Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie

Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie

printable version

This appears to be cut from a magazine, probably a Cool Whip ad and pasted onto an index card.

I used my Ninja Food Processor to make the pretzel crumbs.  It was about 2.5 oz mini-pretzels before crushing.  I did this the night before I was going to make the pie and stored them overnight in Tupperware.

I added the 3 TBSP sugar and mixed it into the pretzel crumb container. 

I used my favorite trick for melting the butter by putting the 6 TBSP in the pie plate in the oven while it preheated to 350.  I actually started with frozen butter because I almost always have extra boxes of butter in the freezer that I've bought on sale but this time I forgot to take one out to thaw when my refrigerator box got low. 

I stirred it all together with a large silverware spoon and made it look smooth and even.  It didn't go very far up the side.  Then I re-read the instructions and it said press firmly so I gently applied pressure with the back of the spoon all over the plate.  It seemed a little delicate so I put it in the oven and hoped for the best - still unsure about using pretzels in a crust anyway.

While the crust baked I proceeded with the next step.  

Unflavored gelatin is one of those things you buy because you need one envelope for something but it comes 4 to a box so you wind up with the box in your pantry for years.  I was happy to be able to use the second envelope from this box that I don't even remember buying.   Miraculously it wasn't expired - but that wouldn't have stopped me from using it anyway.  I mixed all the dry ingredients in the saucepan first, using a rubber spatula.

When I added the two egg yolks, slightly beaten some of the yolk was resistant to sliding out of the bowl so I used the 1 cup milk to wash it out by pouring the milk into the bowl and then the bowl into the pan.

The egg yolk kept sort of beading up and separating a bit.  I hadn't been stirring continuously so I gave the stirring more effort.  I also noticed the eggs wanted to curdle and take on a scrambled consistency.  The burner was on the middle (5).

After 8 mins. the crust looked the same as it had when I put it in the oven.  I took it out to cool.

When I added the peanut butter I wound up taking it off the heat because the eggs were trying to curdle even more.  

I put the whole pan to cool in my refrigerator and moved onto the next step - while also making a batch of homemade yogurt.  So the egg/peanut butter mixture had some extra time to chill.

The egg whites, which had been sitting on the counter all this time, got foamy really quick.  So I added the 1/4 c. sugar and then it started to foam even more so I thought maybe I should have waited a little longer before adding the sugar.

But it wasn't long before the stiff peaks formed anyway.

The saucepan has a slight skin on it when I took it out of the fridge but neither the skin, nor the curdled eggs, seems to have made any difference on the creaminess of the pie.  

When I realized I had to fold the saucepan mixture INTO the egg white mixture I worried that I should've used a bigger bowl - but it all worked out okay.

I was taught that folding is a gentle procedure, best accomplished without beaters.  So even though I had used my hand-mixer to beat the egg whites, I did the folding with the same spatula I had stirred the saucepan with.

Then came the most challenging part of this recipe - figuring out how much Cool Whip to use.  The recipe, which obviously was published by the company that makes Cool Whip, said to use  4 1/2 oz container.  For as long as I can remember even being aware of Cool Whip, probably sometime in the mid-1980's, I've only known it to come in 8 oz, 12 oz or 16 oz containers.  So I figured I'd use a smidge more than half of the 8 oz container.

But then I cross-referenced it with the other acceptable measurement on the recipe - 2 cups.  The label says there are 25 servings of 2 TBSP in the container - so that makes 50 TBSP.  I consulted my Tsp. - TBSP - Cup Equivalency chart I keep stuck to the side of my refrigerator and found there are 16 TBSP in a cup.  So 16 x 3 is 48 meaning there is slightly more than 3 cups in this container.  

I decided I'd rather have extra whip cream than not enough so I went with the larger option and used about 2/3 of the container.  I just eyeballed it and drew a line with a spoon.

Once again I folded gently with the spatula.

Using a clear glass bowl was very helpful because I could look through it from the bottom and sides to see areas where the mixture still was not well blended.

I made this a day ahead of time and refrigerated without any cover.

I had a hard time convincing the non-adventurous eaters in my home to try this.  One immediately said they didn't like peanut butter pie - before even trying it.  To which I replied by asking how many times in their life they'd had peanut butter pie.  I think if I said I'd had it twice I'd be over-estimating.

After eating this pie I wondered why I had no memories of it.  I really enjoyed it!  The first piece I ate I forgot to put chocolate sauce on.  So I HAD to have a second piece.  I like them both equally well.

The first serving was difficult to get out - the pretzel crust was a little stuck so the metal Pampered Chef cake server I snagged when cleaning out my mother-in-law's house was the perfect tool to serve this because the thin, strong blade allowed me to get under the crust.

The pie is light and airy, holds together well and has just the right amount of flavor and sweetness.  If I lived in another household, this would easily become a family favorite.  As a kid, I would've requested this for birthdays.  I only wish I could ask my mother why she was holding this recipe back.