combine the cold cream and powdered sugar in the mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until the cream thickens and holds stiff peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ASSEMBLE: 

  1. Fold in about 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips into the pastry cream and pour the mixture into the pie crust. If the filling is still not chilled, return to the refrigerator to chill completely before topping with the whipped cream. Top the pie with whipped cream and the remaining mini chocolate chips.
  2. STORE: Peanut Butter chocolate chip cream pie should be stored covered in the refrigerator and will keep for up to 4 days.
© Baker Bettie