Ingredients:

One 8 oz block room temp Cream Cheese (not spreadable type)

1 cup+ Creamy Peanut Butter

1/2 to 1 cup Cane Sugar

1/4 cup Dairy Sour Cream

1 to 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Pinch or two Kosher or Sea Salt

Pinch or two Cocoa Powder (or omit)

Graham Cracker Pie Crust (or Oreo cookie crust)

2 Tablespoons soft Dairy Butter

Mix peanut butter and cream cheese on lowest speed of electric mixer. Go slowly until it starts going together, then increase mixer speed little at a time.

Once blended together, add the other pie filling ingredients. Slowly mix at first, then increase mixing speed gradually as it blends. Stop to scrape down bowl. Then mix at highest speed for 5 minutes. Mixing for 5 minutes at high speed produces a smooth, creamy pie filling, with the sugar completely dissolved. Sour cream or yogurt dissolves the sugar.

Pour filling into frozen pie crust, chill covered in the fridge. Overnight chill is the best. Can also serve frozen for a great summertime treat!

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The amount of sour cream used affects the softness of the filling. More sour cream makes a softer filling. Less sour cream makes a firmer filling. Best results are cultured dairy sour cream, (not artificial "sour cream"). The artificial stuff often tastes gross.

Options:

Yogurt, heavy cream, evaporated milk or buttermilk can be substituted in place of the sour cream. If using sweetened condensed milk, omit the sugar. If using milk, add a teaspoon of milk at a time then blend, don't dump in all the milk at once. That could make the filling too soupy for pie filling.

Sour cream and yogurt work best, as it keeps the firmer texture better than the milks do. Too much milk will make a pudding, not a firm pie filling.

Get as plain or fancy as you want this pie. I've made gift pies with a chocolate pie crust, Reece's peanut butter and mini Reece's hidden on the bottom of the pie crust before the filling was poured in.

I've made these with fudge sauce poured across the top. Or drizzle a little caramel sauce into the pie filling while mixing on high. Be careful with that, as too much caramel sauce can cause the filling to be too soft.

I've made this using two 8 oz blocks of cream cheese instead of one. Two blocks made two pies with a fluffy filling that had less peanut butter flavor, and more pudding like. Plus that left me about a cup of extra filling to eat like pudding. 2 blocks of cream cheese will need more sugar and more time mixing at high speed to get it smooth.

Freshly made without chilling, the filling will be a soft pudding. Chill to firm the filling for a sliceable pie.

The addition of butter gives a creamier texture and extra flavor to the filling. Most importantly, butter firms up the filling once the pie has been chilled.

You can make yours less or more sweet to your liking.

I made this recipe because all the recipes I found either shot my blood sugar too high, or barely tasted like peanut butter at all. One recipe I tried had so much whipped cream in it that it made me sick.

This inspired me to experiment with making my own pie fillings until I got the flavors and textures the way I liked them. Several folks have asked for this recipe after tasting my version of peanut butter pie.

Serving it frozen on a hot day makes for a cold, melt in your mouth treat!

Want the flavor of Maple Nut Goodies, but save your teeth? Then do the following:

Use maple sugar in place of the cane sugar, and add 1 tablespoon maple extract, then add the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla, sour cream and creamy peanut butter and mix very well. Pour that into a frozen graham cracker pie shell, cover and chill or freeze. Allow it time in the freezer or fridge to firm up.

Now you have a pie with all the flavors of Maple Nut Goodies, but in a soft, melt in your mouth, creamy form. :D