Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

Growing up, no-bake peanut butter pie was one of my favorite desserts during the holidays and family parties. I always assumed it was fancy and difficult to make since it was reserved for such special occasions. But, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is an extremely easy treat to make.

However, to my dismay, my husband is not a big fan of no-bake peanut butter pie. So, in order to prevent getting stuck with the temptation of an entire pie to myself, I have not made it very much over the last few years.

However, if you are a fan of chocolate and peanut butter desserts and are on the hunt for more chocolate and peanut butter recipes, check out our Peanut Butter Cake and our Bundt Cake.

Since I have been craving it so much recently, I decided to put a twist on my favorite pie, in hopes of changing my husband’s mind. I knew it would have to be an elevated and different spin on the classic to get his attention, so this Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie was born.

I have to say, I’ve even impressed myself. This Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie is a deliciously, rich treat. It all starts with a layer of crispy graham cracker crust, followed by a layer of silky chocolate ganache, and is finished off with a creamy, peanut butter topping. All three layers are perfectly matched, for a heavenly bite.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Recipe Walkthrough

I am going to walk you through all of the steps on how to make this easy ice cream pie. There are three components to make: chocolate ganache, a peanut butter mixture, and homemade whipped cream. Don’t worry, each component has no more than three ingredients.

Making the Ganache

The layer of dark chocolate ganache is what really sets this pie apart from the other run of the mill no-bake peanut butter pies out there. Well, that and the fact that this pie is served straight out of the freezer. All you have to do is melt some chocolate in with some heavy whipping cream, and BAM, you have ganache.

Step 1: Brush a pre-made graham cracker crust with milk and bake at 375ºF for 5 minutes.

Brushing the crust with milk creates a crispier crust for your pie. You’ll find most pie instructions recommend using egg wash, but I prefer milk to avoid wasting a whole egg for an egg wash. The milk has the same effect and saves your eggs!

Step 2: Heat the heavy whipping cream in a saucepan over medium heat, until it begins to simmer.

Remove the heavy whipping cream from the heat as soon as it begins to gently simmer. You don’t want the cream to get to a rolling boil. You just need the cream to get hot enough to melt the chocolate chips.

Step 3: Add the dark chocolate chips to the hot heavy whipping cream and cover with a lid.

It will take about three minutes for the residual heat to melt the chocolate chips.

Step 4: Gently stir until the chocolate chips have completely melted and combined with the heavy whipping cream.

Stirring gently will prevent air bubbles from forming in the chocolate. This will help create a super, silky and smooth ganache.

Step 5: Pour the ganache into the pie crust and freeze until firm.

The ganache should be firm after about 2 hours in the freezer. We want to make sure that the ganache is firm when we add the top layer to prevent the two layers from melding together. We are after clean lines here!

Making the Peanut Butter Cream

A no-bake peanut butter pie filling is pretty standard, but the secret to this pie is the homemade whipped cream in the peanut butter topping. I promise the extra step is worth the effort! The result is a silky, creamy peanut butter layer that is too good to be true.

Step 1: Mix the cream cheese and peanut butter together.

Make sure that the cream cheese is softened before adding to the stand mixer, to allow both ingredients to incorporate fully. You will want to pause halfway through and scrape down the bowl to ensure that there are no lumps of peanut butter or cream cheese stuck to the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.

Start the stand mixer on low speed, to get most of the sugar incorporated, before switching to medium speed to finish mixing everything together. This prevents the powdered sugar from flying everywhere when the mixer starts. Set the peanut butter mixture aside when complete.

Step 3: Mix the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together on high speed, until stiff peaks begin to form.

Using the whisk attachment, whisk on high speed for 2-3 minutes. You want really stiff peaks to form in the whipped cream to create a good consistency for the pie. If the whipped cream is too runny, the pie will not set correctly.

Step 4: Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until fully combined.

This will be the most difficult part of the entire recipe process, so be patient. You’ll be tempted to quickly and harshly stir the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture, but you really can’t! Gently folding in the whipped cream ensures that the pie has the perfect texture. And don’t worry, it only takes about 2-3 minutes to get the perfect consistency.

Step 5: Pour the peanut butter filling on top of the chocolate ganache and freeze.

The pie will be completely set in about two hours. Be sure to keep the pie in the freezer to maintain the ice cream texture – it’s what makes this pie so darn tasty.

Technically, this pie is not made from ice cream, but it does taste just as good as ice cream once it freezes! You can absolutely put this pie in the refrigerator and eat it that way, but it is not nearly as good. Feel free to try it both ways, I think you will be happy with both versions. If you’re wanting to make ice cream, check out our Homemade Ice Cream recipe.

We have had it both ways and prefer it as an ice cream pie. But, I must warn you that this pie is deliciously rich and it better enjoyed in small slices. If you take a stab at making this Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, please let me know what you think in the comments down below! And if you love it, feel free to share it on Pinterest or wherever it is that you hangout online.

If you are in the market for more pie recipes, check out our Chocolate Meringue Pie, our Traeger Cookie Pie, and our Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.