Key Lime Pie - Reduced-Fat Icebox

By mariannefeldman

Reduced-Fat Icebox Key Lime Pie
From Cook's Country
August/September 2010
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We combined neufchatel cheese (a type of cream cheese with one-third less fat) with fat-free Greek yogurt for a creamy Reduced-Fat Icebox Key Lime Pie. The tanginess from the yogurt also enhanced the lime flavor, letting us cut back on the number of limes. Tasters found that fat-free sweetened condensed milk was almost indistinguishable from its full-fat counterpart. To further cut calories, we eliminated half the sugar in the crust before any of our tasters complained about a lack of sweetness. We reduced the amount of butter in the crust by mixing it with some of the neufchatel. This combination held the crust together without making it gummy.

Traditional recipes have 445 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 14 grams of saturated fat per slice. Our changes brought the numbers down to 307 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 5 grams of saturated fat.

Serves 8
Total time:

Greek yogurt gives our pie a creamy texture; don’t substitute for it.

Ingredients

• INGREDIENTS
• 8 graham crackers, low fat, broken into rough pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 4 ounces Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup juice and 1 tablespoon grated zest from 6 limes
• 1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, fat-free
• 1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt (see note)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

INSTRUCTIONS
1. MAKE CRUST Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Process graham crackers and sugar in food processor to fine crumbs. Add butter and 2 tablespoons cream cheese and pulse until combined. Press crumbs into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate. Bake until lightly browned and set, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool completely.

2. MAKE FILLING Combine 3 table- spoons lime juice and gelatin in small bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Wipe out food processor and process condensed milk, yogurt, and remain- ing cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute. With machine running, pour in gelatin mixture, remaining lime juice, zest, and vanilla and process until thoroughly combined.

3. CHILL PIE Scrape mixture into cooled pie shell and smooth top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days. Serve.

KEY INGREDIENTS: FIT AND FLAVORFUL
Cream cheese gives many icebox pies tang and velvety texture, but not without loads of calories and fat. Here's how we cut back.


1/3 LESS FAT Neufchatel cream cheese adds structure.