Peanut Butter Piggy Pie
As of late, I have been neglecting one of my favorite ingredients, bacon. This is no longer acceptable.
I posted on Facebook that I was going to make something with bacon, peanut butter and chocolate and asked for ideas, feeling that one good thought leads to another. I was right. My friends had wonderful suggestions for me that sparked an idea.
How about a peanut butter, chocolate, bacon pie? Sounded good, but then I had to figure out the placement of each ingredient.
My first stop was to Whole Foods to buy the bacon. They have several kinds from which to select and I chose their 365 brand uncured bacon. Next, I spoke with Gary, who now works at Whole Foods, but many years ago co-owned a wonderful restaurant that bought my desserts. We brainstormed about the crust and he told me about peanut butter sandwich cookies that the store sells, which he said are delicious. Done!
Cooking the bacon was first on my to-do list. I do not love the splatter of cooking bacon on the stove and now bake my bacon in the oven instead. One 12-ounce package of bacon had 12 slices. I baked 6 of them plain for the inside of the pie and topped the other 6 with maple syrup and brown sugar for the top of the pie.
Once the bacon cooked, I strained the bacon fat through cheesecloth and used that to bind my peanut butter sandwich cookie crust. I used over a pound of cookies for the crust, because I like a nice solid crust for these kinds of pies. Once the crust baked and cooled, I topped it with chocolate ganache.
There are two ways to get ‘just the right size’ bacon strips…break them with your hands or cut them. I cut the bacon with scissors. For the inside of the pie cut the bacon into smaller pieces. For the top, cut the maple bacon into longer strips.
I put the smaller strips of bacon over the ganache and topped that with chopped lightly salted cocktail peanuts. Making the peanut butter filling could not have been easier and the creaminess is luscious. Drizzling chocolate ganache and then placing strips of maple bacon on top of the pie make for a very eye appealing dessert.
Looking attractive is certainly important, but taste is top priority. Peanut Butter Piggy Pie hits the mark. Each bite is a blend of all of the ingredients. Depending on where the ingredients hit your taste buds, one flavor may stand out in one bite and another flavor in the next.
You do not have to be as bacon obsessed as I to love this pie, but there is a good chance that you may become a bacon loving ‘oinker’ once you give it a try.
Pin it: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/26106872815096177/
| Peanut Butter Piggy Pie | Print |
- Crust:
- 18 ounces peanut butter sandwich cookies
- 5 tablespoons strained bacon fat
- Chocolate ganache:
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 6 ounces heavy whipping cream
- Filling:
- 4 - 6 slices bacon
- ⅓ cup lightly salted cocktail peanuts, chopped
- 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- ⅓ cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Topping:
- 4 – 6 slices bacon
- maple syrup for rubbing
- light brown sugar for sprinkling
- Cook bacon first. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with heavy duty aluminum foil. Place 4-6 slices bacon on each sheet. For the Topping slices, rub maple syrup on top of each slice and sprinkle with light brown sugar.
- Bake in 350° until dark in color but not burnt, about 25-30 minutes. Be sure to rotate pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Watch carefully towards the end. Remove from oven and transfer to paper towel lined baking sheet to drain. Do not allow maple bacon to sit long or paper towels will stick to them. Set aside. Leave oven on at 350°.
- For the crust:
- Strain bacon fat from both baking pans through a cheesecloth lined strainer.
- Place cookies and bacon fat into food processor. Process until all cookies are finely chopped and mixture holds together.
- Transfer to 9” pie plate. Bake in 350° oven for 10-12 minutes. The crust sides will look drier than the middle. Remove from oven and cool completely.
- For the chocolate ganache:
- Place chocolate into small bowl. Bring cream to a simmer and pour over chocolate. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes and then stir gently until fully blended. Remove ¾ cup ganache and pour over cooled pie crust.
- For the filling:
- Cut bacon slices into small pieces using either scissors or a knife. Evenly place over chocolate ganache. Top bacon with chopped peanuts.
- Combine cream cheese, peanut butter, confectioners sugar and milk in large mixing bowl. Beat until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl down as needed.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipping cream into peanut butter mixture. Spread evenly over chopped nuts.
- For the topping:
- Transfer remaining chocolate ganache to a small plastic freezer bag. Cut small opening at bottom and drizzle ganache over filling.
- Cut maple bacon into ⅓” – ½” strips using either scissors or a knife. Place partially into pie, leaving part of each piece exposed.
- Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour.
- Allow Peanut Butter Piggy Pie to sit outside refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- If the thought of using bacon fat in the crust is outside your comfort zone, substitute melted butter.
- The number of bacon slices is a personal preference. Want more bacon inside and outside? Use 6 slices for each. Want less? Use 4.
