Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie

This Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie has it all: Creamy strawberry mousse, with Greek yoghurt and protein powder, on a crunchy, chocolate covered Almond crust. I mean who doesn’t love strawberries with chocolate?

Just as the banoffee version of this, it’s perfect to impress your guests, while happily enjoying pie even while trying to lose weight. On top of all that, it is incredibly healthy, has no cream in it whatsoever, but instead 10g protein per portion with only about 230 calories. No really.

Why You Want To Make This

When thinking of ways to include more protein in my diet, I found that pre-shaking a protein powder I enjoy with a low amount of liquid, gives me a custard like consistency and flavour, ideal to add to all kinds of things, without ruining them with chalky protein clumps.

My favourite is “MyProtein” Whey, lots of different flavours, no weird texture. Just plain creamy and lovely. (This is neither sponsored, nor am I an affiliate or get any other benefit from mentioning this.) I have no negative reaction to the whey, despite being lactose intolerant. Your mileage may vary, so while I highly recommend giving this a try, you can use whatever protein powder you love) So while I whipped up a quick banoffee themed protein yoghurt for breakfast one day (recipe here: ), I thought “Could I make this into a pie?”. I don’t know about you, but one of my all-time favourite desserts, which I only found after I moved to Ireland, is Banoffee pie. Now with all the cookies, butter, caramel and cream on top, the classic version of this has over 500 calories per piece. Not ideal when trying to lose weight! Also, the nutrition of it leaves lot to be desired.

How to make this healthy and low calorie?

I knew I wanted to include the protein, for nutrition and flavour, but wondered how I could get it to a whipped cream like consistency. I checked online for vegan options, but none was giving me exactly what I wanted, so I turned to gelatine, aiming for a mousse like topping, adding some 0% fat Greek yoghurt for even more protein, structure, and creaminess.

For the Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie I wanted a layer to keep the crust crunchy, so a thin dark chocolate covering was the obvious choice.

For the base, to replace the cookies and butter with a more wholesome option, I got inspiration from one of my favourite cookbooks “At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well” by Amy Chaplin and her fabulous Toasted Almond base recipe.
I only modified it slightly, to cut down even further on the calories (though if you don’t feel about 35cal per piece are worth it, feel free to use the original, which is addictive).

All those small changes brought me to the ridiculous nutrition below per piece. Can we appreciate a strawberry mousse pie with just about 230 calories and more than 8g protein per serving for a minute?

Two in One Pie

As you can see in the picture, this Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie came basically as double, together with the Protein Banoffee Mousse Pie and I could not, for my life, decide to make only one or the other, but had plain not enough space in my fridge for both. So, I did what I had to, to get both my cakes and eat them too: I divided the whole thing in the middle, by placing a “wall” made of folded aluminium foil in the middle, which worked perfectly to keep the two separated until they had firmed up, at which point I just carefully removed the foil and cut the whole thing in half.

You could do the same, in case you either love variety as I do, or maybe have guests coming over with very different preferences.

This is also why the recipe and writing on these two pies are very similar.

Now, if you are like me and just can’t decide which one to have, no problem: Have 2 pieces! With about 230 calories and 10g protein per portion of Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie, you deserve it.

Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie

Sonja Goeden

This pie is for the strawberry fans among us: Creamy, light, fluffy, crunchy, fruity, and decadent, with a fresh strawberry flavour and a thin dark chocolate coating of the crust, both for support and added yumminess. I mean who doesn’t like strawberries with chocolate? Just as the banoffee version of this, it’s perfect to impress your guests, while happily enjoying pie even while trying to lose weight. On top of all that, it is incredibly healthy, has no cream in it whatsoever, but instead 10g protein per portion with only about 230 calories. No really.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Fridge Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 1

Calories 230 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 1.5 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil For an extra crisp, but higher calorie version, double the olive oil, remove the apple sauce
• 1.5 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 3/4 cup almonds divided.
• 1/4 cup Oats
• ¼ cup wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 tbsp maple sirup or honey
• 2 tbsp 0 calorie maple sirup If you are not trying to reduce the calories, use 3tbsp maple all in all
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate
• 1.2 cups 0% fat Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp honey
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup ml soy milk
• 2 scoops protein powder I used “MyProtein – Buttered Popcorn” for added flavour, but vanilla works too.
• 2 tbsp powdered gelatine 1 pack
• 3 cups strawberries divided

Instructions

 

• Prepare the almond crust base:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Toast the almonds in the oven for about 5-7min, until fragrant
• Place 1/2 cup of the toasted almonds and the oats in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Chop the rest by hand, so you still have texture, but no big pieces.
• In a mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients
• Add the oil, apple sauce, almond extract, and maple sirup to the dry ingredients. Mix well until a sticky dough forms.
• Press the dough into the bottom of a springform pan, which you have lined with baking parchment.
• Bake the crust in the preheated oven for about 14-18 minutes, or until it turns golden brown, cover with aluminium foil, and bake for another 15-20min., until crunchy and dry. Tap in the middle and press a bit at around 25min. When it’s ready, it should feel crisp and dry and not bouncy anymore. Turn the springform twice during the process, as most ovens bake unevenly.

  If using all olive oil instead of apple sauce the crust will be done after about 18min. No need to cover.
• Once the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Do not take out of the springform, as you will need it to hold the mousse until it’s firmed up. Cover with clingfilm after it is cooled if you make it the day before. Check on the day of pie assembly if it’s still crisp. If not, put it in the oven for 7min. This will depend on your climate. Being in Ireland, with very high humidity, I found it helps to re-crisp it.
• Prepare the mousse filling:
• In a separate mixing bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, honey, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth.
• Add 1.5 cups of cleaned strawberries to a blender and blend until smooth. If you have no blender, you can smash them with a fork. Your mousse might not be as smooth, but then you’d have some lovely bits of strawberry in it, which has its own charm.
• Mix the protein powder with the soy milk in a protein shaker. Don’t skip this step. You want the mix to be very smooth and creamy.
• Add the protein mix and liquid strawberries to the yoghurt mix.
• Dissolve the gelatine powder in 2 tbsp hot water, stirring thoroughly, until no powder or clumps remain.
• Grab a hand mixer or pour the yoghurt-protein mix into a blender. Start mixing or blending while drizzling the liquid gelatine into the mix. Continue until you have a foamy mix, about doubled in size.
• Assemble the pie:
• Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave by using 30 second bursts and stirring in between each, or in a bowl over a pot of hot water. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
• Brush the dark chocolate evenly over the crust. Put in the fridge to harden, while you prepare the mousse.
• Check if the chocolate on the crust is hard, my tapping it.
• Once it is, pour the mousse on the crust (still in the springform).
• Add the remaining strawberries either whole or halved, depending on size, by dropping them into the mousse. It’s nice to have a few peek out at the top I think, hence the note of adding them after the mousse. Though if you’d prefer a smooth top, you can arrange them on the crust first.
• Place the pie in the refrigerator to set for at least 2-3 hours or until the mousse is firm.
• Once the mousse has set, remove the pie from the refrigerator.
• Optionally, you can garnish the pie with additional strawberry slices, crumbs of leftover almond crust or some melted dark chocolate.
• Look at the nutrition label. Then try a piece of pie. Be baffled. Look at the label again. Have another piece.

Notes

Note: This pie is best consumed within a few days of preparation to enjoy its fresh flavours and textures. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

As mentioned briefly in the ingredients, you can make the almond base as in a higher calorie, but crispier version. It will be easier to cut and have shorter baking time, but add about 100cal per portion.
It is however incredibly delicious and if you decide to make it, better make double, to munch on the leftovers in cookie form.

Nutrition

Calories: 230kcal

Nutrition Facts

Strawberry Protein Mousse Pie

Amount per Serving

Calories

230

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword For Guests, Healthy, Low Calorie, Protein

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