Lighter Peanut Butter Pie

Happy pi day all! Okay, so I don't care about math but I do love pie! I remember in High School pi day was exciting because there was always pie involved somehow. I remember sophomore year my math teacher was offering extra credit to the person who memorized the most numbers of pi...now I was (and still am) terrible at math so I was all over this. I memorized 33 numbers and won the extra credit...woot woot!

Now I can only remember 3.1415926535...if that is even right...

I actually made this pie about a week ago. I have declared my love of peanut butter again and again and am a huge fan of peanut butter pie. I wanted to make it as light as possible while retaining the integrity of the flavor...I somehow managed to do it! You really honestly can't tell the difference...this pie tastes sinfully indulgent.

If I had any sense of shame I would keep it a secret that I ate this whole thing myself...yep...no shame.

Lighter Peanut Butter Pie
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon margarine/light butter spread, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Filling:
4 oz neaufchatel cheese
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/2 skim cup milk
8 oz package frozen whipped topping, thawed

Topping:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed pretzels (optional)
1/2 cup crushed peanuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix together chocolate graham cracker crumbs,  butter, yogurt, and brown sugar. Press mixture firmly into a 9 inch pie pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Allow crust to cool.

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Fill the cooled pie crust with the filling.

Melt dark chocolate in microwave 30 seconds-1 minute. Drizzle over top of filled pie with a piping bag or spoon.

Spoon into the 9 inch graham cracker pie shell; cover, and freeze until firm.