Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie: What Dreams Are Made Of
Any sort of nostalgic flavor makes for a killer pie, which is what makes this Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie so good.
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Your favorite childhood sandwich in pie form. (Photo: Alpha Smoot/Food52)
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To emulate the whole-wheat bread and graham crackers of my youth, I mix in some graham flour along with the usual all-purpose. The resulting crust is crisp and lightly nutty, and the perfect base for a creamy peanut butter custard, with a layer of glistening jelly on top. Tradesies encouraged.
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Makes one 9-inch pie
For the crust:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup graham flour
Pinch salt
8 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cubed
Ice water, as needed
Egg wash, as needed
For the filling:
1 cup cold heavy cream
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 ¼ cups smooth peanut butter
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup good-quality jelly
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Prepare a 9-inch pie plate.
In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour and graham flour to combine. Add the cubed butter into the flour to coat each piece. Use your hands to shingle the butter between the palms of your hands or using your fingers. Continue until the pieces of butter are about the size of walnut halves.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add ice water. I start with 3 tablespoons for a single-crust pie, and then continue adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough and chill it well, at least 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼- to 1/8-inch thick. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and gently transfer to the pie plate, unfurling the dough off the pin and into the plate. Press firmly to make sure the crust reaches all the way to the bottom of the plate, but don’t poke any holes in the dough. Trim the dough to have a ½-inch overhang all the way around, and chill it for 15 to 30 minutes.
Tuck the excess dough under at the edges, working all the way around and pressing lightly to help the dough “seal” to the outer edge of the pie plate.
Crimp the edges as desired. Freeze the crust for 15 minutes.
Place a piece of parchment over the pie crust and fill with pie weights. Bake until the crust is lightly golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove the parchment and pie weights, and brush the base of the dough with egg wash. Return to the oven and bake until fully baked, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool completely.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the confectioners’ sugar and whip to medium peaks. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the peanut butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter base. Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Smooth into an even layer. Refrigerate the pie until the filling is quite firm, 30 minutes.
Spread the jelly in an even layer on the top of the pie. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
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Cheesecake Pie: Why Didn’t We Think of This Earlier?!
By Erin McDowell.
