Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie - Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Chocolate | Dessert | Pie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie

By Tessa Arias
  |  
March 14th, 2018
5 from 6 votes
5 from 6 votes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie tastes like a giant Reese's peanut butter cup but so much better because it's made with thick and creamy pudding! This pie won't last long!!

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook: 22 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Like a Reese’s peanut butter cup but with more unadulterated chocolate and peanut butter flavor.
Texture: The texture is my favorite part of a pudding pie, it’s what I crave. I just love that thick, creamy, luscious pudding paired with the buttery crunch of the graham cracker crust.
Ease: Surprisingly easy, just get ready to spend some time babysitting the pudding on the stove.
Appearance: Perfection.
Pros: Adding peanut butter to one of my all-time favorite pie recipes made me VERY happy.
Cons: The pie has to chill before being served which is pure torture.
Would I make this again? I’ve made variations of this recipe more times than I can count.

There have been many strange and ridiculous food trends in recent years. Lately in the blog world an ongoing trend has been adding crazy ingredients and twists to classic recipes.

That can be fun and fine, but sometimes I just want to enjoy the classic tradition of a dessert. When creativity is added in only for the sake of creativity, it doesn’t even taste good half the time!

Chocolate peanut butter pudding pie

Sometimes I just want to enjoy the simplicity behind what made it a classic in the first place. Not bombarded with different and new tastes and textures for the sake of novelty. It’s funny because I do not consider myself a food purist at all, but I suppose I just haven’t gotten bored with my favorite recipes just yet.

Chocolate, peanut butter, and peanut ingredients for pie

Chocolate pudding pie has been a favorite of mine since childhood. It was one of the first pies I learned to make when I became interested in baking. While I’ve made some variations of it, I almost always prefer the standard recipe.

Making chocolate pudding pie

That was until I created this peanut butter version.

I think the reason I adore this Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie so much is because it maintains the texture of a classic pudding pie while adding a whole new level of deliciousness. I am such a texture person, so this means everything to me!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie tastes like a giant Reese's peanut butter cup but so much better because it's made with thick and creamy pudding! This pie won't last long!!

Of course I’m also a huge chocolate + peanut butter person. So needless to say this pie all but vanished in our house. If you’re anything like me, it won’t last long in your house either! Plus it’s actually pretty simple to make and you can use lowfat milk so there’s a little less guilt too.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie tastes like a giant Reese's peanut butter cup but so much better because it's made with thick and creamy pudding! This pie won't last long!!

5 from 6 votes

How to make
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Inactive Time 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 37 minutes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie tastes like a giant Reese's peanut butter cup but so much better because it's made with thick and creamy pudding! This pie won't last long!!

Ingredients

For the crust::

  • 15 whole graham crackers (230 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 7 tablespoons (99 grams) unsalted butter, melted

For the chocolate peanut butter pudding::

  • 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
  • 1/3 cup boiling water
  • 2/3 cup (133 grams) sugar
  • 1/3 cup (26 grams) cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup (32 grams) cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups milk (1%, 2% or whole)
  • 3 ounces (85 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 cup (135 grams) creamy peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For topping::

  • Chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Directions

For the crust:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor pulse the graham crackers and sugar until finely ground. You should have about 1 3/4 cups. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Use the bottom of a measuring cup, glass, or ramekin to press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate or springform pan. Bake until fragrant and golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the pudding:

  1. Put the gelatin in a small bowl, add the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan whisk the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add the milk, whisking until smooth. Set over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from the heat. Add in the peanut butter and chocolate and stir until melted. Stir in the vanilla and reserved gelatin mixture. Pour the pudding into the pie crust. Garnish with the peanuts. Chill the pie in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight, until well chilled and set. Slice and serve! Store in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes

 I've made this recipe using unsweetened almond milk with success. The resulting texture isn't quite as rich or smooth, and the pie started to weep and become soggy more quickly. If using almond milk, serve within 2 days.
Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American

More Pie Recipes:

This post was originally published in 2014 and updated with new photos and recipe tips. Photos by Jess Larson.

Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Jerri — January 20, 2022 at 8:41 am

    i am obsessed with this pie and recipe is clear! only change i make is i use 10 graham crackers instead for the crust, but i’m not a huge crust person. thank you for great pie 🙂

    • #
      Emily — January 20, 2022 at 12:10 pm

      So happy you love this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let us know!

  2. #
    Trish — January 14, 2022 at 5:31 pm

    This is a FABULOUS pie!!! Love it!!! I made it for Christmas and it was a hit.
    I used 2% milk, regular Hershey 100% cocoa, Ghirardelli semi-sweet mini chips and Smuckers peanut butter and it was the best tasting pie without too much sugar. Thank you Tessa for this go to dessert now!!!

    • #
      Emily — January 18, 2022 at 11:47 am

      So happy you loved this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂

  3. #
    Sophie — November 22, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    Do you think subbing the cornstarch for arrowroot or tapioca powder could work? Thanks!

    • #
      Emily — November 22, 2021 at 4:05 pm

      We haven’t tried those, so I can’t say for sure! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂

  4. #
    Stella McClure — November 4, 2021 at 1:29 pm

    Reeses are more milk chocolate not a big dark chocolate fan. How would you suggest tapping down the dark chocolate flavor

    • #
      Emily — November 5, 2021 at 9:46 am

      Hi Stella! This pie really tastes like one giant Reeses! If you’re looking for more of a milk chocolate flavor and not darker, you could try using a Natural Cocoa Powder and not Dutch-Process. You can find more details in this article here if you’re interested: Natural Cocoa vs. Dutch Process Cocoa Powder. I hope that helps, please let us know if you give this recipe a try 🙂

  5. #
    Soujanya Vishwanath — September 19, 2021 at 8:18 am

    Should I use regular creamy peanut butter or the unsweetened peanut butter?

    • #
      Emily — September 20, 2021 at 4:22 pm

      Hi Soujanya! Either should be fine, just make sure there’s not an excess of oil in the peanut butter that you add to the recipe. We used a “natural” peanut butter but one that didn’t require stirring.

  6. #
    Livvy — June 7, 2021 at 12:20 pm

    Hello, this looks amazing! Do you definitely need the liquid gelatin?
    Thank you, Livvy

    • #
      Tessa — June 7, 2021 at 1:45 pm

      The gelatin is essential to thickening up the chocolate peanut butter pudding filling 🙂

  7. #
    Aayesha — June 4, 2021 at 1:08 am

    Hi Tessa,
    Your pie looks so delicious. I wanted to know if it is possible to make the Pie without gelatin? Is gelatin necessary?

    • #
      Tessa — June 4, 2021 at 9:28 am

      The gelatin is essential to thickening up the chocolate peanut butter pudding filling. I haven’t tried substituting it with anything else. If you do, please let me know how it goes! 🙂

  8. #
    Becky Rudella — January 8, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    Becky Rudella — January 24, 2020 at 10:30 am
    Hi, Tessa–

    I noticed that you usually indicate the type of cocoa powder used in your recipes — natural unsweetened or Dutch process — but it is not specified in your Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie recipe. What is your preferred type of cocoa powder for this recipe? I’m thinking that either might work (depending on personal taste preference) due to the fact that leavening is not a concern in this recipe.

    Thanks for everything you do!
    –Becky

    • #
      BECKY L RUDELLA — January 8, 2021 at 2:48 pm

      Tessa, I think you would probably answer my question something like this:

      Natural Unsweetened and Dutch Process cocoa powders can be used interchangeably IF no baking powder or soda are called for in the recipe . . . with the understanding that Dutch Process cocoa will create a darker product with a more complex flavor; natural unsweetened cocoa powder is less acidic, has more chocolate flavor, and will create a lighter colored product with a fruitier flavor than Dutch process cocoa.

      Therefore, because your Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie recipe does not require a leavening agent, the type of cocoa powder used is personal preference.

      I’ve made notes from various recipes you have discussed, which is what led me to find the answer. However, if you happen to prefer a specific type of cocoa for this recipe, I would love to know.

      Thanks again for sharing your baking wisdom!
      –Becky

  9. #
    Jayne — November 25, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    This will be my third time making this fabulous pie. It will now be on our dessert table for Thanksgiving. I use to go to a restaurant here in San Diego just to get a slice of their chocolate peanut butter pie to bring to my husband for a special treat. He now says this pie is better than the pie I use to get! That is saying a lot, because he is a pie snob 🙂

    I’m telling you, this pie will change your life for the better!! Thank you Tessa for this!!

    • #
      Tessa — November 27, 2020 at 1:05 pm

      This makes me SO happy Jayne! So glad this pie is such a hit!

  10. #
    April — April 13, 2020 at 5:28 am

    Made this for Easter and used crushed up peanut M&M’s for the outer edge. Everyone loved it! Great flavor and texture. I used 2% milk. Definitely recommend for peanut butter lovers!!!

  11. #
    Becky Rudella — January 24, 2020 at 10:30 am

    Hi, Tessa–

    I noticed that you usually indicate the type of cocoa powder used in your recipes — natural unsweetened or Dutch process — but it is not specified in your Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Pie recipe. What is your preferred type of cocoa powder for this recipe? I’m thinking that either might work (depending on personal taste preference) due to the fact that leavening is not a concern in this recipe.

    Thanks for everything you do!
    –Becky

  12. #
    Katja — January 26, 2019 at 1:45 am

    Oh man!!! This is soooo good! And even better: with only small changes it’s vegan! Just use vegan butter, soymilk and agar agar!

    • #
      Tessa — January 28, 2019 at 12:01 pm

      Yay! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  13. #
    Ronald Miller — April 14, 2018 at 1:25 pm

    Wonderful idea to make a delicious cake. Will make it soon. Thanks for this idea!

  14. #
    Deb — March 19, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    I just tried to make this using dark cocoa and bittersweet chocolate because they were what I had on hand. Big mistake! Ick the filling was AWFUL! I tried adding more sugar, but then I think it got too sweet so I tried adding some instant coffee powder. I eventually gave up trying to fix it and just poured it in the crust. I’ll slather it in whipped cream and cross my fingers!

  15. #
    The Foodie Journey — March 14, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    The consistency of the chocolate batter looks incredible!!

  16. #
    Tara — April 2, 2016 at 8:31 am

    Can you substitute the milk for a dairy free substitute such as soy or almond milk?

  17. #
    Keri — February 6, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    I can’t wait to make this. Can I just use chocolate instant pudding mix, then add the peanut butter to that? It’s all I have in the house.

    • #
      Tessa — February 6, 2016 at 8:11 pm

      I’ve never tried that so I can’t say.

  18. #
    Autumn Autumn — May 25, 2015 at 9:32 am

    May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.
    Actually, I would like to ask about using Gelatin (I cannot use it). Can I replace it by something else? I have another question (Sorry) is about the difference between the white sugar and the light brown sugar?
    May Allah reward you (with) goodness.

  19. #
    jenny — April 26, 2015 at 10:22 am

    Do you recommend using Skippy-type peanut butter over natural peanut butter? I’m wondering if there would be a textural difference in the pie depending on whether a baker were to use the more processed pb vs. the more natural.

    • #
      Tessa — April 26, 2015 at 3:51 pm

      I used a “natural” peanut butter but one that doesn’t require stirring. As long as there’s not an excess of oil in the peanut butter you add to the recipe it should be fine!

  20. #
    Gaby — April 26, 2015 at 9:15 am

    This looks incredibly rich and creamy and delicious!

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