Salted Caramel Peanut Pie

Happy Grab Some Nuts Day!  No, I'm no kidding and I'm not nuts.  Well...um...not completely.  Anyway, yes this is an actual holiday, people.  Nuts are good and healthy and delicious and we're celebrating them.  By now you should know that my fellow food bloggers and I can't resist these wacky holidays and had to come up with nutty recipes to honor the occasion.

When I was thinking of what to contribute to the nut party, I started by having a look in my freezer.  I keep nuts in there, right next to the vodka and the cocktail glasses.  What?  What do other people keep in their freezer?  Seriously, nuts are full of oil that can get rancid so keeping them frozen extends their life.  They're also pricy so look for sales and specials.  You should see the industrial sized bag of walnuts we have in there now.

Tucked behind the walnuts, though, was a sealed container of plain peanuts.  Sometimes it's hard to find the plain ones and especially at a good price so I grabbed them when I found them. Have you ever noticed that when there's a bowl of mixed nuts out at a party, people eat around the peanuts?  I'll be the first to admit that I am a cashew monster and I'll empty those out of the bowl in record time.  But I will also happily eat the peanuts and I usually get most of them to myself.  I love peanuts and they are also the base of one of my favorite foods on earth, peanut butter.

What better way to celebrate the nuts than by making a nut pie.  Peanuts in the crust, peanuts in the filling, peanut butter in the caramel.  I went totally nuts!  OK, I'll stop now.  Go make this because it's ridiculously good and then check out the other nutty offerings from my fellow nuts...er...bloggers.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

Crust:
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/3 Cups peanuts
1 Stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Cup ice water

Filling:
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 Cup peanut butter
Pinch of sea salt
3/4 Cup peanuts

To make the crust, add the flour, peanuts, salt and baking powder to a food processor.  Pulse a couple of times to coarsely chop the nuts.  Add the butter and pulse a few times, just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  With the food processor running, slowly add the water and continue mixing until it forms a dough ball.  Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface.  You can make a 10" circle and drape it into a 9" tart pan or make 8 individual 4" tarts, as I did.  Prick the dough a few times with the tines of a fork and fill each shell with pie weights or dry beans.  Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown.  Remove the pie weights and allow the pie shells to cool completely.

Make the sauce by melting the sugar in a pot over a low to medium flame.  Do not stir.  When the sugar has completely dissolved, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream.  The mixture will bubble up.  Return to a low heat and stir vigorously until all lumps are gone and the sauce is a light golden brown.  Stir in the butter and the peanut butter and sprinkle in a good pinch of salt, to taste.

When the baked pie shells have cooled, add about 2 tablespoons of peanuts into each and fill with about 2 tablespoons of the caramel.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours to set.  Makes 8 servings.


Be sure to visit all the other nutty participants for Grab Some Nuts Day:

• How to Toast your Nuts by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Flourless Peanut Butter Walnut Brownie Cookies by It's Yummi
• Nutty Chocolate Chip Brownies by Roxana's Home Baking
• Salted Caramel Peanut Pie by Hungry Couple
• Pistachio Cream Cheese French Toast by Baking in a Tornado
• Dark Chocolate Chip + Hazelnut Cookies by Spiced
• Peanut Butter Martini Mousse by Cooking in Stilettos
• Classic Peanut Butter Cookies by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cashew and Pistachio Truffles by Culinary Ginger
• Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie by Kelli's Kitchen
• Bourbon Pecan Pie for One by The Spiffy Cookie
• Herb Roasted Cashews by Noshing with the Nolands