Name: Reduced-Fat Icebox Key Lime Pie
Total time: 4 h
Ingredients: 8 low-fat graham crackers, broken into rough pieces; 1 tablespoon sugar; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 4 ounces (113 grams) Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese, softened; 1 tablespoon grated lime zest plus 3/4 cup juice (6 limes); 1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin; 1 (14 ounces/397 grams) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk; 1/2 cup 0 percent plain Greek yogurt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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.

Before You Begin

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

Instructions

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.

make filling

Combine 3 tablespoons 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 remaining 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.

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.