Peanut Butter Pie

The universe, it seems, was pushing me to make this pie.

I’d had this recipe out for a month or two, moving it from the kitchen counter to the table, and finally, attached to the fridge with a magnet. Then, suddenly, I had an invitation to a dinner party and a baked pie shell in the freezer (I used the extra dough from the blackberry cobbler, which makes excellent pie crust, I found out), so the time seemed right. Plus, I wanted to do something special for the #letslunch Twitter bunch (just type in the #letslunch hashtag to see all of the fall dessert posts).

It also seemed easy. Which I really like on a Friday, especially.

I put this little pie together in 15 minutes. You can, too.

This is from Gennie’s Bishop Grill in Oak Cliff, which, sadly, closed in 2005 after 34 years. It was known for its chicken fried steak and homemade yeast rolls, but perhaps most of all, folks came for the pies.

This was one of the most popular, and if you make this, you’ll see why. It’s lovely and light, and oh-so-perfect with bottomless cups of coffee, even in your own kitchen.

I thought about making a chocolate something to go along with this, but I didn’t want to overwhelm this little pie. Next time, if I’m not feeling too lazy to go to the market and get berries, I might make a little coulis of some sort, which would give it the whole PB&J vibe. Y’all know how much I love my PB&Js.

Peanut Butter Pie

3 egg yolks
2 ½ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup peanut butter (smooth)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 baked pie shell

1. Combine egg yolks, pinch of salt and milk in a large, heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until warmed through.

2. Sift sugar and flour together in bowl; then gradually add to egg-milk mixture and stir with a whisk to make sure no lumps form. Stir until thickened, then let boil for one minute.

3. Remove from heat, whisk in peanut butter and vanilla, and let cool slightly.

4. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate.