As you can tell from my blog’s header, we make a lot of high protein recipes ’round these parts. That said, one of the most common reader requests is for more lower calorie recipes without an emphasis on protein. So, today I give you a Skinny Hello Dolly Pie recipe that takes a delicious but unbelievably high calorie dessert and turns it into a much more balanced treat.
Here’s a quick look at how this Skinny Hello Dolly Pie compares to regular Hello Dolly Bars.
- A Popular Hello Dolly Bars recipe on the interwebz (entire recipe): 8,160 calories, 104 grams of protein, 766 grams of carbs, and 571 grams of fat.
- My Skinny Hello Dolly Pie (entire recipe): 1,495 calories, 44 grams of protein, 138 grams of carbs, and 95 grams of fat.
Granted, the first recipe is a larger recipe that’s prepared in a 13×9 baking dish instead of a pie dish. But it’s certainly not 5-6x larger. You might have also noticed the more favorable ratio of carbs and fat to protein, making this Skinny Hello Dolly Pie a much more balanced dessert.
Skinny Hello Dolly Pie Ingredients
If you’re wondering how a dessert could pack 8,000+ calories into one dish like the one above, it’s due to this recipe’s higher calorie ingredients. Coconuts, pecans, and butter are high in fat and calories.
We’ll be using light butter to reduce the calories there, but science has yet to come up with a lower fat coconut or pecan. So we’ll be combining a few other ingredients to improve this recipe’s chocolate component.
Melting chocolate chips in a bit of unsweetened almond milk is a great way to stretch the greatness of chocolate over a greater surface area without increasing calories. This Skinny Hello Dolly Pie takes that a step further by incorporating one of my favorite mixtures—vanilla protein powder and cocoa powder. By adding more milk and the powder ingredients, the chocolate won’t lose its creaminess or chocolate flavor but will have more volume.
Not to mention, protein powder provides structure when baked so the chocolate layer becomes almost like a brownie with pecans inside. And I don’t know about you, but a brownie between a graham cracker crust and coconut flakes is right up my alley.
That’s about it for ingredient notes. The only other thing I’ll mention is to be careful with the fat-free evaporated milk. You’re after 25 calories per 2 Tbsp (30mL). Some products remove the fat but pack a ton of sugar into each serving.
And if you’re wondering what else you can use evaporated milk for, check out my 2-ingredient protein frosting recipes.
All right, below you’ll find the full Skinny Hello Dolly Pie recipe.
Skinny Hello Dolly Pie
A lower calorie spin on the classic Hello Dollies Bars.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1/4 C (56g) Light Butter
- 3/4 C (78g) Graham Cracker Crumbs
Chocolate Layer
- 1/4 C (56g) Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 scoop (32g) Protein Powder
- 1 Tbsp (5g) Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 3/8 C (90mL) Unsweetened Almond Milk
Toppings
- 3/8 C (45g) Pecan Pieces, or your choice of nuts
- 3/8 C (45g) Sweetened Coconut Flakes
- 1/2 C (120mL) Fat-Free Evaporated Milk
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350F and spray a 9.5" pie dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Microwave the butter for 10 seconds before mixing with the graham cracker crumbs. Stir until crumbly. Add the crust mixture to the pie dish and use a rubber spatula or your hands to press the crust flat. The crust should cover the entire bottom of the pie dish and slightly up the sides (won't go all the way up the sides).
- Add the pecans or your choice of nuts on top of the crust.
- Add the chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp (30mL) almond milk to a bowl. Microwave for 20-30 seconds or until you can fully mix the chocolate chips.
- Add the remaining almond milk to the melted chocolate chips and stir in the protein powder and cocoa powder.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the pecans as evenly as possible.
- Add the coconut flakes on top of the chocolate.
- Drizzle the fat-free evaporated milk on top of everything (you don't want one big blob in the center).
- Bake for 28-30 minutes. After cooling, cut the pie into 8 slices and serve. This pie goes great with a cup of coffee or a bit of fat-free whipped cream on top.
Notes
Each slice has 8 Smart Points
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 187Total Fat: 11.9gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCarbohydrates: 17.3gProtein: 5.5g