Name: No-Bake Nutty Buddy Pie
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 24 ounces Nutty Buddy bars (2 boxes); 1/2 cup butter (melted); 16 ounces cream cheese (softened); 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 cups milk; 1 cup heavy cream; 2 cups peanut butter; 4 ounces instant vanilla pudding; 1 cup whipped cream; 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

A rich cream cheese and peanut butter pudding filling surrounded by Nutty Buddy Bars makes this pie special and delicious!

Overhead view of Nutty Buddy Bars surrounding a rich peanut butter cream pie on a red and white napkin

Nutty Buddy Pie Recipe

Sweet and creamy with a nice chocolate peanut butter crunch from the Nutty Buddy Bars this no-bake pie is very attractive!

We love that this recipe is so easy to make! My husband is not an avid cook and he easily put this pie together in about 20 minutes.

Trending on TikTok as a fun Nutty Buddy dessert recipe the presentation really catches your eye! The filling reminds me of our Peanut Butter Pie. It looks fancy like our Cream Puff Cake but is super easy to assemble!

The first time we made this was for my father-in-laws birthday party to serve with the famous Chocolate Box Cake.

Box of Nutty Buddy bars next to a pie made from them and filled with a pudding and cream cheese mixture

Also trending on social media our Chicken Cobbler with Red Lobster Biscuit Mix and Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream are seriously delicious!

Why This Recipe Works:

This pie looks really cool and will impress guests at the party
Making a Nutty Buddy dessert is unique and lets people reminisce about having the bars as a kid
Fun for kids to make for a birthday party for a peanut butter lover
Easy to customize with holiday specific garnish on top to help fit the occasion
Part cheesecake, part cake, but mostly pie, whatever you call it this dessert it’s delicious

Nutty Buddy bars cut in half to form the crust of this no-bake pie with more crumbles and whipped cream stars on top

List of Ingredients

Nutty Buddy Bars – 2 full boxes work out perfectly for this recipe, I like to buy 3 boxes just to have a little extra for snacking and garnishing the top
Butter – helps hold the crushed Nutty Buddy bars together to create the bottom crust
Cream cheese – adds a richness that makes the pudding pie richer, almost like a cheesecake
Sugar – sweetens all the filling
Milk – gives the pudding consistency to the filling
Heavy Whipping Cream – also helps with the pudding consistency but with a little more richness
Peanut Butter – the main flavor of the center filling
Instant Vanilla Pudding – adds a little more sweetness and a light vanilla flavor
Vanilla – helps enhance all of the other flavors
Whipped Cream – a can of squirty whipped cream is great for making star shaped garnishes around the edge of the pie
Chocolate Syrup – drizzle across the top of the pie or across each piece

Ingredients to make pie are boxes of Nutty Buddy bars, peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, heavy whipping cream, milk, chocolate syrup, vanilla pudding, butter and vanilla on a white countertop

Step By Step Instructions

Use a large gallon sized self sealing bag and crush 5 packages of Nutty Buddy Bars.

We use a rolling pin to help break into small pieces.

Rolling pin smashing Nutty Buddy bars in a large bag to make a dessert

Melt butter and stir into crumbs in a mixing bowl.

Press crust in the bottom of a 9 1/2 inch spring form pan.

Precisely cut Nutty Buddy Bars in half.

Half Nutty Buddy bars being pressed into a Nutty Buddy crust to line a 9 1/2" spring form pan

Place the cut side down and top of the bars towards the outer edge of the pan. Press gently into the moist crust.

In a large mixing bowl beat softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.

Mixer beaters sitting atop a white mixing bowl with beaten cream cheese and sugar

Add in peanut butter, milk, and heavy cream. Mix well.

Pour in packet of instant pudding and mix again.

Instant vanilla pudding mix poured into liquid mixture of milk, heavy cream, peanut butter and cream cheese

Carefully pour filling into Nutty Buddy lined pan. Try to avoid getting filling on top of the bars.

Nutty Buddy dessert setting up in a spring form pan on a white counter top

Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours until set.

Drizzle chocolate syrup and chopped bars or peanut butter chocolate candy like Reese’s Cups on top.

Garnish with whipped cream and remove outer ring of pan just before serving.

Piece of Nutty Buddy pie on a white plate with a fork with the pie in the background surround by columns of Nutty Buddys on a red napkin

Storage & Transporting Tips

Store covered with foil in the refrigerator. Keep chilled as long as possible before serving as the cake will soften and slide side ways while being cut.

Pie will last 1 – 2 days in the refrigerator as the filling soaks into and softens the Nutty Buddy bars over time.

Wait to apply whipped cream until ready to serve.

Do not remove the outside of the springform pan until ready to serve to protect the pie while transporting and storing.

Piece of out nutty buddy cheesecake with whipped cream atop the Nutty Buddy bars and decorated with a chocolate syrup drizzle

Recipe Tips & Tricks

Quantities of ingredients are calculated to fit perfectly in a 9″ or 9 1/2″ springform pan
For best results make pie the same day you serve it as the bars get soggy over time
Some people don’t notice the bottom crust and miss scooping it out – offer assistance as needed

Do I Have To Use A Springform Pan?

A springform pan gives this recipe the striking look, but is not required.

The crust can be spread in a 9 x 13″ or slightly smaller pan. If using a smaller pan then the bars will need to be cut to different lengths to form the outer ring. You may also need a different amount

Thick slice of peanut butter pudding pie with a Nutty Buddy crust and bars across the back of the pie

Do the Generic Nutty Buddy Bars Work?

Word on the street is that the generic ones from Aldi don’t taste quite as good as the name brand Little Debbie ones. But you can evaluate them by buying a box of each and doing some taste testing.

More Easy No-Bake Dessert Recipes

Peanut Butter Balls have Rice Krispie cereal and are coated in chocolate to make Christmas dessert trays even more magical!

Black Forest Pie has an Oreo crust, chocolate pudding layer, Cool Whip and is topped with cherry pie filling for layers of flavor.

Pineapple Pretzel Salad is another simple yet sophisticated dessert that we enjoy sharing.

Our Big Batch of Dirt Cake is super popular for big parties.

Categories:

Desserts, No-Bake, Pie, Recipes,

6 Comments

Loopy says:

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I used already made putting instead of a box of instant putting did I miss up my cheesecake

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1. Jennifer @ Plowing Through Life says:
  
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  Hey There! I haven’t tested this recipe with premade pudding, please let me know how it turns out if you give it a try. Hope you enjoy!
Lexi says:

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Made this and the crust was way too hard couldn’t even cut it…maybe it needs to sit out for a few minutes after refridgerating…idk

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Ann says:

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I’m thinking about making this but I don’t use pudding mixes because they all contain yellow dye. Does anyone know of a substitute?

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1. Clint L says:
  
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  Make the pudding from scratch. The heavy cream would be left out as the pudding made from scratch would be using it, right? Essentially, this filling is a peanut butter vanilla pudding thickened with cream cheese. Should be a no-brainer. In fact, I will make it that way myself for a customer this weekend so that I have all fresh ingredients.
Clint L says:

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This is a pretty easy recipe, I guess. My only complaint was in not following the directions on the filling, so it took quite awhile to get everything amalgamated and smooth as my cream cheese was still a wee bit stiff. Some pointers: (1) one big box of 24 Nutty Buddies does the job in a 9″ springform pan; and (2) the filling is a bit too much – I had enough to almost do two 9″ pies; and (3) the 1/2 cup of butter may be a bit much as my crust was less of a crust and more of a slurry; and (4) definitely use the rolling pin – I used my Ninja and it wasn’t optimal at all. Next time I will make the pudding from scratch (I was short on time, for this one and wanted to honor the original recipe to see what I got), thus reducing the milk somewhat, allow the cream cheese to get to full room temp and quite soft so it is easily incorporated without lumps, and put the Nutty Buddies in the frig before using them in this recipe so they do not get soft or have chocolate runs. Well done overall.

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