Icebox Peanut Butter Cream Pie: for Mikey

Author Notes

This is the pie I made for my husband and daughter after reading Jennifer Perillo's post about her husband's passing.

This pie is in three stages so that it each layer has time to set up, but it’s really quite easy to make. I used coconut oil in the crust, which does give the pie a noticeable coconut flavor. If you like this sort of thing, it isn’t overwhelming and complements the peanut butter and chocolate well. If you aren’t a coconut fan, you could just as easily use melted shortening or butter; just keep in mind that the pie would no longer be raw. I suppose you could also use a cold-pressed nut oil, which would keep it raw. I used banana in both the peanut butter and chocolate layers, with very little noticeable taste. If you wanted to sub half of an avocado in place of the banana in the chocolate layer, that should be fine. I’m not too sure how that would work in the peanut butter layer, though. And of course, if you have nut allergies and cannot use almond meal in the crust or peanut butter in the filling, there are myriad flour and seed butter options available. But you already knew that, I’m sure!

—windycityvegan