Peanut Butter & Jelly Pie

Lake Eden's Cookbook

DO NOT preheat your oven yet -- you must make the crust first.

#### Directions

1. In a medium-size bowl with a fork, whisk together the crushed vanilla wafers, the peanut butter, and the white sugar until the resulting mixture is crumbly and well combined.
2. Add ONE *(only one, not both)* Tablespoon of water and attempt to form the mixture into a ball with your impeccably clean hands. Use the second Tablespoon of water if the first Tablespoon isn't enough to squeeze the mixture into a ball.
3. Once the ball is formed, spray a 9-inch pie pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
4. Set the ball of crust in the bottom of the pan, flatten it out with your hands, and press it up the sides. DON'T WASH THE BOWL YOU USED FOR THE PIE CRUST -- YOU CAN USE IT AGAIN FOR THE NEXT STEP.
5. *Slip the pie plate in your freezer and set the timer for 30 minutes*. Your peanut butter pie crust must freeze that long before you use it.

### For the Peanut Butter Filling:

#### Ingredients

* 1 cup powdered *(confectioners')* sugar
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

#### Directions

1. Mix the powdered sugar with the peanut butter. You want to be able to spread it in the bottom of your pie crust, so you may need to heat the bowl a bit in the microwave once your peanut butter pie crust comes out of the freezer.
2. When you crust has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the freezer and set it on the counter.
3. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
4. Spread the peanut butter filling on the bottom of the peanut butter crust.  Set it on top of a drip pan ***(I use an old cookie sheet with sides***) and leave it on the counter to wait for the "jelly" filling.
5. DON'T WASH THE BOWL YOU USED FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER FILLING. Simply wipe it out with a paper towel, and you can use it again for the "jelly" filling. *(Can you tell I hate to wash dishes?)*

### For the "Jelly" Filling:

#### Ingredients

* 5 eggs
* 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
* 1/2 cup plain yogurt (try to find whole milk yogurt -- it's better)
* 1/2 cup frozen grape juice concentrate\*\*\*
* 1 Tablespoon grape jelly
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional) (*The lemon zest adds a little zing to your pie*)

**\*\*\*\****You can use any flavor of frozen juice concentrate and jelly that you wish. You are only limited by the frozen juice concentrates and jelly or jam that your store carries. My small grocery store stocks frozen grape, frozen peach, frozen pineapple, frozen orange, frozen lemonade, frozen limeade, frozen pink grapefruit, and frozen apple.*

#### Directions

1. Crack one whole egg into that same medium-sized mixing bowl. Separate the remaining 4 eggs, placing the 4 yolks into the bowl with the whole egg and 4 whites into another mixing bowl. Leave the bowl with the 4 whites on your counter. They need to warm a bit for the meringue you'll make later.
2. Whisk the whole egg and the egg yolks until they're a uniform color. Then stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk.
3. Add the yogurt and the grape juice concentrate. Stir it together until it's a uniform color and the frozen concentrate has melted.
4. Heat the Tablespoon of jelly until it melts and then stir in into the mixture.
5. Add the lemon zest, if you decided to use it, and stir well.
6. Pour the filling you just made on top of the peanut butter filling in your crust.
7. Bake the pie at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and set it on a cool stove top or a rack to wait for its meringue.

### For The Meringue:

#### Ingredients

* 4 egg whites *(the ones you saved in that bowl on the counter)*
* 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
* A pinch of salt
* 1/3 cup white *(granulated)* sugar

**Hannah's 2nd Note:** *This is a whole lot easier with an electric mixer.*

#### Directions

1. Add the cream of tartar and the salt to the bowl with your egg whites and mix them in.
2. Beat the egg whites on HIGH until they form soft peaks.
3. Continue to beat at HIGH speed as you sprinkle in the sugar. When the egg whites form firm peaks, stop mixing and tip the bowl to test the meringue. If the egg whites don't slide down the side of the bowl, they're ready.
4. Spread the meringue over the filling with a clean rubber spatula, sealing it to the edges of the crust. When the pie is covered with meringue, either "dot" it with the flat side of the spatula to make points in the meringue, OR smooth it out into a dome and make circular grooves with the tip of your spatula from the outside rim to the center, to make a flower-like design.
5. Turn to the oven up to 350 degrees F. and bake your Peanut Butter & Jelly Pie at 350 degrees F. for an additional 12 minutes.
6. Remove your pie from the oven and let it cool by setting the drip pan and the pie pan on a wire rack.
7. When the pie has cooled to room temperature, refrigerate it at least 3 hours before serving.

**Yield:**  6 large or 8 medium slices of incredibly delicious pie. I can almost guarantee you've never had anything like it before!

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.