Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie

No need to check again, you read that right the first time. Chocolate. Peanut Butter. Pretzel. PIE. It's creamy. It's smooth. It's crunchy. It's decadent and rich. It's VEGAN. Believe it, folks.

Whoa Nelly! This is the kind of pie that sneaks up on you. You start with one teeny tiny slice. Which quickly turns into two slices. And before you know it, you've got your fork in the dish picking at the sides. Soon after, you throw all caution to the wind, and you end up with your finger in the pie. These things happen.

If you're lucky, you've got a good friend there to share in the indulgence, and to help rein each other in when faces start getting dangerously close to the pie.

Seriously, this thing should come with a warning: DO NOT EAT ALONE. But, y'know, if you do happen to go it alone and get half-way through the pie before you know what happened, I won't judge you. Pinky swear.

Of course there's some things I'd try differently next time: lightening up the peanut butter filling, making a harder ganache, tweaking the crust. But the recipe got eaten up pretty quickly as is, so no complaints here.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie
adapted from Vegan Nom Noms

Crust-
1 cup of finely ground pretzels
5 tbsp of Earth Balance vegan butter
3 tbsp of sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt butter slowly over medium heat. Mix together pretzel crumbs and sugar in a small bowl. Once butter is melted, add to pretzel crumbs and mix until completely moistened. Press crumbs into 9 inch pie pan and up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is set. Allow to cool completely.

Peanut Butter filling-
1 12 oz container of Extra-firm silken tofu (I like Mori-Nu brand in the aseptic packs. You can find them in the asian aisle, or at the asian market.)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup maple syrup (you can also use agave or brown rice syrup in its place)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Drain tofu and remove excess water. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. (Since I used natural peanut butter, I used 1/3 cup of syrup. If you're using PB that's already sweetened, use less syrup to keep it from getting too sweet. ) Pour filling into prepared crust, and keep in fridge while you make the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache-
1/4 cup almond milk (or your non-dairy milk of choice)
3/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips
2 tbsp maple syrup (or agave, etc)

In a small sauce pan, heat milk on medium heat until it comes to gentle boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and add chocolate and syrup and mix until well-combined and smooth. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes while it begins to solidify. You may drizzle the ganache on top of the peanut butter filling or cover it completely like I did. I also crushed up some pretzels with my hand and sprinkled it over the top of the ganache while it was still wet. Allow the ganache to set for at least one hour before serving.

Makes 1-12 servings depending on who's watching and if you're sharing.