Chubby Hubby Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie with a Pretzel Pie Crust

This chubby hubby peanut butter ice cream pie with a pretzel crust is an homage to one of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors, Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby.  It has chocolate and peanut butter melted, drizzled, and mixed with ice cream in a pretzel pie crust and it does not disappoint.  No baking required and it’s the perfect dessert for family gatherings.

Chubby Hubby Ice Cream

When pregnant with my first child, I found myself craving Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream.  What’s not to love?  Chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels in a vanilla malt ice cream with fudge and peanut butter swirls.  Yum!

It’s no longer as easy to find this ice cream, and I think they’ve changed the pretzels to peanut butter covered rather than peanut butter filled because it’s no longer quite as good (or maybe it was the pregnancy hormones?).  It’s still chocolate, peanut butter, and pretzels which are a combo I really love.  However, now I can turn to this peanut butter ice cream pie to enjoy that combo!

Making the Pretzel Pie Crust

For the pretzel pie crust, I used about 4 cups of gluten-free pretzel sticks (you can use regular if you aren’t trying to make a gluten-free dessert).  Place the pretzels in a baggie and smash with a rolling pin until they are all crumbs.  It doesn’t need to be a flour consistency, more like graham cracker crumbs used in a graham cracker crust so having some smaller pretzel chunks is okay.

Once you mix the pretzel crumbs with butter and sugar, place them in the pan–I used an 8-inch springform pan, but a large pie pan would work as well.  Press down firmly on the bottom and sides of the pan with a glass or ramekin.  Pour over some melted peanut butter and chocolate (I used the microwave, a double boiler would work as well) and freeze so the chocolate peanut butter hardens.

Making the Ice Cream Pie Filling

The goal for this Chubby Hubby ice cream pie is a peanut butter and chocolate swirled in the vanilla ice cream.

I left the ice cream on the counter after returning from the grocery store, then scooped out 4 cups and placed in a bowl.  Then moved on to making the crust, occasionally stirring the ice cream to soften it evenly.

After the crust was chilling, I mixed the melted chocolate peanut butter mixture (reserving some for drizzling on the top of the finished pie) into the vanilla ice cream.  Spread the ice cream mixture evenly into the crust and drizzled the top.  Freeze for 2-3 hours or overnight.  Top with whipped cream and peanuts and enjoy!

Gluten-free pretzels and/or your favorite vegan ice cream can easily be substituted to meet your dietary restrictions!