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First published 4/18/14. Recipe and pictures updated 11/30/15.
This is one recipe that I fully believed I would have to use as a “splurge” every once in awhile for the rest of my life. I didn’t think that my mother’s peanut butter pie could ever be healthified. But it can, and it has, and here it is.
The original recipe I had posted here was very good, but as of November 2015, I made a few tweaks that make this pie bigger and better. I used my new favorite crust recipe, an improved vanilla pudding recipe, and I made way more crumbs so there are plenty to go on the top and the bottom of this pie – just like my mom’s.
Hey, I bet you could make a double batch of this pie and put it in a 9×13? pan instead. That would make a great dessert to take to a social function/church picnic/family reunion.
Or you could just eat it by yourself.
You can find this recipe as well as another crust recipe option in my cookbook. It’s a little more finicky but also a little lighter in texture (no egg).
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 T oat fiber (gluten free if necessary)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. plain gelatin, such as Knox brand (add an extra ¼ tsp. if using beef gelatin such as Great Lakes brand or THM Just Gelatin)
- 1 tsp. glucomannan
- 1 T salted butter
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3½ - 4 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend
- 1 cup Briana's Baking Mix
- 2 packets of Truvia (1½ tsp. spoonable Truvia or THM Gentle Sweet)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg
- 2 T Greek yogurt
- 2 T cold water
- 3 T salted butter, room temperature
- 2 T natural peanut butter
- 6 T defatted peanut flour
- 2 T oat fiber (use gluten free if necessary)
- 5 tsp. THM Gentle Sweet
- The night before you want to serve the pie, make the pudding. Add the first 7 ingredients to a blender, glucomannan last, and blend until smooth. Transfer to a nonstick saucepan and cook until thick and bubbly, whisking to keep it from burning. Pull the pan off the heat and whisk in the butter, extract, and sweetener. Let cool on the counter, then refrigerate overnight. To prevent a skin from forming on your pudding, cover it with plastic wrap and press the plastic wrap onto the surface of the pudding.
- Make your crust. You could do this the night before as well because the crust needs to be refrigerated to chill completely before serving. An hour in the fridge is sufficient, though, so you can do this whenever you want. Pulse the baking mix, sweetener, salt, and butter in a food processor until crumbs form. Add the egg, Greek yogurt, and water and pulse until a ball of dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for a few minutes to make it easier to work with. Roll out the chilled dough between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper, place it in a greased 9 inch pie plate, trim off extra dough, and flute the edges of your pie crust if desired. Bake the crust at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Let the crust cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled before putting the pudding inside the crust.
- Make the crumbs for the top of the pie (this can be done in advance or soon before serving. Allow time for an hour of refrigeration.). Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate until firm.
- Assemble your pie an hour or so before serving. Crumble the majority of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pie crust, reserving some crumbs for the top of the pie. Top the crumbs with the vanilla pudding. Refrigerate. Right before serving, top the pie with sweetened whipped cream and the reserved crumbs. Yields 6-8 servings.
Briana’s Baking Mix
Products I Use:
- Knox plain bulk gelatin
- Glucomannan
- Oat Fiber
- THM Oat Fiber (gluten-free)
- Defatted Peanut Flour
- Truvia
- THM Super Sweet Blend
- THM Gentle Sweet
Hey Briana I made this recipe for dessert for Sunday lunch and it was so yummy! I used the recipe from the cookbook for the lighter crust and it was very fragile but my mom worked with it and she made it look really nice ;)) thanks so much for this recipe; I’m definitely gonna make it again!
That’s great to hear, Kate!
Hey Briana, this looks amazing and I cannot wait to try it this week. Looking over the ingredients I have almost everything except the defatted peanut flour. Is there a good substitute for the defatted peanut flour? I do have PB fit powder to make peanut butter but I’m not sure if that’s the same thing.
No, I’m afraid there’s not really a good sub for the defatted peanut flour, but any peanut flour without added sugar should do the trick! The PB Fit powder is a defatted peanut flour but I think it may have some sugar. You could check the ingredients list to find out. Here’s a link to the brand I like! (affiliate link) https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/defatted-peanut-flour/
This sounds/looks so good! Do you think subbing coconut oil for the butter and coconut cream for the heavy cream would work here? Would love to make a dairy free version, if possible.
I’m really not sure on that without actually trying it, but that sounds like as good a substitute as any to start experimenting with! I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it.
Hello, Brianna. I was wondering if your peanut butter pie will last a few days in the fridge & still taste just as good. I’m wanting to make it, but would like it to be good for 4 or 5 days.
BTW, I am loving Necessary Foods and congratulations on your wedding. So many exciting things happening for you. You are blessed!
Thanks for stopping by, Carrie! I’m so glad you enjoy Necessary Food! I don’t recommend making this pie more than a day in advance; the texture is really better fresh. I’m sorry!
I don’t have oat fibre. Could I use the THM baking mix instead? New to thm.
Hi Loretta! Oat fiber is a really fine, dry flour without a strong flavor that I like to use to thicken puddings, soups, and gravies. Other low carb flours, including THM Baking Blend, are apt to leave some grittiness in your pudding. In this recipe, I would probably just leave it out if you don’t have it. The pudding won’t set up quite as firmly but should still work.
Could glucomannon work to thicken here?
Yes, this recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of glucomannan in the pudding part (or you could use xanthan gum). I recommend using it in conjunction with oat fiber and gelatin as written for a non-slimy result. 🙂 (I don’t recommend trying to substitute more glucomannan for the other two thickening agents.)
Hi, Brianna
Love your book and am anxious to get the next one, especially since you have discovered Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Hubby and I love them both and I know you’ll make dishes from these cuisines healthy and delicious.
I have not yet tried your PB pie but was interested in it for the vanilla pudding. I LOVE vanilla pudding but have not been successful at getting the texture and consistency I want when using low carb thickeners. For me, the gum thickeners in even small amounts give a slimy mouthfeel. UGH! I see you are combining oat fiber and a gum in this recipe. Have you tried using only oat fiber as a thickener?
Thanks for your response!
Ginny Bates in Aiken, SC 29803
Hi Ginny! I haven’t tried using all oat fiber to thicken a pudding because I’m afraid you’d taste it if you use too much of it, especially in a vanilla pudding without strong cover up flavors. I definitely prefer xanthan gum to glucomannan in things like this, and when I use it in conjunction with oat fiber I don’t notice a sliminess!
Hi so do you have a sweetened whipped cream recipe for the peanut butter cream pie?
I give more specific instructions in my cookbook (this recipe is on page 344). 🙂 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 doonk THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder, 1 doonk xanthan gum.
This may be a silly question, but would the pudding part be good just on its own? Trying to find a sub for my mother in law.
Yep! It’s a great vanilla pudding!
Hmm, not sure what I did wrong, but my pie didn’t quite turn out as pictured. It was more like pudding in a crust. Which isn’t that bad as I did used to make chocolate peanut butter pudding pie that was more like pudding in a crust and I liked it. Just wasn’t what I was expecting, and I wish I could tell what I did wrong.
That actually sounds right to me! In my experience, cream pies are made of thick pudding. Was your pudding too runny? Did you make any substitutions, leave the oat fiber out of the pudding, or use a different brand of gelatin? I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were hoping for!
Hi Briana
Just wanted to let you know that I really do like it, just didn’t quite look the same as the picture. And even better, after having sat in the fridge for a day, it was even better. Can’t wait to make it again. Then maybe my hubby will get a slice.
Hi Briana, Happy Thanksgiving!
This looks terrific. I was looking for something I could make for our Thanksgiving Dinner for dessert for me (as there will be regular pumpkin pie and apple pie, plus Butterfinger pie thanks to my oldest daughter). We aren’t having our dinner until tomorrow so I still have time to make it. Was just wondering if the THM Baking Blend can be subbed for your baking mix and if so, do you know how much I can use. Thanks
I’m sorry I didn’t get to reply to this! I was out of town for the weekend. You can generally use THM Baking Blend in place of my baking mix, but you’ll need a little more since my mix soaks up more liquid. A good starting place is 1 cup of THM Baking Blend for every 3/4 cup of my baking mix, then adjust from there as needed.
Hi. I’d like to make this for Thanksgiving, but I don’t have any glucomannan. Do you know if I could substitute this with anything else? (By the way, I LOVE your site!)
Thank you, Crystal! Xanthan gum should work in place of the glucomannan.
I would love to make this but don’t have oat fiber. Is it possible to substitute something or leave it out?
The oat fiber helps thicken the pudding a bit (like the flour in my mom’s original peanut butter pie recipe). Since there are other thickening agents in this as well, you could probably leave the oat fiber out and just expect a slightly less solid result.
Would Gluccie work instead?
Or even psyllium husk flakes?
I’ve personally never used psyllium husk flakes, but I know that some people use them to replace oat fiber. 🙂 I wouldn’t add more gluccie – it’s a different kind of thickness than the oat fiber brings and you don’t want the pudding to get too slimy. 🙂
I actually used sunflower lecithin instead and it turned out AMAZING!!! 🙂 Thanks
Good to know! SO glad it worked out for you, Carla!
Carla, How much sunflower lecithin did you use?
Thanks!
I tried this pie with chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. It is fantastic! I had to add quite a lot more sweetener to the pudding but it turned out great. Chocolate and peanut butter can’t be beat!
Hi Briana;
Just found your site and love all your recipes! Im excited about trying them. I did have a question, not in regards to this recipe. In the past it has always been a tradition to make popcorn balls (with corn syrup) at Christmas time. Im wondering if you might have an idea of what I could use that would be on the plan of THM ?
Thank you!
Mary Ann
Hi Mary Ann! I’m afraid I’m not much help on that one as I’ve never made popcorn balls and am not quite sure what consistency you’re looking for. Pinterest is always a good place to check for inspiration though!