Frozen Peanut Butter Cup Pie

It's in the low 70's outside right now, and the weather forecast for tomorrow tells me it's going to be 85 degrees.

So I think it's safe to say, summer is on it's way!

(So is global warming perhaps, because I don't know that I've ever seen such a warm winter in New Jersey?)

I love summer but the older I get, the more I hate being hot.

I hate being cold too - but at least you can put on sweatshirts and blankets.  There's no escaping oppressive heat.

Mr. Vittles and I have not lived in a house with good air conditioning probably since we both lived at our parents' house.  My first apartment after college (which was really more of a shed?) had one only window unit that I could barely afford to run anyway.  So my house was consistently in the upper 50s in winter and the 80s in summer.  Fun times.

Then our last apartment had central air... but little to no insulation.  So it really never got below the mid-70's at best.

In our place now, we have window units, but it's a large house and we were too cheap to buy a bunch of them - so we only had one for each floor of the house.

Sweat city.

Our new house that we're buying also does not have central air.  I think we're going to look into installing it, but we're not sure yet if that's going to be possible.

I sometimes wonder though how people lived before air conditioning.  Especially in warm climates.  I mean, even in the northeast we still get heat waves where the temperatures reach the upper 90s and lower 100s.

I guess you just get used to it?

Not me though.  Mr. Vittles always teases me that I have a very small window of comfortable temperatures. I think it's between 70 and 73, actually.  If our house is 65 degrees (which it usually is in the winter) then I'm freezing.  If it's 76 degrees in summer, I'm sweating.

Ridiculous, I know.

But there's nothing worse than having to turn on your oven when it's hot out.

So... with the prospect of summer brings the need for no-bake treats!

I saw a recipe on Confessions of A Cookbook Queen for Frozen Peanut Butter Butterfinger Pie and knew I had to save it for summer.

And... also make it immediately.

Just to, ummm, make sure it's good and all.

(Are you buying that excuse?)

In any event, I also knew that Mr. Vittles is not much of a fan of Butterfinger bars, so I figured peanut butter cups were a safer bet.  I also figured I'd throw some hot fudge in the mix for good measure.

This pie may give you cavities, but it will also make you (and your hot kitchen) very happy.  I promise.

Frozen Peanut Butter Cup Pie

• One chocolate or Oreo Pre-made Pie Crust (6 oz.)
• 8 oz block cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 reduced fat from Philly)
• 3/4 C. sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 8 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed (I used a light version)
• 7 “snack size” Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
• 1/2 C. hot fudge topping (I used Hershey's Extra Dark)
• Chocolate syrup, for decorative drizzling (optional)

In the bowl of a mixer, combine cream cheese, condensed milk, peanut butter, and powdered sugar.  Beat on medium speed until smooth and completely combined.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the Cool Whip until combined.  Add chopped candy.

Pour hot fudge topping into bottom of crust (heat the fudge in microwave first if cold or too stiff).  Spread fudge evenly to cover bottom.

Pour peanut butter mixture into pie crust.  Drizzle top with chocolate syrup, if desired.  Cover and freeze until firm.

Adapted from Confessions of A Cookbook Queen