It’s been too, too long! With the starting of classes and wrapping up the end of summer, my blog posts became fewer and fewer this past week. However, I’m going to fix that!
Next week, I will bring to you a series on products no southern household should go without, as well as, the latest news in country music.
To get back in the swing of things, I thought there is no better way than with a recipe for a sweet treat, in memory of the good ole’ southern boy and king of rock n’ roll Elvis Presley.
No-Bake Elvis Peanut Butter and Banana Pie
Ingredients:
3 cups heavy cream
8 ounces peanut butter chips
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon salt
2 packages graham crackers
1 cup pretzels
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 whole ripe bananas
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon milk
Directions:
To prepare the filling, first bring a pan of water to a simmer and place a heat-proof bowl over top. Add 1 cup of cream, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and the peanut butter chips to the bowl and stir until melted. Once melted and completely combined, place the bowl in refrigerator until completely chilled, about an hour.
Set a second heat-proof bowl over the simmering water. Add the remaining 2 cups cream and the chocolate chips. Stir until melted and thoroughly combined, then stir in the salt. Place the bowl in refrigerator until mixture is cool and chilled completely, about an hour.
While the fillings are chilling, prepare the crust. Combine graham crackers and 1/2 cup of the pretzels in a blender. Process until the crackers have turned to crumbs and pretzels are in small pieces. (Alternatively, place the crackers and pretzels in a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin.)
Combine the graham cracker-pretzel mixture in a bowl with the melted butter and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour the mixture into a 10-inch cake pan with a removable bottom, and press it into the the bottom and up the sides. (This pie can also be made in a 9-inch pie tin; you will not need all of the crust mixture.)
Slice 1 whole banana and half of the second panana into rounds. Arrange them in a single layer over the bottom of the crust.
Remove peanut butter mixture from refrigerator and mix in the milk, corn syrup (if using) and remaining 1/4 cup of the peanut butter. Stir until smooth. The mixture should lighten and gain a small amount of volume and spoon easily. Spread the peanut butter layer over cut bananas in pan.
Remove the chocolate mixture from freezer, and whip on high speed until the mixture is lightened and slightly thicker. It won’t be as firm as the peanut butter mixture, but don’t worry! Spread the chocolate over peanut butter mixture.
Roughly crush the remaining pretzels and sprinkle them around the edge of the pie. Slice the remaining 1/2 banana in to rounds and arrange them around the top (I added 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to the tops and popped them in the broiler for a little color). Refrigerate until the pie is set, at least 3 hours or overnight.
countrybellechic 