Oreo Peanut Butter Pie

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy Hannukah! Happy Christmas! I hope that you all had a wonderfully, beautiful holiday with your loved ones. I know I certainly did.

It has been a crazy, crazy few months. But I can honestly say that my recent trip back to Pittsburgh was the absolute best holiday and happiest that I have ever been. I was still stuck in finals mode upon arriving in Pittsburgh (small moment to again apologize to my parents for getting a glimpse of "Finals Ashley" who exploded into a combustion of tears, shouts, and total insanity. . . and small moment to again commend my now-husband for patiently putting up with all of those tears, shouts, and total insanity for 3.5 years) so the trip didn't quite start off on the right foot. But then we had a wonderful day at the spa and when the big day finally arrived, I was happy. Truly, truly happy. And that's how a bride should feel on her wedding day! After 8 years, you'd think that I wouldn't have been as emotional as I was. But I was. Ron is the most amazing person. I am incredibly blessed and I thank my lucky stars every day that I found such a wonderful man to spend my life with. We spent Friday, December 23 celebrating the 8 years we've shared together (complete with a few jokes, like the Minister who began the ceremony "We are gathered here today to celebrate the love of two people who have clearly rushed into things") in the most magical, Disney-princess like celebration of all time. But most importantly, we spent the evening with our families, the people who matter most to us in this world.

Then we spent Christmas Eve with our families combined, watching the Steelers with the family and some friends, and eating fantastic food. My mom works tirelessly to make our lives amazing and she pulls out all of the stops for the holidays. The entire family hadn't been together for Christmas in five years. And she had a household full of her family and two new sons. It was a wonderful trip... and I have to thank her for the majority of it! Yesterday, Ron and I flew back to Seattle with a calm feeling of comfort. And now, I have a few days to hang out in Seattle - doing things involving minimal brain activity - before I depart to Minnesota for a one-week J-Term course. Then, I get to fly down to Orlando immediately after it ends to participate in Disney marathon weekend with Ron and to spend a week drinking Butterbeer on Universal property and running from ride to ride over at the Disney parks.

Another positive, I've been cooking and baking again. And it feels good. I never realized the pressure I put on myself to find new recipes until these past few months, when I lost some interest and stopped tagging 100 recipes per day. Fortunately, I think I've found a healthy medium so I'm back to happily cooking and baking. I made this pie for our Christmas Eve dessert... and I think people were pretty happy with it. I first saw posts for Peanut Butter Pie several months ago, after the blogging community united to make one in remembrance of a friend's husband had recently passed away. It was such a sweet touch and it was remarkable to see hundreds of people from across the country - many only friends through the Internet - help Jennifer in her time of need. I heard again about Peanut Butter Pie from my friend, Jamie, who made one shortly after trying it during their Thanksgiving dinner. I was intrigued by said Peanut Butter Pie so I decided that it would be served for our dessert this Christmas. And wow. It is incredible. It tastes like a creamy Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. If you really want to impress, buy all of these super healthy-for-you ingredients and mix this up before your next gathering.

Oreo Peanut Butter Pie
from Lighter and Local made "For Mikey"
Yield: 1 pie
Ingredients

• 8 ounces Oreo cookies
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• crumbled oreos, chopped peanuts, chopped pretzels for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Pulverize the Oreos in a food process until fine.
2. Combine melted butter and finely ground Oreos in a small bowl; stir with a fork to mix well and press mixture into the bottom of a buttered springform pan.
3. Pour the melted chocolate over the bottom of the cookie crust. Sprinkle the chopped peanut on top. Put pan in the fridge while you make the filling.
4. Pour the heavy cream into a large bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a smaller bowl and place in fridge while you prepare the rest of the filling.
5. In bowl, beat cream cheese and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer to low and gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Beat until all ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.
6. Take 1/3rd of the whipped cream into the filling mixture. Once filling is light, fold in remaining whipped cream. 
7. Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Sprinkle garnish over top, if using. Cover and place pie in fridge for three hours or overnight before serving. Enjoy!