Ree Drummond's No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie Is Heavenly—And So Easy

This time of year makes me wistful for the simple things I loved as a kid; snow days spent at home baking cookies, knotting friendship bracelets with neon floss while watching Blossom, and writing my name as "Mrs. Kurt Cobain" on my Trapper Keeper. (Kurt was my first in a series of crushes on late rock stars I didn't realize had already left the earthly plane: RIP to Jeff Buckley and Freddie Mercury. Le sigh.)

Little do any of us realize how quickly those good old days go by. And how freakin' hard it is to marry the lead singer of a famous band, just by dotting all your i's with bubble hearts.

From classic PB&J sandwiches, I remember graduating to Ritz crackers topped with peanut butter and jelly, as a late night snack in college; like the hors d'oeuvres of the iconic lunchbox sando. If only I had known about Ree Drummond's No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie! I recently made the pie—it instantly made me feel like a care-free kid again.

The classic PB&J gets a pie treatment with a salty, buttery Ritz cracker crust packed to the brim with velvety peanut butter and raspberry-swirled filling. I took a bite, died and went to heaven, came back to life, then shared a bite with my boyfriend with a little extra crust.

"Terrible," he joked. Nailed it. "You probably shouldn't share this pie with anyone else." Too late—everyone loves it. PB&J fans, what are you waiting for? Get "not" baking!

How To Make Ree Drummond's No-Bake PB&J Pie

Use a food processor to finely grind 40 Ritz crackers and brown sugar for one minute. Add melted butter, and pulse until the mixture looks like sand. Press the cracker crust into a nine-inch pie tin, flattening the base with a measuring cup, and working the crust evenly up the sides. Then, stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

For the filling, beat peanut butter and room temperature cream cheese until incorporated. Then, slowly mix in powdered sugar, using the lowest setting on your mixer, unless you want to create a life-size snow globe. Finally, add the whipped cream topping and beat until creamy and smooth.

To assemble, layer half the peanut butter filling into the crust, dollop in raspberry preserves, and swirl with a knife. Then, repeat with the rest of the filling and preserves. Just pop it in the fridge for about four hours before serving. I also froze mine for 30 minutes before cutting, for clean slices.

Tips for Making This Care-Free Peanut Butter Pie

I love all things peanut butter. Even though I was expecting that cracker crust to be the unexpected star here—and I promise it's worth the extra effort—those tangy jammy layers sent my taste buds into the stratosphere.

Don't have the bandwidth for the cracker crust? A store-bought pie crust brushed with butter and sprinkled with sea salt lends a similar vibe (Just remember to bake it first). And you can use any jam that makes you think of old-school peanut butter and jelly; or create a fluffernutter with marshmallow fluff swapped in for the preserves.

Make Ree's peanut butter pie up to two days ahead, or freeze it for three months. Or, how about you don't overthink it and just serve it as the "kids table" stunner at your next gathering, where even the adults will be feeling warmer and fuzzier than their ugly holiday sweaters.