Pies

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

February 5, 2019 by laurenpacek 3 Comments

This Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie is a lot of things. It is sweet, cold, creamy, and yet also a bit salty and crunchy.

One of the best things about this pie, in my opinion, is that it is nearly no-bake! Just pop the crust into the oven for 10 minutes and then let the freezer do the rest of the work.

This pie was inspired by a candy bar that I impulsively picked up while in World Market a few weeks ago. It was a milk chocolate bar that had peanuts, pretzel pieces, and marshmallow in it. I mean, sure, I was walking around the store while borderline hangry, but that thing was good.

I went home and started to wonder how I could incorporate all of those flavors into a dessert creation of my own. Pie seemed like a good candidate. I thought back to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that I shared with you before and wondered what would happen if you folded marshmallow fluff/creme into the peanut butter filling. As it turns out, delicious things would happen if you did that.

The crust is a little sweet, but mostly salty, and made out of pulverized pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter. The combination of cold and creamy filling, salty crust, and crunchy toppings (okay there are soft marshmallows, too) is 10/10.

After you whip up this Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie, don’t forget to check out this Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, too!

5 from 3 votes

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pretzel Pie | A Nerd Cooks

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Freeze time

3 hrs

Total Time

3 hrs 25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the crust

8 oz small pretzels
2 tbs brown sugar
8 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the pie

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
7 oz marshmallow creme
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the topping

mini chocolate chips
salted peanuts
mini marshmallows

Instructions

To make the crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Blitz the pretzels in a blender or food processor until fine crumbs form.
Add the brown sugar and melted butter. Blitz again until everything is well combined.
Press the pretzel crust into the bottom, and up the sides, of a 9-inch pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool.

To make the pie

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and peanut butter together. Add the heavy cream and beat again until a smooth filling forms.
Add the mini chocolate chips to the pie filling and mix until they are well distributed throughout the filling.
Pour the filling into the prepared pretzel crust. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Top with mini chocolate chips, peanuts, and mini marshmallows.
Freeze for 3 hours. This pie can be served frozen or refrigerated.

Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies

November 6, 2018 by laurenpacek 1 Comment

These bite-sized Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies are undeniably delicious. And their tiny size makes them perfect for sharing. They would make great party food and also be very welcome at a cookie exchange.

Like I mentioned when sharing these No-Bake Bourbon Balls with you, I made these mini bourbon pecan pies for a bourbon-themed birthday party. What could be better?

You can feel free to dial back the amount of bourbon that’s added to these pies. However, since the party was bourbon-themed, I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced.

The recipe for the pie filling comes from Brown Eyed Baker, though I added bourbon and kosher salt.

Bite-Sized Pecan Pies

Prep Time

3 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

28 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 48 mini pies

Ingredients

For the crust

4-5 pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts

For the filling

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup pecans (plus more for topping), chopped
2 eggs
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup bourbon, see notes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with butter or cooking spray.

To prepare the crust

Using a round cookie cutter, cut 48 2- to 3-inch rounds (slightly larger than the opening of the muffin tin openings) of pie dough from the pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts.
Press one round of dough into each well of the mini muffin tin.

To make the filling

Mix all filling ingredients together and divide it evenly between the dough-lined muffin cups.
Sprinkle the extra chopped pecans evenly over the top of the unbaked pies.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the pies are set. Cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin before carefully removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Recipe Notes

Notes: You can reduce the amount of bourbon (or omit it entirely) if you'd like. I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced in these mini pies, though, so I used 1/4 cup.

Homemade Cherry Crisp

September 19, 2018 by laurenpacek 2 Comments

Before you start baking pumpkin everything, honor the remaining days of Summer by baking and enjoying a Homemade Cherry Crisp. You will not be disappointed.

I’ve talked about it before (see my Strawberry Crisp post) but a crisp/crumble really is pie’s less fussy cousin. It still delivers the same sweet, juicy flavor that you get from a pie. But there’s no chilling and rolling of dough involved. Just mix up a crumbly topping, sprinkle it on your fruit, bake, and you’re done!

September is a weird month for me, food-wise. You’re just as likely to find me making a summer fruit-filled crisp or whipping up a hearty mushroom risotto or turkey pumpkin chili. <shrug emoji>

I’m doing my best to not rush into Autumn (even though I love it) and to savor the last bits of summer. Starting with this Cherry Crisp. While still warm (or reheated), top it with some vanilla ice cream. It’s the right thing to do.

The topping for this Cherry Crisp is based on the one from my Strawberry Crisp.

5 from 1 vote

Homemade Cherry Crisp

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the filling

5 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved (see notes)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs bourbon, optional but recommended
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 lemon, juiced

For the topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling

Add all of the filling ingredients to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
In an even layer, spread the filling into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.

To make the topping

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping. Mix until crumbly and everything is incorporated.
Sprinkle the topping over the cherries in an even layer.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the cherries and juices are bubbling around the edges.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

2 lbs of cherries will yield approximately 5 cups after pitting
I'd recommend investing (~$10) in a cherry pitter to make your job easier

Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

March 12, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

This Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie has it all: cool and creamy peanut butter filling, a sweet chocolate graham cracker shell, and crunchy toppings!

We can all agree that chocolate and peanut butter are flavor soulmates, right? I’d be hard pressed to identify a more complementary flavor duo. And I bet you would be, too.

Chocolate and peanut butter come together in this cool, frozen pie. It’s fast and easy enough to make on short notice. Plus it requires almost no baking. Just pop the crust into the oven for ~12 minutes, and the rest is just mixing, freezing, drizzling, and you’re done!

But also! Pi Day is nearly upon us! You know, pi = 3.14 … March 14th … 3/14.

Not that I really need much of an excuse to make pie… but I made this in celebration of the day. May your Pi Day be filled with this and other tasty, tasty pies.

The recipe for this pie comes from Handle the Heat.

Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

4 hrs

Total Time

4 hrs 20 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust

14 whole chocolate graham crackers
1 tbs light brown sugar
7 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

melted peanut butter
melted chocolate
mini Reese's cups, roughly chopped
peanut butter chips

Instructions

To make the crust

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and sugar until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Alternately, put the graham crackers in a large zip top bag and pulverize them with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, add the melted butter, and mix until combined.
Press the graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until fragrant. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack.

To make the filling

In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and peanut butter until it is light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, use an electric hand mixer to whip the heavy cream until thick and light. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter/cream cheese mixture. Pour it into the prepared pie shell and freeze for 3 hours.

To make the topping

Drizzle the top with melted peanut butter and melted chocolate. Top with chopped mini Reese’s cups and peanut butter chips. Serve frozen or refrigerated.

Looking for more pies? Go sweet with Key Lime Pie or Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Pie. Or maybe go savory and handheld with Butternut Squash, Kale, and Feta Hand Pies.

Strawberry Crisp

August 1, 2016 by laurenpacek 6 Comments

This strawberry crisp is everything you could want it to be: sweet, tangy, and subtly spiced It is just about perfect when topped with vanilla ice cream.

I have a bad habit of buying 2-for-1 pints of strawberries, regardless of how many I already have at home. I can’t help myself. They’re so good at this time of year. Plus, I’m usually eating them for breakfast with yogurt and for lunch on this strawberry balsamic salad, so buying a ton of strawberries usually isn’t a big deal.

However, this past week, I’ve been eating overnight oats, so the strawberries started piling up. I thought a pie would be a nice way to use them up, but honestly? I find pie a little fussy sometimes. That’s probably mostly because I’m still not very good at making pie crust.

All was not lost, however, because we have the crisp. All of the pie-like goodness without any of the fussiness.

Sweet, ripe strawberries are quartered, doused with lemon juice to help cut through the sweetness a bit, and coated in a flour and sugar mixture.

The strawberry goodness is then topped with a crumbly mixture of sugar, flour, butter, and pecans, for crunch. Salt, for contrast and flavor enhancement, and cinnamon, for spice, are also added.

Want some more fruit crisp goodness? This apple crisp from Joy the Baker is pretty darn fantastic, too. Need more treats that feature strawberries? This Mixed Berry Chia Seed Jam is 10/10 and these Strawberry Crumb Bars are pretty great, too!

This recipe is based on, but modified from, this one found on Craving Alaska.

5 from 1 vote

Strawberry Crisp

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the filling

2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the topping -

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Add the strawberries, lemon juice, sugars, and all-purpose flour to a large bowl. Toss until the strawberries are well coated. Pour the strawberries into a 9-inch pie dish. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping. Mix until crumbly and everything is incorporated. Sprinkle it over the strawberries in an even layer.
Bake for 45 minutes. Allow the crisp to cool slightly.

Recipe Notes

Note: It's optional, but totally recommended, to eat this while still warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust

December 23, 2015 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

Pumpkin pies aren’t just for Thanksgiving! Trust me on this one. Give this version a whirl and add it to your holiday table.

Despite what I just said, I did make this pie for Thanksgiving this year. Nonetheless, it definitely would make a fabulous addition to your Christmas/other winter holiday table. Pumpkin and chocolate play really well together (check out this cheesecake or these cookies, for proof), and this pie is no exception. The pie itself is super creamy and flavorful (I find that pumpkin pies can be a bit bland), and the cookie crust is chocolatey and much easier and quicker than traditional pie crust.

This recipe came from the blog Spoon Fork Bacon.

Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Crust | A Nerd Cooks

Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 50 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

For the crust

12 oz. chocolate wafers or Oreo cookies (sans cream filling), finely ground
12 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the pie filling

28 oz pumpkin puree
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 lemon, juiced
5 tbs unsalted butter, melted
3 1/2 tbs brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the whipped cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the garnish

shaved milk chocolate

Instructions

To make the crust

In a medium bowl, combine the ground chocolate cookies and melted butter. Press the crust into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then allow it to cool slightly before filling.

To make the filling

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Bake 55-70 minutes on the center rack, or until the filling is set, but is still slightly jiggly in the center.
Allow the pie to cool completely.

To make the whipped cream

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Top the pie with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Pie

March 23, 2015 by laurenpacek 8 Comments

This pie is a bit special, because it was made for my friend Olga’s birthday. She has begun the tradition of hosting a Pi(e) Party–Get it? Like 3.14, but also pie–due to the proximity of her birthday to Pi Day, and the general deliciousness of pie.

It’s also special because it tastes great.

I had originally considered making a savory pie (think macaroni and cheese), but couldn’t help myself and had to go with a somewhat more traditional option.

I found this recipe via Foodgawker on Taste and Tell.

You’ll need:

For the crumble topping

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup peanuts

For the pie

1 pie crust (I cheated and used a store bought, refrigerated crust)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup flour

For the sauce

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
12 oz. jar caramel ice cream topping
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out your pie crust and line the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish with it. Place the pie dish in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready to fill it.

To make the crumble topping, combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and flour in a small to medium bowl. Cut the ingredients together (using two butter knives) until combined. Then add the peanuts and stir everything together. Put the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.

To make the pie filling, heat the butter and chocolate in a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until completely melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat, add the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and brown sugar, whisking until combined. Next, add the eggs one at a time, whisking to combine between additions. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and whisk again to combine.

Pour the filling into the refrigerated/frozen pie crust. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the filling is puffed up and the center is set.

Allow the pie to cool for about 20 minutes.

While it’s cooling, make the sauce by combining the peanut butter, caramel sauce, and salt.

After the pie is partially cooled, drizzle some of the sauce onto the pie. Reserve the rest for serving. Allow the pie to cool completely.