Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I adore pie. Adore it! Yet I've made only one other pie post on this blog. It's very strange. Here's a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie recipe to make up for such a glaring absence. I usually stay away from cream pies and their ilk because they contain, well, cream. What's a lactose-challenged pie-lovin' girl to do? Forgoing an entire subspecies of pie seems untenable. I usually substitute soy milk for heavy cream in recipes (quiche, cream sauces, etc.) and it works fine, but soy milk won't whip, which means it can't produce the volume and fluffiness (scientific cooking term) you need for cream pies. Non-dairy whipped products, like Cool Whip, can be lactose-free, but are highly processed and gross me out a bit, to be honest. Enter tofu. Yes, silken (not firm) tofu. I know, but stay with me here. For a vegetarian, I'm not wild about tofu. I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite. In this recipe, however, it's magic. It disappears. Completely undetectable. The only things this pie tastes like are peanut butter, chocolate, and awesomeness. I promise (you can trust me, I'm a doctor). And just think about all the protein up in here. How many desserts can you say that about? It's nearly healthy.

Recipe after the jump:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Makes one 9" pie

Ingredients:
Crust
About 7 graham crackers
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 tbl. sugar

Filling
1 lb. package silken tofu, divided into thirds
1 tbl. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. smooth peanut butter
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate + 1.5 oz. for garnish
1/3 c. powdered sugar

For Graham Cracker Pie Crust:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine crackers and sugar in a food processor until you have crumbs. Slowly add melted butter and pulse to combine. Dump mixture into a 9" pie pan and press into bottom and up sides. Cover pan completely with mixture.

Before

Bake for about 15 minutes, until slightly browned. Cool on wire rack for about an hour.

After

For Filling (two layers):

Chocolate Layer
Melt 8 oz. of chocolate and 1 tsp. of vanilla in a double boiler or microwave. Combine with 1/3rd of the tofu and 1 tbl. honey in a blender (or food processor). Puree until smooth. Fill bottom of crust with chocolate mixture and place in freezer for 10 minutes while you make the peanut butter layer.

Peanut Butter Layer
Combine 1 c. peanut butter, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2/3rds of the tofu and 1/3 c. powdered sugar in a blender (or food processor). Puree until smooth. Pour mixture on top of chocolate layer.

To Garnish:
Melt additional 1.5 oz. of chocolate and pipe it in a spiral on top of the pie using a pastry bag or parchment cone (or ziplock bag with a corner snipped off).

Starting at the center of the pie, draw a sharp, small knife across the chocolate to the crust creating a decorative pattern.

Chill for a couple of hours before serving (you and the pie).

The end result was very tasty. Not super sweet--even a little tangy, I thought. After tricking into eating casually serving LCBF's family dishes containing soy milk this week, tofu seemed like the next logical plot step. I had a co-conspirator on the inside today, and we waited until everyone was eating to reveal the secret ingredient. The pie was a big hit before and after the reveal! Yay! LCBF's brother thought that the "chocolate had a mousse texture and the peanut butter was creamy and fluffier than I would have thought." LCBF liked the fact that it was a high-protein pie--you could eat it for lunch and not feel too guilty about it. He says it's "doubly filling"--rich and full of protein, and also "totally awesome." So there you have it. Trick someone you love today!