Shaker Gourmet: Peanut Butter Pie

It's June! Summer is coming and for some of us, the weather is warming or pretty darn hot already (*ahem* not for me...come on now PNW weather gods...). This is a fabulous--and easy--dessert for the warm days to have at the end of a cookout. Or, you know, whenever you want to have a really, really rich dessert.

Peanut Butter Pie

* 1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use natural/sugar free...Jif all the way for this)
* 8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 4 1/2 cups (12 oz. container) cool whip, divided
* 1 11.75 oz. jar hot fudge topping, divided

Drizzle:

* 2 Tb hot fudge
* 2 Tb peanut butter

—In a medium bowl, beat together the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Gently fold in 3 cups whipped topping. Spoon mixture into the pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.

—Reserving 2 tablespoons of hot fudge, place remaining hot fudge into microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute.Stir. Spread hot fudge over pie to cover the peanut butter layer.

—Refrigerate until serving time.

—Just before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping (1 1/2 cups), over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

—Place the 2 tb of fudge in a small baggie and knead for a few seconds. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle over pie. Do the same with 2 Tb of peanut butter.

If you'd like to participate in Shaker Gourmet, email me (include a blog link!) at: shakergourmet (at) gmail.com

*Sorry if this is a repeat, I searched but didn't see it though I'm still not sure if I've done this one already in the past...