It doesn’t get much better than chocolate and peanut butter.
Becky Low shares her recipe for Chocolate, Peanut Better Pie.
2 cups flour
¼ cup cocoa, plus extra
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup cold butter
1 egg, beaten
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla, divided
8 tablespoons ice water, more or less
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, divided
½ cup chocolate chips (about 4-oz)
Whisk together flour, cocoa, ¾-powdered sugar and salt. Cut butter into flour until mixture using a pastry blender, two knives or a food processor pulse. Mixture will resemble coarse meal. Beat egg; whisk in 1-teaspoon vanilla and 5-tablespoons cold water; toss egg/water with flour mixture; add additional ice water, 1-tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough into 2 or 3 pieces, flatten into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sprinkle cutting board of clean counter with sifted cocoa and flour (lightly flour cutting board). Roll dough out to 1/16-inch thickness (sprinkle dough with cocoa/flour as needed pt prevent dough from sticking to the surface and rolling pin. Use a 3 to 3 ½-inch wide flower cookie cutter. Place flower cut outs in mini muffin tin cups and gently press down to fill the cups. Bake 13-15 minutes.
While pastry cups are baking prepare filling. Whip 1-cup heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
Beat together peanut butter, softened cream cheese, 1-teaspoon vanilla and 1 ½-cups powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Fold in whipped cream. Place filling in a pastry tube or large freezer bag and force filling to one corner. Snip off the corner from the bag and pipe filling into baked pastry shells.
Prepare chocolate ganache to drizzle over top. Heat remaining ½-cup heavy cream to almost a boil, stir in remaining ½-teaspoon vanilla or a flavor extract of choice, and pour over chocolate chips. Allow to stand while chips melt. Stir until smooth and creamy. Place chocolate in a quart size freezer bag. Take a tiny snip off one corner of the bag and drizzle chocolate over peanut butter filling.
Notes:
Recipe is an adaptation from Bite Size Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Crust by InspiredbyCharm. Makes a fun cookie bloom for Mother’s Day, bridal showers or attractive desert. Makes approximately 2-dozen blooms
http://inspiredbycharm.com/2014/02/a-year-of-pie-bite-sized-peanut-butter-pie-with-chocolate-crust.html
Alternate Pastel Blooms:
To make attractive pastel colors and various flavors. Eliminate cocoa and add powdered food color to the flour (see food coloring notes below). Whisk flour and sugar and continue with recipe as directed above. If a flavored pastry crust is desired, replace vanilla in the egg/water with flavor extract of your choice. Continue with recipe as directed. Baked pastry cups may be filled with the peanut butter filling, custard or even prepared instant pudding of choice. Top with sprinkles, chopped fruit, or a white chocolate ganache (replace chocolate chips with white chocolate chips).
Food Coloring 101:
Food coloring comes in 4 basic forms. Each has advantages and disadvantages. For this recipe a powdered food color works best. If using liquid, gel or paste food coloring add to the egg and water in this recipe. Note: Because the butter coats the flour particles (which is how a flakey crust is created) any coloring added to the water will not mix evenly with the flour and may result in streaks.
– Liquid food color is water based, and is very available in the grocery store. It mixes well with water based foods, but is the weakest of all the food colorings. To get a darker color a lot of food coloring must be added which may throw off your liquid/dry portions and create adverse flavors.
– Gel food color is glycerine and or corn syrup based and more concentrated. It is good to use when you want to minimize the amount of liquid you’re adding to a recipe. Great choice of food coloring for candies and icings. Start with a small drop added to the liquids in the recipe.
– Paste food coloring comes in small pots of tubes. It is also a glycerine or corn syrup based product and is even more concentrated than liquid or gel. Use a toothpick to extract a small amount from the pot. Mix with liquid or fats in the recipe before adding flour.
– Powdered food coloring is a dry powder and has the longest shelf life (as long as it is kept dry). It is found in baking and speciality shops or found online. In the Salt Lake area is is available at “Baker’s Cash and Carry” or at “Gygi’s.” It is the best food color to use when a deep or dark color is desired. Since it is concentrated, start with a small amount. NOTE: the color is more intense once the ingredients become wet. Use less than you think you will need – it is easier to add more later than take it away. For the Blooms, start with ⅛-teaspoon powder mixed with the flour.
Becky Low represents The Dairy Council of Utah/Nevada. For delicious dairy recipes and nutrition information go to www.dairycouncilutnv.com or Facebook www.facebook.com/DairyUTNV . For nutrition research go to www.nationaldairycouncil.org
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