Slimmed-Down Chocolate Cream Pie

Lainey6605's Note:

This is a lightened version of chocolate cream pie. Recipe is from Woman's Day. Prep time does not include chilling time for finished pie.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

Crust

• 10 whole chocolate graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons light butter, cold
• 1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten

Filling

• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 1/2 cups fat-free half-and-half
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons light butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
• chocolate curls (optional)

Directions:

1. Crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat a 9 inch pie pan or plate with nonstick spray.
3. Process graham crackers in food processor until finely ground.
4. Add butter; pulse until coarse crumbs form.
5. Add egg white, pulse until evenly moistened.
6. Press crumb mixture evenly and firmly over bottom and sides of prepared pan.
7. Bake 8 minutes; cool on wire rack.
8. For filling, in bowl, whisk cocoa powder and cornstarch; whisk in 1 1/2 cups of the half and half.
9. In saucepan, heat remaining 1 cup half and half and the sugar over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
10. Whisk in cocoa mixture and melted chocolate.
11. Cook, stirring, until filling begins to bubble; continue to cook, whisking, until very thick, about 2 minutes longer.
12. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla.
13. Spread filling in crust.
14. Place plastic wrap onto suface of filling; refrigerate at least 4 hours.
15. To serve, remove plastic wrap; spread whipped topping over filling.

Reviews

[Annacia]

I haven't had real pie (with a crust) in years and when I came across this trimmed version of a rich cream pie I just had to try it. It delivers a deep dark chocolate gratification with all of that regret that we get when we really splurge on a full fat and sugar indulgence. Not only is the fat cut way back but I used Splenda for the sugar and it worked perfectly. Some Cool Whip Light and a light sprinkle of chocolate jimmies to top it off were plenty of "extras". I'm feeling very virtuous (and pleased) right now. The recipe is a snap to follow and I even took a short cut but melting the 2 oz's of chocolate in the heating milk in the first step. The crust was ready to pack into the pan in less than a min. Thank you Lainey, thank you! Made for Photo Tag.