Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

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Think of this chocolate peanut butter tart as a grown-up version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Whenever I’m in need of a decadent “wow” dessert, I make this quick-bake chocolate peanut butter tart modestly adapted from Food & Wine. With a chocolate wafer crust, rich peanut butter filling, and silky chocolate ganache topping, it tastes like a grown-up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. To get the pretty fluted edges, you’ll need a tart pan with a removable bottom, which you can find at any kitchen store or online (my local hardware store even sells them). If you don’t have one, you can also use a springform pan.

What you’ll need to make a chocolate peanut butter tart

Tart ingredients including chocolate wafers, cream cheese, and vanilla.

How to make a chocolate peanut butter tart

Begin with the crust. Place the chocolate wafers in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.

Chocolate wafers in a food processor.

Process until the cookies are finely ground and set aside.

Food processor of wafer crumbs.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the chocolate pieces.

Bowl of melted butter and chocolate.

Stir until melted. (If necessary, place the bowl back in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.)

Melted chocolate in a bowl.

Add the cookie crumbs and stir until evenly combined.

Wafer crumbs and melted chocolate in a bowl.

Press the cookie crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the rim of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack.

Tart pan with a chocolate crust.

Meanwhile, make the peanut butter filling: In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the the cream cheese with the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla extract.

Bowl of unmixed peanut butter filling ingredients.

Beat on medium speed until well-blended, a few minutes.

Electric mixer in a bowl with peanut butter filling.

In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Bowl of whipped cream.

Add one-third of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture.

Whipped cream in a bowl with peanut butter filling.

Beat on low speed to combine.

Bowl of cream and peanut butter mixture.

Add the remaining cream.

Large pile of whipped cream in a bowl with a peanut butter mixture.

Using a large rubber spatula, fold until evenly combined.

Spatula folding whipped cream into a peanut butter mixture.

The filling should be nice and light.

Bowl of light peanut butter filling.

Spoon the filling into the crust.

Tart pan with a chocolate crust and peanut butter filling.

Smooth the surface and refrigerate, uncovered, for about 1 hour.

Peanut butter filling in a chocolate crust.

Once the pie has cooled, make the chocolate topping. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate with the heavy cream.

Bowl of chocolate and heavy cream.

Microwave at high power in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted and the cream is hot. Stir until well blended, then let cool until barely warm, stirring occasionally.

Spoon in a bowl of melted chocolate.

Spread the chocolate topping over the chilled peanut butter filling.

Chocolate topping over a peanut butter tart.

Sprinkle the chopped peanuts around the edges of the pie.

Circle of peanuts on a chocolate peanut butter tart.

Chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 3 more hours.

Chocolate peanut butter tart missing a slice.

To serve, carefully remove the rim from the pan by gently pressing upwards on the bottom while holding the rim in place. (If using a springform pan, run a thin knife around the crust to loosen it, then remove the springform ring.) Use a sharp knife to cut the pie into wedges. Wipe the knifer clean between each cut. Serve chilled.

Slices of chocolate peanut butter tart on plates.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Think of this chocolate peanut butter tart as a grown-up version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup.

Servings: 10

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
  • 2 cups cookie crumbs from Oreo baking crumbs, Dewey’s Brownie Crisp Cookies, Oreo Thins (no need to remove the cream), or Nabisco Chocolate Wafers

For the Peanut Butter Filling

  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter (I use Skippy Natural)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup cold heavy cream

For the Topping

  • 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped

Instructions

  1. Make the chocolate crust: Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. (If necessary, place the bowl back in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.) Add the cookie crumbs and stir until evenly combined. Press the cookie crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the rim of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (see note below). Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack.
  2. Meanwhile, make the peanut butter filling: In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until well-blended, a few minutes. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Add one-third of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture and beat on low speed to combine. Add the remaining cream and, using a large rubber spatula, fold until evenly combined. Spoon the filling into the crust, smoothing the surface. Refrigerate, uncovered, for about 1 hour.
  3. Make the chocolate topping: In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate with the heavy cream and microwave at high power in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted and the cream is hot. Stir until well blended, then let cool to barely warm, stirring occasionally. Spread the chocolate topping over the chilled peanut butter filling and sprinkle the chopped peanuts around the edges of the pie. Chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 3 more hours.
  4. To serve: Carefully remove the rim from the pan by gently pressing upwards on the bottom while holding the rim in place. (If using a springform pan, run a thin knife around the crust to loosen it, then remove the springform ring.) Use a sharp knife to cut the pie into wedges. Wipe the knife clean between each cut. Serve chilled.
  5. Make-Ahead Instructions: This pie can be made a day ahead, then covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.
  6. Note: You can find a tart pan with a removable bottom at any kitchen shop or online. However, if you can’t your hands on one, you can also use a 10-inch springform pan and bring the crust about 1 inch up the rim (or for a 9-inch springform pan, bring the crust about 1-½ inches up the rim). 

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (10 servings)
  • Calories: 703
  • Fat: 50 g
  • Saturated fat: 24 g
  • Carbohydrates: 60 g
  • Sugar: 46 g
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 12 g
  • Sodium: 221 mg
  • Cholesterol: 76 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • I really want to make this recipe but have been unable to find the nabisco chocolate wafers in any stores local to me. is there something else i can use for the crust that would be equally as good?

    • Hi Jackie, You can use Oreos here but scrape the filling out. You’ll need about 32 cookies (or 8 ounces). Hope that helps!

  • Yum! I make this but without the choc crust. I love your idea of the choc crust, though. My center is the same (crm chz & PB, but I add 3/4 cup powd sugar, and then 2 cups of cool whip that I fold in by hand. Our entire family LOVES this. I will try your version on Thanksgiving this year!!! Thank you for sharing!

  • I made this with Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate and it was absolutely one of the best desserts I’ve ever had! It was a hit at the dinner party we went to. Everything from this site is crazy good!

    • — Joyce Buchholtz
    • Reply
  • Hi! I really love this recipe. I was wondering… to speed up the chill time, would it be okay to put it in the freezer for an hour instead of the fridge for 3 hours?

    • Hi RC, in order to chill it more quickly, I think that would work. Enjoy!

  • Hi Jenn, I made the PB pie this morning and it looks great. I’m taking it to a dinner party tonight and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all. Do you leave it on the removable bottom to serve? Won’t it get scratched using a sharp knife? Thanks for all your delicious recipes. I really like your new cookbook.
    Carol
    I can’t rate it yet because we haven’t tried it.

    • Hi Carol, I would recommend serving it right from the pan’s base as it would be very challenging to move it to another serving plate. Just cut it carefully to minimize scratching the surface. Hope you enjoy!

  • I absolutely love this recipe! Keep them coming. 🙂 I’ve already made this three times.

  • Hi Jen,

    Every Saturday my husband and I engage in a friendly “bake off” competition. We invite friends over to judge. You have been my secret weapon! Lol. I won last weekend with your boy bait and this weekend I am baking your chocolate peanut butter pie. Your recipes are amazing! Thank you for helping me earn a week of bragging rights. 🙂

    Alicia

    • LOL – that is the cutest thing! Good luck – and definitely also try the chocolate cream pie and coconut cream pie…those are winners!

  • Every holiday for a few years now my family asks for the same dessert. This year I came across your site, and decided to try this one instead. It didn’t disappoint. It will now be one of my key desserts in the rotation to bring to events or dinners. So easy, and amazing. Can’t wait to try more recipes out. Already have a few more bookmarked. Thanks so much.

  • Jenn,
    Since I am not good with crusts will a store bought chocolate graham cracker crust work as well. My brother in law is so picky where the dinner is being held and I want to get this right.

    • That should work but if you can find an oreo crust, I would recommend that over the chocolate graham one.

  • We love this recipe and when I say we I mean pretty much everyone I know…it’s become my signature dessert for parties! The first time I made this was for my husband and sons…Valentine’s Day ! They thought I bought it but remembered me making it but couldn’t believe it. The directions were so easy and it looks so elegant…it is a winner all the way around. I followed the recipe to a T and it looked like yours!!! Thank you, Jenn for making me look good!

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