No Bake Peanut Butter Pie
This No Bake Peanut Butter Pie is an easy frozen pie recipe that uses only 6 ingredients and is easy to whip up. The peanut butter pie filling is made with cream cheese, peanut butter and whipped topping for a smooth texture and irresistible flavor! Top everything off with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups and hot fudge and you have the best frozen peanut butter pie!
You can’t really go wrong with peanut butter for dessert — and this pie is a peanut butter lovers dream! I recently made my Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies and my Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting recipes and it got me dreaming about this homemade peanut butter pie!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy dessert recipe. This is definitely a feature to celebrate. No need to worry about baking or anything — not even the pie crust needs to be baked! It’s chill, chill, chill for this no bake peanut butter pie!
- Easy make ahead pie recipe. Because this recipe is a chilled pie, it is the perfect pie recipe to make in advance! Store in the fridge for a day or two or in the freezer for a few months! You can eat the pie straight out of the freezer for a delicious frozen peanut butter pie or let it thaw slightly so that it’s chilled with a slightly firm, yet creamy texture. I like it both ways!
- Few simple ingredients and easy to make. This easy peanut butter pie recipe requires only 6 ingredients and takes a solid 5 minutes to assemble, making it the most hassle-free pie!
- Creamy peanut butter filling. Instead of using granulated sugar, the powdered sugar helps the peanut butter pie filling be sweet and smooth.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream Cheese: This is technically a peanut butter cream cheese pie. The cream cheese gives this pie depth and flavor so it isn’t just peanut butter, sugar and whipped topping.
- Powdered Sugar: No need to sift the powdered sugar. The powdered sugar provides a sweet element that pairs with the salty peanut butter flavor.
- Peanut Butter: Use creamy peanut butter. I haven’t tried making this easy peanut butter pie with a natural peanut butter. I’m guessing it will turn out just fine. The only issue with natural peanut butters is that the oil can separate. If using a natural PB just make sure you stir it well before adding it in the recipe.
- Frozen Whipped Topping: Peanut butter pie with Cool Whip is the way to go! Cool Whip has a better structure so it will keep a fluffy peanut butter filling longer than homemade whipped cream which falls lax a lot quicker.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: This isn’t absolutely necessary because we aren’t using any of the Reese’s in the pie directly, but it makes for great decoration on the pie, and it is a yummy topping!
- 9-Inch Graham Cracker Crust: For the pie crust you’ll need graham crackers, melted butter and a food processor (or ziplock bag and rolling pin to make the graham cracker crumbs). To make this a true no-bake dessert, follow the instructions in my graham cracker crust recipe and just chill the crust rather than bake it.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Make a graham cracker pie crust. Follow my recipe for making the crust in a 9-inch pie plate. Let chill in the fridge instead of baking it.
- Make the peanut butter pie filling. Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add the peanut butter and milk and beat until very smooth.
- Fold in the Cool Whip. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the thawed whipped topping.
- Place in the pie crust. Spoon the peanut butter mixture into the graham cracker crust. Using an off set spatula, smooth the mixture into an even layer.
- Freeze the pie. Cover the pie and place in the freezer until firm, about 4 hours.
- Top & serve. When ready to serve, remove the no bake peanut butter pie from the freezer and add chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups and Old Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce to the top of the pie if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
No time to make your own crust? (First, I highly recommend a freshly homemade graham cracker crust!) You can use a pre-made crust if you’re in a pinch. Or, you can make the homemade crust ahead of time to make things easier too.
Swap the peanut butter pie with graham cracker crust for my chocolate Oreo crust for a delicious Oreo peanut butter pie!
Prefer a nuttier texture? Use chopped peanuts as a topping instead of chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. You can also use crunchy peanut butter in the peanut butter pie filling instead if you’d prefer.
Making dessert for a big group? Double this amazing peanut butter pie recipe and make it in a 9×13-inch baking dish lined with parchment paper for easy cutting and serving.
For clean slices, clean your knife in between each cut as some of the peanut butter filling can stick to the knife. If serving frozen, you won’t have that problem.
Be sure to use Cool Whip and not homemade whipping cream. Homemade whipped cream falls lax a lot quicker than Cool Whip, so this will help keep the pie texture light for longer.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and an electric hand mixer.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
This is a perfect make ahead pie recipe since it stores so well in the freezer and fridge.
Make in advance and freeze (up to 3 months) or make in advance and store in the fridge for 1-2 days prior to serving.
Store any leftovers in the fridge (covered) for 3-4 days or in the freezer (wrapped) for up to 3 months.
To freeze, wrap the delicious pie (without any of the toppings) in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil (this prevents freezer burn and condensation upon thawing). Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer and store in the fridge (still covered) overnight. Remove from the fridge the next morning and remove the wrappings and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Top with toppings prior to serving.
You can also serve this as a frozen peanut butter pie. Take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes prior to serving so you can cut it more easily. The Reese’s peanut butter pie will still be somewhat firm, frozen and delicious!
Recipe FAQs
No bake peanut butter pie is made of cream cheese, peanut butter, whipped topping and powdered sugar.
Yes! In fact, you need to freeze it. It’s a frozen peanut butter pie so you’ll freeze it to help it set. You don’t have to serve it frozen, but you’ll want to set it in the freezer at least.
My homemade Asphalt Pie, Key Lime Pie, and French Silk Pie recipes will freeze very well — including this frozen no bake peanut butter pie.
I haven’t made this recipe with natural peanut butter, but I’m sure it will work OK. The problem with natural peanut butter is the oil easily separates. So, if you are using natural peanut butter, I would whip the peanut butter in a separate bowl until the oil is fully combined, then use the whipped peanut butter when making the recipe.
Definitely! If you want to add chocolate chips or even peanut butter chips as toppings, you can! Feel free to add your favorite toppings. Or you can even fold them into the pie filling if you’d like.
More Peanut Butter Recipes
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup S’mores Skillet
- No-Bake Cookies
- Small Batch Muddy Buddies
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
No Bake Peanut Butter Pie
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese - softened
- 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 8 oz frozen whipped topping - thawed
- 1 cup Reese's peanut butter cups - chopped (feel free to use more or less. It's up to you!)
- 1 9 inch graham cracker pie crust
- hot fudge sauce - for serving
Equipment
Instructions
- In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Mix in peanut butter and milk and beat until smooth.
- Fold in whipped topping with a spatula.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pie plate. Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
- Before serving top the pie with chopped reeses peanut butter cups and fudge sauce if desired.
Video
Notes
This recipe was originally published on Jan. 24, 2020. It was updated on Dec. 13, 2021, to include additional information and photos.
13 Comments on “No Bake Peanut Butter Pie”
This recipe for the filling is absolutely fantastic. I’ve made it multiple times, and I’ve even added a couple of enhancements along the way. First, I created a delightful Graham Cracker Pretzel Crust, which perfectly balances the salty and sweet flavors, complementing the peanut butter. Additionally, I couldn’t resist incorporating a luscious layer of chocolate ganache at the bottom because, why not?
Crust:
5 graham crackers, to yield (3/4 C) crumbs
2 C of pretzel twists (2 C/75-90 g)
3 T unsalted butter, melted
1.5 T granulated sugar
1/4 t salt
Crush the grahams and pretzels (enough to yield 1.5 cups crumbs total) in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.
Combine the graham cracker crumbs, about 3 TBSP of melted butter, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl, and stir until well combined. The mixture should have the texture of wet sand, and hold together a bit when you squeeze it between your fingers.
If the crust still feels a bit dry, add a touch more butter and stir together to make it the proper texture.
Press the crust evenly on the bottom and up on the sides of a 9 x 1.5″ pie plate.
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, until set and lightly golden. Let the crust cool completely before filling.
“Black Bottom” Ganache:
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 c. whipping cream
Combine chocolate chips and 1/3 cup whipping cream in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on medium/50% power for about 1 1/2 minutes until chocolate is almost melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Whisk until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. (Do not overheat the chocolate.)
Spread chocolate mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared crust.
Heather thank you for sharing your take on this recipe! It sounds divine!! I’m going to have to try this. 💕
I just made the no bake peanut butter pie. What a mistake,now every one wants one lol, it turned out perfect,amazing how many people have never tried it,it was a great hit, easy and simple,just the kind of recipes I like
Haha! Not a bad problem to have. So happy it was a hit, Kathy. Thanks for your great review!
This peanut butter pie is everything I hoped it would be. Going to make this for Thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a HUGE hit! I loved that it was super easy and everyone was very happy with it! I also did it with the Oreo crust – SO good! The Oreo and peanut butter complimented each other perfectly 😊
I made Peanut Butter Pie for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and it is delicious! I put it in the homemade graham cracker crust! This is delicious! Thank you!
Can I make this the day before serving or will the crust become mushy?
You can definitely make it the day before. The crust will be just fine.
Could this be made with PB powder instead of peanut butter?
That’s a great question! I have never tried it with powdered peanut butter. I’m not 100% sure how it would turn out. I’m sorry I’m not more help! I know it works beautifully with regular peanut butter 🙂
I love everything peanut butter and Reese’s! This pie was everything I’ve been looking for in a peanut butter pie. I’ll keep this one saved. Thanks!
OOh this is the most do-able one I found! looks SO delicious I cant wait to make this . SOON & and I will comment back THANK YOU 😀