Peanut Butter Pie Throwback Thursday

This is my all time favorite pie. Why you ask? Lets start off with the vanilla wafer crust. This is slightly different from your traditional graham cracker crust and totally delicious with the peanut butter chocolate combo. Next we have the layer of chocolate ganache. Need I say more? HEAVEN! Finally, the "meat" of the pie or the creamy peanut butter filling. I really think that this filling would be fantastic for so many reasons: this pie filling, dip for apples (or any other fruit really), smeared on a graham cracker, eaten with a spoon... You get the idea.

Anyways, I have made this on numerous occasions and taken it to quite a few events. This pie disappears just about as fast as you can put it on the dessert table. Basically, it comes down to this. If you are looking for a never fail recipe that everyone will love no matter what time of year it is, this is the recipe for you. Everyone is always asking me for this recipe and I have yet to see someone not go back for seconds.

Note: I usually make mine in a spring form pan rather than a pie pan. It ensures every piece that you cut will be perfect and the crust will remain intact.

Adapted from one of my FAVORITE recipe magazines: Paula Deen's Best Desserts.

Ingredients
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup firmly backed brown sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Extra sugar and heavy whipping cream (whipped together until stiff peaks form) and chocolate shavings for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine vanilla wafer crumbs, butter, and brown sugar. Press evenly into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes.
3. IN a microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate morsels and 1/4 cup cream. Microwave on high, in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over crust; set aside.
4. In a small bowl, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream at high speed with an electric mixer until thickened. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until stiff peaks form; set aside (I added more sugar to sweeten it up a bit, but that is up to you).
5. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in condensed milk. Gently fold in whipped cream.
6. Spoon peanut butter mixture into prepared pie shell. Cover, and refrigerated overnight (or at least for a couple of hours because waiting a whole night for this delicious pie probably wont happen). Garnish with whipped cream (I usually coat the pie completely with the extra whipped cream as if it was supposed to be another layer in itself).