Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (2024)

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This peanut butter pie recipe is SO GOOD – it’s a Peanut Butter Chess Pie filled with peanut butter goodness! This is an easy recipe that is so creamy, it tastes like the inside of a peanut butter cup!

Peanut Butter Lovers rejoice – THIS is the pie you’ll want to make over and over.

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Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (1)

BEST Baked Peanut Butter Pie

I am a serious fan of chess pies, and you probably already know I am a peanut butter addict, so it was only a matter of time before I combined the two into one amazing pie recipe. This peanut butter chess pie is seriously one of the best, although I could never choose ONE favorite – chess pies are all equal in my eyes.

This is my favorite baked version of a peanut butter pie recipe

Table of Contents

  • BEST Baked Peanut Butter Pie
  • Why do They Call it a Chess Pie?
  • Ingredients for Peanut Butter Chess Pie
  • Easy Peanut Butter Pie Recipe
  • How do you know when Peanut Butter Chess Pie is done baking?
  • Does Chess Pie Need to be Refrigerated?
  • Is Chess Pie Supposed to be Runny?
  • A Few More Recipe Tips and Tricks
  • Peanut Butter Chess Pie Recipe

Why do They Call it a Chess Pie?

This type of pie’s origins are murky, but it’s a popular type of pie that most people associate with southern desserts. It has a rich, buttery filling that is very hard to resist.

There are tons of variations, but most are made with a base of eggs, sugar, butter, and something acidic like vinegar, buttermilk, or lemon juice. The filling is thickened with either flour or cornmeal, and the flavor options are endless. Once you know how to make a basic chess pie, you can easily switch it up with all sorts of things to create new flavors.

This peanut butter chess pie, which is a pretty fantastic variation, is pretty much to die for if I do say so myself.

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (2)

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Chess Pie

You can make this peanut pie from scratch with my all-butter crust or make it easy with refrigerated dough. For the filling, you will need:

  • Melted butter – I use unsalted
  • Eggs – this is the body of a chess pie
  • Sugar
  • Cornmeal is traditional in a chess pie recipe
  • Flour – for stability
  • White vinegar is also a traditional part of chess pie. Substitute lemon juice if you don’t have vinegar.
  • Vanilla – for flavor
Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (3)

Easy Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

Three steps to the perfect chess pie:

1. Prep the crust: Place the dough in a 9″ pie plate and crimp the edges. Place it in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.

2. Mix the Filling: In a mixing bowl, whisk the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the eggs, sugar, cornmeal, flour, vinegar, and vanilla and whisk until the filling combined.

3. Bake the Pie: Pour the filling into the chilled crust and bake the pie for 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F. Once the crust is browned, and the filling is still a little jiggly in the center, the pie is done.

Cool the pie at room temperature before slicing and serving.

How do you know when Peanut Butter Chess Pie is done baking?

The pie will no longer be wet looking, and it will puff and crack a bit around the edges and be just the teeniest bit jiggly in the center. It shouldn’t look wet or wiggly all over.

Once it cools the center will fall a bit and look solid.

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (4)

Does Chess Pie Need to be Refrigerated?

You should cool the pie at room temperature and then store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it. If you have leftover pie, keep it covered in the fridge, and it will last for up to three days.

Is Chess Pie Supposed to be Runny?

No, the filling should not be runny. Be sure to carefully measure the ingredients when you make it. The cornmeal and flour act as a thickener for the pie, and if you mismeasure them, it will change the texture of the filling.

Be sure to bake the pie long enough. Mine usually takes around 40 minutes, but every oven is different, so check on it periodically. The pie is done when the center is still a little wobbly.

Also, you should allow the pie to cool completely before slicing it. The filling will set up as it cools, so if you cut into it too soon, it may be runny.

Also, you should allow the pie to cool completely before slicing it. The filling will set up as it cools, so if you cut into it too soon, it may be runny.

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (5)

A Few More Recipe Tips and Tricks

  • Depending on how thick your peanut butter is, you might want to warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds before whisking it with the butter. This will melt it a bit, so it’s easier to mix.
  • If the edges are browning too fast while in the oven, cover them with foil or a pie shield while the filling finishes baking.
  • This peanut butter pie is delicious plain, but feel free to serve it with some whipped cream, a scoop of ice cream, or drizzle chocolate sauce over the top.

If you’ve never tried a peanut butter chess pie, let me warn you: it’ll knock your socks off! It’s smooth, creamy, and the perfect dessert for all the peanut butter fans in your life. Trust me, they will LOVE you for this pie!

Other Peanut Butter Pie Recipes:

  • No Bake Peanut Butter Pie
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
  • Twix Pie
  • Peanut Butter Cookie Pie

Have you made this recipe?

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Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (6)

Peanut Butter Chess Pie

4.32 from 22 votes

Peanut Butter Chess Pie is an easy pie recipe full of peanut butter! This is a twist on a classic chess pie and it's SO good – peanut butter lovers will love this pie.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Yield 8 servings

Serving Size 1 serving

Save RecipeRate RecipePrint Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust from scratch or from a refrigerated pack of two
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter butter , melted
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (regular no-stir peanut butter)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar or white distilled vinegar, or lemon juice in a pinch
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.

  • Place pie crust in 9” pie plate and crimp edges as desired. Chill until ready to fill.

  • Whisk together butter and peanut butter. If the peanut butter is too stiff to whisk, microwave it for about 20-30 seconds.

  • Whisk in eggs, sugar, cornmeal, flour, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pie shell.

  • Bake for 35-45 minutes, until crust is browned and top of pie is browned. It will still jiggly slightly in the middle. Mine took 40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

  • Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, or chocolate sauce.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 493kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Dorothy Kern

Did you try this recipe? Click the stars to rate the recipe below

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (7)

Peanut Butter Chess Pie is an easy pie recipe full of peanut butter! This is a twist on a classic chess pie and it’s SO good – peanut butter lovers will love this pie!

Last Updated on October 25, 2020

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe (Chess Pie) - Crazy for Crust (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between chess pie and regular pie? ›

However, chess pie is made with cornmeal to thicken the filling, whereas buttermilk pies generally only use all-purpose flour.

Why is it called lemon chess pie? ›

Compared to other custard-based pastries, the chess pie holds up relatively well at room temperature. Often, it was stored in something called a "pie chest." The word "chest," some say, eventually became "chess." Southern gentlemen liked to enjoy the dessert after dinner while they played chess.

Why is buttermilk pie called chess pie? ›

No one is entirely sure how chess pie got its name. Some say the pie used to be stored in an old-fashioned pie chest, or "chess" if you've got a Southern drawl.

What does chess mean in a pie? ›

Another story that points to chess pie's English roots says that English cooks combined spoil-prone ingredients like butter and eggs with sugar to keep them from going bad and used that to create a pie that could be kept unrefrigerated in a chest. “Chest” became “chess,” and the rest is pie history.

What is the pie rule in chess? ›

The player who made the first move becomes the second player and makes the second move on the board. This is demonstrated in the chess diagrams shown here. Switching the first piece can occur in games where the board starts empty and the first move consists of placing one piece.

What pie is similar to a chess pie? ›

Jefferson Davis pie is similar to chess pie, but Jefferson Davis pie may also contain spices, nuts, or dried fruits and is usually topped with meringue.

What is shoo fly pie made from? ›

What is in shoofly pie? The star of the show is molasses, but shoofly pie is also typically composed of flour, brown sugar, water, spices, and sometimes egg. The pie is topped with a crumb mixture and served in a flaky pie crust. Shoofly pie is similar to a coffee cake but with a gooey molasses bottom.

Are egg pie and chess pie the same? ›

Chess pie is similar to a custard pie, as it's a dairy and egg-baked pie. However, it has one distinct difference: it usually has an additional thickener added to it like cornmeal, or sometimes, flour.

What is another name for chess pie? ›

And so, supposedly, the name “Chess Pie” was coined. Chess pie and its many Southern variations — including vinegar pie, transparent pie and Tyler pie (a favorite of Edna Lewis's, putatively named for President John Tyler and perfected by the women of Miss Lewis's hometown of Freetown, Va.)

What is a patsy pie? ›

The English word "pasty" derives from Medieval French (O.Fr. paste from V. Lat pasta) for a pie, filled with venison, salmon or other meat, vegetables or cheese, baked without a dish. Pasties have been mentioned in cookbooks throughout the ages.

Why is it called crack pie? ›

Actually, this pie got its name simply because it's addictive like crack (yes!); and then it landed on our table. The pie was insanity-sweet, rich, buttery, and certainly tasty though quite heavy.

Why is it called flapper pie? ›

They called it Flapper pie because it was popularized in the same era as the Flapper girls - fabulous! This pie is absolutely delicious! With a brown sugar and graham cracker crumb crust, filled with a luscious vanilla custard filling and topped with a generous amount of toasted meringue.

What are the ingredients for a chess pie? ›

In fact, you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand! The filling is made of butter, sugar, eggs, cornmeal, flour, and milk, along with vanilla and a little tart lemon juice to balance out the sugary sweetness. The filling gets poured into a pie crust, baked, and cooled, then it's ready to enjoy.

What does P mean in chess? ›

Nomenclature. With the exception of the knight, each piece is abbreviated as the first letter of its name: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and P for pawn.

What is the difference between sugar pie and chess pie? ›

What is the Difference Between a Sugar Cream Pie and Custard or Chess Pie? Chess pies and custard pies are mixed and poured right into the pie crust, and they contain eggs. A sugar cream pie is made without eggs, and the filling is usually prepared on the stovetop, reducing the overall baking time.

Is chess pie the same as shoofly pie? ›

On a serious note, Shoofly pie is considered a custard type in the same “pie family” as pecan and Chess pie (“jus pie”). Chess pie is a Southern specialty similar to pecan but without the nuts. Shoofly is famous in Pennsylvania Dutch country and is thickened with a streusel to more closely resemble cake.

What are the two basic types of pie dough What is the difference between them? ›

A flaky crust is used for non-liquid or cooked fillings. It's achieved by keeping your fat pieces larger after combining. Mealy dough is used for pies with a liquid or custard filling. It's dense, so it can withstand heavier fillings, and is made by rubbing your fat and flour down to cornmeal-sized pieces.

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