Mad About Mini’s: Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Peanut Butter Pie

My husband is mad about peanut butter. It seems that he puts everything in peanut butter. The most indulging one lately was putting peanut butter on a chocolate chip cookie. Really? Like, aren’t you watching your sugar intake?

He found this recipe in the newspaper and enthusiastically said that I should make it (since I am the baker). However, I know he (actually we) should not indulge too much on dessert so I decided to make a single-serve version.

As always, proportions are always challenging in making it single-serve, particularly if the recipe looks like a combination of volume (cups) and weight (ounces). I just decided to treat the 8 ounces of cream cheese to be approximately one cup.

For the peanut butter, I used regular store-bought peanut butter the first time and needed to add sugar. However, since I started buying freshly ground honey-roasted peanut butter from Whole Foods and loved it. I did not even need to add sugar. Otherwise, it is turns out too sweet.

Challenge really was the chocolate cookie crumb pie crust. The recipe called for a ready-made chocolate cookie pie-crust. Aargh, no proportions! I just winged it and used two Oreo cookies. In my first attempts, I tried pre –baking it, putting a bit of butter, but the best one was just crushing it and placing it firmly at the bottom.

Mad Gourmet’s Mini Peanut Butter Pie

Based on Peanut Butter Pie from the Contra Costa Times

Note: I did not find the original source in my clipping. Apologies for not referencing the original baker.

Ingredients

Crust

• Two Oreo Cookies, crumbled

Filling

• 4 tsp of cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)
• 2 tsp of white sugar
• 5 tsp of peanut butter
• 2 tsp of almond milk
• 2 tsp of whipped cream
• Couple of drops of vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

1. Crumble the cookies and firmly press the crumb mixture into the ramekin. Set aside.
2. Put cream cheese, sugar (if using), peanut butter, and almond milk in a small bowl.
3. Microwave for 30 seconds. Mix well.
4. Fold in whipped cream and vanilla extract.
5. Pour on top of crust.
6. Cool until firm (about an hour) before serving.

Verdict

My husband loves this dessert, almost as much as the Mini Key Lime Pie. This is the one dessert that I made “off-theme” this Thanksgiving, because I know he likes it so much.

I have also used mini Oreos for the crust. The advantage of doing that is one can top the pie with a cookie for a better presentation.

I guess you can serve it without the chocolate crust, but the combination of chocolate and peanut butter is just irresistible. You got to do it.

I guess it is much like eating peanut butter with chocolate chip cookies.

Mad About Minis: Mad Gourmet's Single-serve "Key" Lime Pie

Blogger’s Note: I wanted to publish this last week, but I was not happy with the consistency of that recipe, so I am giving it another try. Unfortunately, my work schedule has been really hectic (aaaargh!)… but I finally had a chance for a redo.

Thank God for weekends! So, here goes…

It’s summer now so I am trying to avoid using my oven. We have a pretty cozy (read: small) place, so turning the oven on really warms the house up. I still would love to make desserts so I am constantly looking for inspiration for no- (or very little-) bake desserts.

So, I started thinking…My husband’s favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie. He fell in love with it after spending a weekend in the Florida Keys, and loved it since. I thought that would be a great dessert for the summer, maybe a mini and a healthier version... since we’ve been watching our figures.

Although I have only had it a few times, I have a good idea of what it should taste like and the consistency, but I needed a recipe to start with.

For the filling, I researched a couple of options, including how to make the full-versioned one. I found out that traditionally, key lime pie uses condensed milk (Really?). However, I really did not want to use condensed milk since my husband cannot tolerate milk, and it is so sweet. Through my search, I found this “Healthy Single-serve Key Lime Pie Yogurt” recipe in Food.com. I think this would work since my husband can surprisingly tolerate yogurt, and it contains those probiotics, right? 

I also wanted to use real key limes. I occasionally see it in our grocery store, but no luck this time. I just used regular limes and this worked just fine.

However, it did not have a crust, so I had to figure something out. I simply used the crust from my single-serve cheesecake. I mean… why complicate it, right? There are plenty of opportunities for complication.

For a finished look, I followed the suggestion from the recipe and added food coloring as well. I initially used just the green, but it looked too green. So, I’ve been combining the yellow and the blue (maybe more yellow) to get the green that I wanted.

Here’s the final result of my experiments… Give it a try and let me know what you think.

  

Mad Gourmet’s “Key” Lime Yogurt Pie

Based on the Healthy Single-serve Key Lime Pie Yogurt recipe from Food.com and inspired by a couple of others

Ingredients

Stuff at the bottom (Crust)

• 4 crumbled vanilla wafers
• 1 1/2 tsp of butter (or coconut oil), melted
• 1/2 tsp of brown sugar
• Pinch of salt

Stuff that goes in the pie (Filling)

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt (preferably not Greek yogurt and low-fat)
• 1 1/2 tsp lime juice (about half a medium-size lime)
• Drop or two of vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 tsp sugar
• Food coloring (2 drops yellow, 1 part blue - optional)

Directions

Making the crust

1. Crumble the wafers (I just use a ziploc bag to crumble to save on washing).
2. Combine with butter, the remaining sugar, and salt (I even mix this in the bag). 
3. Firmly press the crumb mixture into the ramekin.
4. Bake for about 1 min to set the crust. Let cool.

Making the filling

1. Mix all the ingredients together well.
2. If using food coloring, add it add this point.
3. Pour on top of the crust.
4. Chill for at least an hour. Serve with whipped cream or coconut chips.

Verdict

My husband loves this recipe. He said it is pretty close to key lime pie and is quite delicious.

The recipe calls for "regular" yogurt, not Greek. If you only have Greek Yogurt, it will result in a denser pie and you’ll need to use double the sugar. The texture is actually closer to a cheesecake. It is still delicious though.

Reminds me of a (revised) line from a movie: "There are two types of yogurt in the world: the Greeks and everyone who wish that they was Greek." 

Hmmm… that cheesecake consistency...Gives me an idea. Uh oh.