There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's pie

I was off from cooking and baking last week, which was such a welcome change from the few weeks before - making a million things (and trying to be creative and come up with new ideas one after the other!) is exhausting!! Some people have asked me in the past why I don't do some baking and cooking professionally, and this is why - because I DO get tired of it after a while!! But, after a nice little break, I'm refreshed and rejuvenated and back!

I actually thought I was going to have this past weekend off too - I went to New York to visit some friends and celebrate one of their birthdays. It ended up being a whole weekend of an unofficial college reunion (my life tends to revolve around reunions, apparently), and I had such a great time seeing old friends and pretending to be 20 again. I didn't realize how much I missed that part of my life! Crazy how time flies!

So, traveling on a bus with baked goods was not something I intended to do, but one of my friends - my oldest childhood friend, whom I have literally known since the day he was born and have remained close with ever since - emailed me and asked me to bring him something yummy. How could I say no? I immediately thought of peanut butter pie, since you can freeze it and it travels amazingly well. But then I thought, how can I make this a little more special....and I came up with it. I'd do a "Reese's Peanut Butter Cup" version of the pie: I'd do half of the filling with my normal PB pie recipe and, with the other half, I'd do an adapted version of the recipe with chocolate-hazelnut spread instead of peanut butter. And then, for good measure, I decided to chop up some (pareve) peanut butter cups and sprinkle them in between the layers and on top. Oh my goodness, if you like Reese's, you MUST try this. Took me literally 15 minutes to whip up and it was such a hit! (Mom, I'll make this for you next time I come home! And, you know the Shabbos drill....no inside pictures....just trust me ;-))

Total side note: Talking about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups made me think of HersheyPark and how every year, as a kid, I used to wish I was a Twizzler or a Mr. Goodbar or whichever category was taller than I was! Haha these are your memories when HersheyPark is pretty much out your back door!

(Note: I did have to go to a specialty kosher candy store for the pareve peanut butter cups. If you cannot find them readily available, just skip them altogether.)

"Reese's" Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
1 chocolate graham cracker crust
3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
4 oz. pareve cream cheese, divided
1/2 cup. powdered sugar + 1/8 cup
1/3 cup pareve chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Schneider's Dellinut spread)
1 cup pareve whipping cream, whipped
12 pareve peanut butter cups, chopped

1. Bake the pie crust in a 375 degree oven for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
2. In a small bowl, whip together the peanut butter and 2 oz. of cream cheese. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Beat in 1/2 of the whipped cream and whip for an additional minute until fluffy. Pour mixture into the bottom of the cooled pie crust.
4. Sprinkle about half of the chopped peanut butter cups all over the peanut butter mixture.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together the chocolate spread and the remaining 2 oz. of cream cheese. Add the remaining 1/8 cup of powdered sugar.
6. Beat in the remaining 1/2 of the whipped cream and whip for an additional minute until fluffy. Pour over the peanut butter mixture and peanut butter cups.
7. Top with the remaining chopped peanut butter cups. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (Note: This dessert can be made up to a week in advance and frozen. Remove the pie from the freezer 4-6 hours before serving and defrost in the refrigerator.)