My family lived in New Mexico and my mom would take me to half-day Kindergarten in the morning, pick me up around noon and promptly make me a diagonal-cut PB&J once we got home. I would eat my sandwich hovering over a towel “place mat” on the floor in front of the television, eyes glued on “Woody the Woodpecker,” slurping down milk between oversized bites. Life was good back then. Mom planned everything, fed me when I was hungry, made my bed. Activities included cartoons, Nintendo and riding bikes. But life wasn’t “rich” then like it is now, filled with so many amazing people and experiences, which is why I’m OK accepting adulthood with open arms. Maybe eating a PB&J today as an “adult” is some silly attempt to hang onto the simplicity of my childhood – a time when life seemed easy and Nintendo was king. I think life can still be simple now, we just have to be intentional about it. And it doesn’t hurt to eat a PB&J (pie) once in a while just to keep things in perspective; to stay humble. Somehow the combination of peanut butter and jelly does that for me. It takes me right back to 5-year-old Dana, even if just for a lunch hour. When setting out to make this recipe, I actually wanted to make a “PB&J Dip,” which you could still totally do if you wanted to go crustless. But the minute I saw the way coconut whipped cream reacted to date “caramel,” I knew a pie was in order. You guys? This filling? It’s amazing. Coconut whipped cream is already delicious on its own. But when you (naturally) sweeten it with date paste and throw in some peanut butter, things get CRAY. It becomes the thickest, fluffiest most ridiculous pie filling you ever laid eyes on. Don’t you worry. I have other ideas for this combo up my sleeve. And I LOVE that it’s entirely refined sugar-, dairy- and gluten-free! Amazing stuff going on over here. So the pie. Assembly goes as following:

  1. Bake 2-ingredient crust (the only baking involved)2. Make strawberry compote and cool.3. Whip coconut cream.4. Add peanut butter and date paste.5. Whip once more.6. Add pie filling to crust and top with cooled compote.7. Chill. Eat. Start living your life. Capiche? Capiche. Let the party begin. This pie is ridiculous. Hands down one of my favorite recipes to date. It’s FluffyThickPeanut butteryPerfectly sweetJammyFruitySurprisingly lightNaturally sweetenedLoaded with flavorSealed with a graham cracker crustSatisfyingShareablePortable& EASY Is there anything NOT to love about this pie? I think not. Plus, it can be even further simplified by omitting the crust and making it a dip instead. Serving bowl, fluffy peanut butter layer, strawberry jam, served with graham crackers, cookies and fruit. Hello, dip genie who suddenly has 15 friends lined up at your door for seconds. More like hello poopularity. Yes, ‘poopularity.’ You guys MUST make this pie. You will flip over how good it is. And if you do, share it with the world by tagging @minimalistbaker on Instagram. I’d love to see you relive the PB&J of your youth in pie form. Chee-ers!

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