Sky-Is-The-Limit Pudding Pie
Prepare yourself for one of the most adaptable pies you’ve ever seen. This sky-is-the-limit pudding pie is the answer for picky pie eaters!
Prepare yourself to meet one of the most delicious and adaptable pies you’ve ever seen.
Let’s walk through this together.
1) Choose a crust. It can be a pre-baked pie crust, a graham cracker crust, Oreo crust, shortbread crust…the options are endless, my friends.
2) Choose a pudding flavor. You can use a large box of cook-and-serve pudding (shhh, I won’t tell!) or 3 cups of a homemade recipe. You can opt for chocolate, vanilla. Butterscotch? Perhaps you want to live on the wild side and go for pistachio.
3) Choose your add-ins. Peanut butter. Raspberry jam. Marshmallow creme. Let your imagination go wild with the flavor combinations.
4) Choose your topping. Whipped cream is not optional, but what goes on beyond that is up to you. Crushed candy bars, finely chopped chocolate, fresh berries. Impress your tastebuds!
This pie is more a method than anything, but when my Aunt Marilyn emailed me saying she and her friend Debbie had made it three days in a row, I knew it had to be documented.
I am currently in love with the vanilla pudding/peanut butter/whipped cream/crushed butterfinger variety.
Don’t forget to let me know what pudding pie combo your mad cooking skills come up with!
One Year Ago: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Sweet and Spicy Slow Cooker Chicken
Sky-Is-The-Limit Pudding Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ½ cups (150 g) graham cracker crumbs, about 11 long rectangle crackers crushed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, melted
Pudding Layer:
- 1 (4.6-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding or about 3 cups, homemade vanilla pudding (see note)
- ⅓ to ½ cup (85 to 128 g) creamy or crunch peanut butter
Topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ cup crushed Butterfinger Bars
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar and mix. Stir in the butter until well combined. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until the pudding layer is ready.
- Follow the package or recipe directions for your pudding of choice. When the pudding is thickened and starting to boil (at the point that you would normally take it off the stove) stir in the peanut butter until it melts. Pour the pudding into the pie crust. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap pressed directly to the surface and refrigerate until the pie is well-chilled, 2 hours or up to 12 hours.
- In a small bowl, whip the cream and powdered sugar to soft peaks. Spread the whipped cream over the pie and top with the crushed candy bars. Chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted and expounded upon from my Aunt Marilyn and her friend, Debbie
Recipe Source: I’ve been making both of the pudding recipes for years based on recipes in my ancient recipe binders.
I used Nilla Wafers inatead of graham crackers for the crust. Then I used vanilla cook n serve pudding and 1/2 cup mashed bananas. Topped with cool whip and a caramel drizzle. So easy, sooooo tasty! Thank you so much for sharing!
Super easy! I needed a pie for Pi day and this fit the bill! I made a really easy shortbread crust (Thanks for the idea Mel, I never would have thought of that!) and did the peanut butter one. I used an instant vanila pudding mix and just melted my peanut butter then whisked together. Turned out super yummy! Topped with whipped cream and mini choc. chips!
K I made this Sunday with a few changes. First, I had a box of chocolate cheerios no one was loving, so I used those to make a crust. Then, I didn’t have any cook and serve puddings, or enough half and half to do homemade, so I used an instant pudding and followed the directions for pie. Since it doesn’t get heated, I melted peanut butter in the microwave. It wasn’t perfectly smooth in the pudding but we kinda liked the spots of peanut butter. Finally, I used cool whip and reeses broken on top. It was delicious! Thanks for an awesome, adaptable recipe! I’m making a crockpot chicken masala recipe now so we’ll see how it goes
Hi Mel. I made the chocolate pudding as directed but it never set. I was thinking it needed to be cooked more after adding the eggs but decided to follow the recipe. The next day I cooked it a bit more and then it set up like pudding. Just wanted to point this out because the second time cooking appears in the vanilla version but not the chocolate so I think maybe you forgot to completely type it all out?
I wanted to say thank you for all the great recipes you post! I am sure it takes a lot of time but we all appreciate it so much – especially our happy, well-fed husbands!
Dan’s Wifey – oh, that is odd! I’ll take a look at the recipe and check it out. Thanks for the heads up.
Melanie – This is Marilyn’s friend, Debbie…I need to give credit where credit is due. My mother in law, Yvonne Roderick, made up a simplified version of this pie up one day when my husband happened to be visiting. It was so yummy that Marilyn and I started experimenting with it but she was the inspiration!
Debbie
fab. u. lous. i pick…graham cracker crust laced with coconut, butterscotch pie filling, marshmallow creme, and crushed heath bars on top. too much? NEVER! 🙂
Definitely a keeper recipe/method! Thanks for sharing.
~ingrid
Thanks so much for your insight! I look forward to giving this peppermint fun a whirl!
If you are using cook and serve pudding, do you follow the directions for making pudding or making a pie? Usually there is a difference in how much milk you add.
Melanie – I’ve only ever noticed separate directions on the pudding boxes that are not cook-and-serve, but then again, it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve used a boxed pudding. If there are separate directions, err on the side of caution and use the directions for the pie. Hope that helps!
What a great idea! Next time I don’t know what pie to bring, I’m turning to this recipe!!
great great tips! i love it!
Oh yumm! Thanks for the idea(: I knew that I had to make some kind of pie for thanksgiving but i didn’t really know what kind. Love the blog!
So I’ve been craving an oreo crust with peppermint…but am a little wary… Would you risk adding peppermint extract to vanilla pudding or just playing it safe by crushing peppermint as the candy add-in?
Angela – a really simple way to add peppermint would be to use mint-filled oreos. If you don’t want to do that, I think you could do either of your options. I’d play it safe with the mint extract…if you add it to the vanilla or chocolate pudding, I’d only add 1/4 teaspoon at a time and then taste to see how minty it is. Crushed peppermint as a garnish would be lovely, too!
Yummmm!!!! I love this!! 🙂
Mel, Have you ever tried working with sugar free recipes? I am experimenting more and more with Stevia and Erythritol. For example I made sugar free whip cream, and it was so yummy!
How fun. Pudding pies are always wonderful.
I love pudding pies. My mom used to make a butterscotch pudding pie every year for Thanksgiving. She doesn’t any more unfortunately, but maybe I’ll have to carry on the tradition!
Oh wow–I could have so much fun with this recipe. I think I’d add in pumpkin, with cranberries sprinkled on top!!! 🙂
Yeah, maybe it’s adaptable, but if I’m making peanut butter pie, I just may make that over and over again. It looks and sounds delicious!
This is great, and thanks for the attached pudding recipes.
YUM! This will be a huge hit on my Thanksgiving table. I love your peanut butter/butterfinger combination, Melanie! I can’t wait to see what other fabulous desserts you post this week!
I love pudding pies. They are actually my favorite. So delicious.