This keto peanut butter pie recipe offers a delightful combination of flavors and textures, making it a perfect dessert for those following a low-carb, keto, diabetic, gluten-free, grain-free, or Banting diet. It boasts a chocolate cookie crust, a creamy peanut butter filling, and a rich fudge topping, ensuring a satisfying treat without the sugar crash.
Introduction
For those who adore the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, this keto-friendly peanut butter pie is a dream come true. Imagine a giant peanut butter cup, but with an even more decadent filling. This pie features a heavenly creamy peanut butter filling over a chocolatey crust, topped with a rich chocolate ganache. This delicious low-carb dessert is perfect for special occasions or even a tasty weeknight treat. Its convenience lies in its ability to be stored in the fridge for a super-fast treat.
Inspiration Behind the Recipe
This keto-friendly peanut butter pie has become a staple dessert in many households. The recipe was first discovered in a special edition of Bon Appetit from 1992 called Favorite Restaurant Recipes. The family quickly embraced it, making it every year for birthdays and other special occasions.
Over the years, the recipe has been tweaked to make it low-carb while maintaining its satisfying taste. The key changes included switching to a sugar-free sweetener and adjusting the process to ensure the sweetener dissolved fully. This involved blending the sweetener in a food processor to achieve a powdered sugar-like consistency and combining it with cream before adding other ingredients. This prevents the undesirable crunchy texture often associated with undissolved low-carb sweeteners.
Another significant adjustment was refining the ganache-making process. Instead of adding chocolate to the ganache while over heat, the recipe now involves pouring heated cream over the chocolate, allowing it to melt into a smooth, glossy finish.
Read also: Easy Chocolate Mousse
Is Peanut Butter Keto-Friendly?
Peanut butter's place in the keto community is often debated. While some argue it contains too many carbs, others appreciate its protein content and satiating properties. Consuming peanut butter in moderation is key, especially if you’re not on an extremely low-carb diet.
The average store-bought peanut butter contains approximately 2 net carbs per tablespoon. To ensure peanut butter fits into a low-carb lifestyle, choose varieties without added sugars. Keto-friendly peanut butters are also available, offering even more flexibility.
How to Fix Broken Ganache
Even with the most fail-proof techniques, ganache can sometimes be finicky. Ideally, ganache should be smooth and glossy when warm. Broken ganache, on the other hand, appears crumbly with excess oil separating from the chocolate mixture.
The solution? Don't panic! Broken ganache is often salvageable. Over low heat, add a small amount of room-temperature cream or milk. Then, using a hand blender or rapid whisking, blend or whisk until the ganache reverts to its desired consistency. Multiple cream additions might be necessary, but this trick can save a ganache catastrophe.
Recipe: Low-Carb Peanut Butter Pie
This recipe combines a chocolate cookie crust with a rich peanut butter filling and a decadent chocolate ganache topping.
Read also: Best Keto Peanut Butter Brands
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
- 3/4 cup super fine almond flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated stevia/erythritol blend (such as Pyure)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into large chunks
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup granulated stevia/erythritol blend (such as Pyure) or 1 cup powdered Swerve
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (sugar-free and the kind that doesn't separate)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
For the Topping:
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions:
Making the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit (190°C). Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, combine almond flour, granulated stevia/erythritol blend, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Pulse to blend.
- Add vanilla extract and chilled butter chunks to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture forms a dough.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared springform pan. Use a buttered spoon or your fingers to spread the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan.
- Poke holes in the crust with a fork to allow air to escape during baking.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until set. The top should not spring back when touched.
- Cool the crust completely in the pan.
Preparing the Filling:
- If using granulated stevia/erythritol blend (such as Pyure) rather than powdered Swerve: Place the granulated sweetener in a clean, dry food processor. Cover with a dish towel to prevent powder from escaping. Process until the sweetener has a powdery consistency, similar to powdered sugar. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture to lighten it.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and the vanilla extract to the sweetener. Blend together with a hand mixer.
- Add the cream cheese and peanut butter. Mix on low speed until blended, then beat the mixture on high speed until fluffy.
- Gently fold the remaining 2/3rds of the heavy cream into the peanut butter mixture.
- Transfer the filling to the springform pan and spread evenly over the cooled crust.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before adding the topping.
Creating the Topping:
- Transfer the chopped chocolate to a medium bowl.
- In a small, heavy saucepan, heat heavy whipping cream until it barely simmers.
- Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate and let it rest for one minute.
- Stir the heavy cream and chocolate together until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.
- Let the ganache cool to lukewarm before pouring it over the pie.
- Pour the lukewarm ganache over the peanut butter filling, spreading it evenly.
- Refrigerate the pie for at least another hour to allow the ganache to set.
Optional Dairy-Free/Vegan Version:
This recipe can also be adapted to be dairy-free and vegan.
- Crust: Use melted coconut oil instead of butter.
- Filling: Substitute vegan cream cheese alternative (such as Violife or Kite Hill) for cream cheese. Use coconut cream instead of heavy whipping cream, thinning it with a touch of coconut milk if needed.
- Topping: Create a dairy-free chocolate ganache with coconut cream instead of heavy whipping cream.
Tips and Variations
- Sweetener: Adjust the amount of sweetener to your taste preferences.
- Peanut Butter: Use a sugar-free peanut butter without added oils or sugars for the best results.
- Toppings: Get creative with toppings! Consider sugar-free chocolate syrup, whipped cream, chopped sugar-free peanut butter cups, chopped wolfberries or goji berries and chopped peanuts.
- Crust variations:
- Use a pre-made nut crust.
- Make a chocolate crust by combining blanched almond meal, low carb sweetener, melted butter and unsweetened cocoa with a pinch of salt.
- Try a coconut flour pie crust for a low-carb and grain-free option.
Serving and Storage
This keto peanut butter pie is best served cold. Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to two weeks (without toppings for best results).
Nutritional Information
- Servings: 12
- Calories: Approximately 302 kcal per serving
Note: Nutritional information can vary based on specific ingredients and brands used. It's always best to calculate nutritional information independently.
Read also: Store-Bought Keto Protein Bars