Cookerati

I created this low fat chocolate peanut butter pie recipe because my family loves the full fat version, but I’m inclined to cheat after I make it.  I decided to make a less fattening pie for regular weekend family dinners, while bringing out the full monty on holidays.

A couple of small notes. If you truly want this to be a low fat dish, you can make your own graham cracker crust substituting margerine or Brumble and Brown for butter. You can also substitute Splenda for sugar. Graham cracker crust recipes abound on the web and finding one will be no problem. You can also buy a prepared crust, but I have yet to find one that’s low fat.

I use reduced fat peanut butter on this page because that’s easiest for most people. You can also use PB2 which will greatly cut down on the fat in this recipe. I love PB2 for baking because it still gives food that peanut butter flavor but is a lot lower in fat and calories than reduced fat peanut butter.

One final note – The original recipe calls for keeping the pie in the fridge, but I find it gets too mushy that way. I like to keep in the freezer and remove 30 to 60 minutes before serving. It’s too mushy and messy otherwise.

I’ll stop talking now.

Low Fat Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1 cup reduced fat peanut butter
• 8 ounces fat free cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 4 1/2 cups fat free non-dairy whipped topping – which will be divided
• Fat free hot fudge sundae topping or chocolate syrup

The Nitty Gritty

1. In a medium sized bowl beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and Splenda until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in 3 cups of the whipped topping. Pour into the graham cracker crust using a spatula to even out.

2. Place pie in freezer for an hour or so to harden.

3. If using hot fudge sauce, soften in the microwave, or squeeze out chocolate syrup and use a spatula to spread over the  top of the pie.

4. Place pie in freezer until 30 to 60 minutes before serving.

5. Just before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping over the pie. Drizzle with softened peanut butter and hot fudge sauce or syrup.

Image via Kevandem’s Flickr Photostream (because my own pie didn’t look so pretty.)