Love and Olive Oil

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Pie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Pie

Do teenagers still plaster their walls with magazine pages and pullouts of their favorite boy band heart throbs? While I was never one to obsess over famous strangers when I was younger, now that I’m older I feel like I’m making up for it. Except my perforated pages aren’t photos of shirtless boys, but rather of decadent desserts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Pie

Despite my penchant for losing things I managed to hold on to this one for a while. The worn out page kept reappearing every time I reorganized the stack of magazines, or the pile of linens and photo props. I kept putting it back somewhere safe, forgetting about it, only to rediscover it months later when the resurgent mess demanded another purge. Despite all the books and papers and piles of stuff to throw or give away, it managed to stick around.

I think it was meant to be.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Pie from Capitol Grille

Now that I’ve brought the glossy daydream to life…

Let me tell you about this pie.

This pie deserves its own centerfold.

It’s chocolate peanut butter chess pie, yes. But you know what you could also call it?

Brownie batter pie, that’s what.

Brownie batter pie with a ribbon of peanut butter, delicate crispy edges and a chocolate cookie crust. Gooey and fudgy and rich enough to reach a higher tax bracket. Have some ice cream or milk handy because oh boy is it intense.

For the love of all things pie you might want to drop what you’re doing and make this, like, immediately.

You have to admit you’d choose this pie over that little Bieber kid any day (Justin who?)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Pie

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Ingredients:

For Crust:
1 1/2 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 8 ounces or 35 cookies)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
8 ounces good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup creamy salted peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan or spray with nonstick spray. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture into prepared pan. Place pan on a cookie sheet (to prevent any butter from leaking onto your oven floor) and bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water (the bowl should sit over, but not touch the water). Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, followed by vanilla and salt. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until smooth.

Spread peanut butter in an even layer in the bottom of the cooled crust. Pour in filling and bake (again setting the pan on a cookie sheet) for 40 to 50 minutes or until the pie is set and shiny on top, but still slightly jiggly in the center. Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 2 hours until fully set. Slice and serve with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Adapted from Capitol Grille via Sugar Pies

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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103 Comments

  1. This pie has to be the most luscious pie ever. We fight to get the biggest slice. A must for your recipe books. Thank you so much. One happy family.

  2. Made this yesterday. Words can’t describe , how decadent, this pie was.. Sex on a plate, was the comment , from my husband. Lol.. By the way I happen to agree… Thank you, for such an easy pie recipe, with wonderful results.. V

  3. When spreading the peanut butter, spray your spatula, knife, or spoon with cooking spray and gently coax the peanut butter over the crust. I found that I needed about a quarter cup more peanut butter than the recipe called for in order to cover the crust without pulling up too many crumbs. 

  4. Can this be frozen I need to travel far and need to make ahead?

    • I have never frozen this pie so I can’t say. While normally I say just about any dessert can be frozen, the gooey texture of this one is it’s main feature; I’d worry that freezing/thawing would affect that. But do let me know if you try it!

  5. Have you ever doubled it and made it in a 9×13?

    • I’d be worried it wouldn’t cook through. If you want to double I might do two 9-inch pies rather than one big pan.

  6. delicious…i have to make this soon!

  7. I used this recipe to make my own wedding cake (omitting the PB). It was friggin’ delicious and everybody raved about it! So happy, thank you.

  8. Would this work if i just buy a crust at the store? :)
    I don’t feel like making one, i’m sure i’ll mess something up ;)
    thanks!

  9. This pie is seriously making me consider not logging into My Fitness Pal this weekend because of the amount of guilt that will be dripping off my fork. Totally dying to make it!!!

  10. Just stumbled across your blog and this recipe. Couldn’t wait for the weekend to rush out and make this. THIS IS AMAZING. I saw the pie this was the muse for and, no joke, seriously, without a doubt, there is no way it is better. I cannot imagine that pie crust would add anything compared to a chocolate cookie crust. I worship at your feet and cannot wait to make more of your recipes.

  11. Fantastic for a chocoholic like me!

  12. Just made this – amazing! Peanut butter and chocolate – decadent.

  13. That chocolate peanut butter pie looks so decadently good!

  14. I couldn’t spread the peanut butter on the cookie crumbs. Everytime i tried it was just pulling of the base and i ended up with a right mess. How did you do it?

  15. I love chess pie so much and I LOVE that you made a chocolate pb version!

  16. I made this last week and it was a huge hit at the office! Thanks so much for sharing!!

  17. Oh, this looks great. Though, I am not a fan of dark chocolate. Can it be made with semi-sweet or milk chocolate?

  18. o my god, it’s look………i’m speechless…it’s look so good.

  19. Looks delish! Just wondering if you have a uk alternative to the chocolate wafer cookie crumbs – I’m not sure what they are (very likely being confused and they’re staring me in the face in the supermarket!!!) Cantwait to make this!!

  20. I’m absolutely enamored with this recipe! What another perfect marriage between Peanut Butter and Chocolate

  21. Love that last Bieber comment haha. Really great tasting pie. Beautiful images too. Makes this recipe more appealing.

  22. Can it be made in a pie plate instead of a springform pan?

    • Most definitely! Though you’ll want to put the crust in the bottom and sides, rather than just the bottom like the springform pan.

  23. This looks amazing. Can not beat the combined flavor of chocolate and peanut butter…and more chocolate layered in between :)

  24. This looks insanely decadent. How big of a problem would it be if I ate the whole thing by myself?

  25. This looks so delicious…my mouth is watering!!

  26. OMG<3 This looks delicious!

  27. That Beiber kid is no Donny Osmond, just sayin’.

  28. Wowza. Love the pnut butter chocolate combo…this looks like pure heaven!

  29. OK so the pic is gorgeous and I just made this, but I had an AWFUL time spreading the peanut butter on the cooled crust. It wanted to stick and pull up chunks of the crust…any tips on that? It read like it would just spread right on but it did not at all for me…and I know my way around a kitchen ;)

    • Mine did that a bit too. I was using room temperature peanut butter and a nice offset spatula, and was able to get it pretty good with not a ton of chunks. You could maybe warm the peanut butter up a bit or freeze the crust for a few minutes to set it a bit more?

    • Also, I really pack my crust in there (use a measuring cup to help press it firmly in the bottom). I could see how a looser crust might be more problematic.

  30. That’s total decadence for you right there! I feel like I couldn’t be trusted around that pie! :)

  31. This looks amazing! Beautiful photos too. Thanks for hosting the cookie swap – I just signed up and am very excited! Thanks again.

  32. I love every.single.thing. about this pie. Gorgeous, and I’m sure, delicious!

  33. I’m just getting into this business of chess pie. Chocolate peanut butter sounds lovely!

  34. Your photos are outta control good! I almost feel like the plate is sitting right in front of me (which may explain why I’m salivating right now). Goodness gracious this may have to go on our Thanksgiving menu. Who cares if it’s not pumpkin or pecan?? That pie is deserving of a special occasion.

  35. go-oh-oh-osh. that’s a serious slab of chocolate!
    why is it called “chess” pie? (i’m in australia – never heard of that one before). thank you!

  36. #^%##!?
    omg, i am truly in love!

  37. Wow! This might be dinner.

  38. Oh heavens! This looks good! I’m glad you kept tucking it away and it didn’t end up in the trash :)

  39. Oh boy, this looks amazing. When you re-named it brownie batter pie, I knew it had to be great. Adding this to my list of must trys!

  40. This is so funny—I worked for a magazine that had a chocolate chess pie in it, and I ripped it out and kept it because I had never heard of one before. I’ve yet to make it, but you’ve inspired me :) Maybe I’ll pull it out!

  41. You don’t have to twist my arm to try this. My daughter is coming home from college tomorrow and she is a chocolate & p.b. hound. Will be making this for here. I don’t think they plaster pics anymore because they are so into the online media. I myself wouldn’t mind this photo on my wall. Thanks for posting this.
    -Gina-

  42. Is there anything really better than peanut butter and chocolate?!? Oh, I think not! YUMMMY!!!!

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