Chocolate Pudding Pie with Pretzel Crust and Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, stir together crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and butter and press into an 8 1/2 inch pie plate, using a fork to flatten and press crust into and up the sides of the plate. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
2. To make whipped cream, place cream, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract into the bowl of a stand mixer (you can also use a hand mixer with whip attached). With a whip attachment, beat mixture just until soft peaks form. The peaks should be soft enough to droop if you hold up the beater, but shouldn’t stand up straight.
3. Once crust has cooled for at least 10 minutes, pour pudding into crust and top with whipped cream and chopped chocolate, if desired.

Note: 1 ½ cups crushed pretzels was about 3 ½ cups mini pretzels, or about 4 ounces. This can be made with either gluten-free pretzels or regular pretzels.