Lightened Peanut Butter Pie For Mikey and Jennie (#apieformikey)

I don’t know Jennifer Perillo. I’ve never met her online or in person and until last Sunday had never heard of her blog. But last Sunday, after returning home from several days of travelling, I stumbled across her tweet via Recipe Girl and was moved to tears.

Well, more like sobs. Heaving ugly cry sobs.

Her husband had passed away suddenly, and the mix of sympathy, grief, fear, relief and thankfulness just overwhelmed me. Words fail me, I’m simply not a good enough writer to describe it. I feel terribly for her and her daughters, the sense of loss they feel and the many difficult days that lie ahead, yet part of me feels guilty because I’m grateful Neil and I have another day and hopefully many more together. It’s also hard t to resist fear, because life is not only fleeting, but unknown.

She asked that, to remember her husband and take a moment to think of those in our own lives we love, that we make a Peanut Butter Pie, one of her husbands favorite desserts. How could you not say yes to something like that?

I made my pie for Neil, and altered Jenny’s recipe a bit to accommodate his non-sweet tooth. It’s lighter and smooth and creamy like a soft serve ice cream. He loves it, and as he cuddles next to me snoring blissfully as I write this, I realize how precious these moments are.

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8-ounce) block light cream cheese, softened
1 cup natural-style creamy peanut butter
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce tub frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 9-inch ready-made granola pie shells
4 teaspoons dark chocolate sundae syrup

Directions:

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
2. Add the condensed milk, and beat until combined. Stir in the whipped topping.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between shells. Cover and chill 8 hours or until set (pies will have a soft, fluffy texture).
4. Cut into wedges, and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Most peanut butter pie recipes will advise you to “chill” your pie, but I highly recommend just freezing it for about 6-8 hours. The texture is much more sturdy and tastes just like ice cream. It also won’t make a huge mess.

I’ve loved reading many of the posts from people who participated in this. So much so, I wanted to pass along a few for you to read. I can not tell you how connected and wonderful this community is and how they rally together around those who need it.

• White on Rice Couple
• Eat the Love
• Bell’alimento
• Baking Between Cities
• Food For My Family
• Food In Jars
• Sweet on Dough
• Savour Fare
• Eatocracy
• Panini Happy
• Expresso Cream
• The Little Kitchen
• Table Talk
• Zoe Bakes
• The Naptime Chef
• Wenderly
• The Shiksa in the Kitchen
• Roy Joy
• Creative Culinary
• Cate’s World Kitchen
• Guilty Kitchen
• My Baking Addiction
• Hungry Rabbit
• Vanilla Kitchen