Protein Peanut Butter Pie - The Best Healthy Diet Recipe

This protein peanut butter pie is a 5 ingredient no bake dessert that's high protein, low fat and low sugar, and it holds up as well on a Thanksgiving table as it does portioned out in the freezer for random Tuesday cravings.

I had a chocolate peanut butter pie on my recipe list for quite a few months now and even had that pie crust lying in my pantry. Finally decided to give it a try and I don't know why I didn't go for it sooner because it really was very very easy recipe.

I was a little skeptical about it at first because it seemed too minimalistic, but really those extra ingredients are just not needed.

Why is this Reese's Peanut Butter Protein Pie Healthy?

• I made this an extra high protein peanut butter pie recipe with Greek yogurt and cottage cheese (instead of cream cheese) and the recipe totally worked out!
• It's a low fat pie recipe because I got that peanut butter flavor using peanut butter powder and it was perfect.
• And also low sugar because it's sweetened with protein powder instead of sugar.

Ingredients for Protein Peanut Butter Pie Recipe:

This healthy protein peanut butter pie is made with 5 simple ingredients and is really perfect for a quick holiday dessert recipe!

• Chocolate Pie Crust: I used the pre-made one from Keebler, but you can very well make your own or use a different brand.
  • Sub: a low fat Keebler graham cracker crust to drop a bit of fat, though you lose the chocolate.
  • Sub: a homemade crust from sugar-free cookies.
• Low Fat Cottage Cheese to replace the cream cheese that's in a regular pie recipe.
  • Sub: full fat cottage cheese, or reduced fat cream cheese.
  • TIP: skip fat-free cottage cheese unless your yogurt is higher fat. With no fat from either, the pie freezes icy.
• Non-fat Greek Yogurt to make this an extra healthy peanut butter pie with more creaminess
  • Sub: low fat Greek yogurt, or coconut yogurt for dairy-free.
• Vanilla Protein Powder; I recommend Quest Nutrition Vanilla Protein Powder. This is what gives us a low sugar pb pie.
  If your protein powder is not sweet enough, I would recommend adding a bit of stevia.
  • Sub: casein, plant-based protein, or a 50/50 whey-casein blend.
  • Sub: peanut butter flavor protein powder or salted caramel flavored protein for more flavor.
  • NOTE: Using pure whey protein will leave the filling too runny; You might need some pudding mix or xanthan gum to make it thicker.
• Peanut Butter Powder also called powdered peanut butter. This is basically dehydrated and de-fatted peanut butter so you get the peanut butter flavor without all the calories and added fat.
  Using peanut butter powder in this recipe is what makes it a low fat peanut butter pie.
  I recommend PbFit or PB2.
  • Sub: swap in ¼ cup regular peanut butter, but also reduce yogurt to ½ cup. Note that this will also reduce the quantity of the filling.
• Stevia Sweetener in case your protein powder is not sweet enough and you would like a sweeter pie. SweetLeaf is what I keep around.

For the topping: chopped mini Reese's cups, a peanut butter drizzle (American Dream Nut Butter, code HAYLSKITCHEN), and chocolate syrup.

To make PB Protein Pie Vegan:

Here's the subs you need to make this PB protein pie Vegan - Use plant-based protein powder (like this one from KOS), coconut yogurt and a dairy free pie crust too.

How to make Low Sugar Peanut Butter Pie with Protein Powder

To make this a low sugar (actually added sugar free outside of the crust I guess) peanut butter pie recipe, I used protein powder as the sweetener.
There's no baking needed and all you need to do is combine all the ingredients and pour it in a pie crust.

• Blend Cottage Cheese & Yogurt in a high speed blender until completely smooth. There should be no chunks of the cottage cheese curds.
  
• Prep the Filling:
  In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese and yogurt mix with vanilla protein powder and peanut butter powder.
  Mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

• TASTE THE FILLING to make sure its good, and add some stevia sweetener or bit of vanilla extract if needed.
  
• Fill the crust: Pour Filling into the Pie crust and spreading it evenly. Smoothen the top with a spatula.

• Top it: Decorate with Chopped Peanut Butter Cups on top. Feel free to add some Reese's pieces if you would like as well.

• Freeze the Pie - place the healthy peanut butter pie in the Freezer for about 2 hours until well hardened.

• Thaw, Slice and Serve: Allow the pie to though for about 10 minutes or it will be too hard to cut into.
  Slice into 8 pieces and drizzle on some chocolate syrup and peanut butter before serving.

Storage

This homemade diet peanut butter pie is prepared in the freezer so it also needs to be stored frozen. Here are some tips you can follow to make it easier to handle.

• (After frozen once to make) Slice the healthier pb pie into individual servings before freezing.
• Use airtight containers so that the pie does not pick up any odors from other foods.
• Place pie slices a little apart so they are easy to remove from the container.
• Consume within 3 months.
• Thaw frozen diet peanut butter pie for about 10 minutes before eating or the pie will be too hard.

Variations:

You can easily customize this recipe to make a healthier peanut butter pie that fits your dietary preferences. I recommend the ingredients and brands I used, but there are other alternatives that you can try. 

• Chocolate peanut butter: swap vanilla for chocolate protein powder!
• Salted caramel: salted caramel protein powder in place of vanilla, with flaky salt over the top.
• Banana peanut butter: blend half a banana into the base for an Elvis situation.
• Crustless portions: divide the filling into ramekins or jars, freeze, and top with crushed graham crackers before eating.
• Thanksgiving spread version: make it in a springform pan and cut smaller slices so it sits alongside the other pies without competing for stomach space.

More Protein Pie Protein Dessert Ideas:

• Protein Pumpkin Pie
• Single Serve Protein Pumpkin Pie
• Mini Chocolate Protein Pudding Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie