PEANUT BUTTER PIE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make crust first.
• In a small bowl, combine crumbs and melted butter and then pat into a 9" pie plate.
• Bake until firm and solid; 8 minutes.
• Let cool.
• Now make filling.
• In medium-sized bowl, whip cream.
• Place in fridge until you need it.
• Now, in a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese until fluffy.
• Next, beat in peanut butter, then butter and vanilla.
• Beat in icing sugar until nice and fluffy.
• Retrieve whipping cream from fridge.
• Fold about one-quarter of the cream into mixture to lighten it up, then fold in remainder of cream.
• Use a light hand-- but you don't want any streaks of cream to show either.
• Fill baked crust with peanut butter mixture.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it firms up, about 3 hours.
• To make chocolate ganache topping, finely chop chocolate bar (you can substitute 6 squares of semisweet bakers chocolate) and place in a small bowl.
• In a small pot, heat cream just until bubbles form.
• Pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate melts.
• Let cool, then spread over pie.
• Take the 12 miniature-peanut-butter-cup halves and arrange them evenly around the edge of the pie.
• I tilt them so the inside shows.
• Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving; I always make this a day ahead.