Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust

I've been eying this recipe over at BakeorBreak for awhile. It just keeps calling me, but I kept putting it off until this weekend. First off what could be better than peanut butter pie and then to add a chocolate cookie crust?! I've seen many peanut butter pies, but I have yet to actually make one. Boy am I glad I tried this one out.

It's rich and creamy. Nothing too fancy, but nice and simple. My favorite part, it's served cold with a hot fudge sauce. Delightful. I'm not a huge semi-sweet or dark chocolate fan. So I usually use milk chocolate no matter what. This definitely needs semi-sweet and dark chocolate. Using milk chocolate would have made it way too sweet and not as flavorful. Having the semi-sweet in the pie and the dark and milk chocolates for the sauce gave it a great combination. My taste buds were lovin it!

Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust
Recipe from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies (about 6oz.)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1. 1. Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sugar. Pour the butter over the mixture and mix until well combine.
2. 2. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Put the crust in the refrigerator.

Filling:
1/2 cup (3 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. light corn syrup
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
3.4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. 1. Melt chocolate chips in microwave, or double boiler. Stir in corn syrup. Spread the chocolate in a thin layer on the bottom of the chilled pie crust. Return the crust to the refrigerator.
2. 2. Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
3. 3. In another bowl, use the mixer to whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture until uniform in color.
4. 4. Pour the mixtuer into the prepared crust and freese for at least 4 hours. Once frozen, the pie can be coverd with aluminum foil and kept in the freezer for up to 3 days.

Hot Fudge Sauce:
6 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped
6oz. dark chocolate (64% cacao), finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup1. Place both chocolates in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.

1. 2. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in corn syrup. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit for 2 minutes. Starting in the center and working out to the edges, whisk the chocolate mixture in a circle until smooth.
2. 3. Spoon onto pieces of pie before serving.
3. 4. After sauce is cooled to room temperature, it can be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator for 3 days. Rewarm sauce in a microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until warm.