Berry Yogurt Pie With Pretzel Crust

This super simple, almost-no-bake dessert tastes like a cheesecake, but requires zero fuss. My Berry Yogurt Pie is made with probiotic packed greek yogurt, a few spoonfuls of your favorite jam and a homemade replacement for frozen whipped topping (a.k.a. Cool Whip).

Sweet and tangy with the salty crunch of a pretzel crust? Yes please. This is a recipe I'll come back to again and again.

If you're looking for an easy, last minute summertime dessert, this Berry Yogurt Pie is the recipe for you. It requires just 8 minutes of bake time for the crust, during which time you can easily whip up the filling. As an added bonus, you can sneak in some fresh fruit and a healthy dose of protein and probiotics for a relatively guilt-free treat!

Why I Love This Recipe

I first tried making a yogurt pie when I tested out this recipe from Allrecipes (they made my photo their hero shot!). It was delightfully creamy, and I loved how easy it was to make. That said, I knew I wanted to make a few changes if I made it again. Here's why I love my berry yogurt pie recipe:

A Natural Substitute for Frozen Whipped Topping

I usually try to avoid any synthetic (and/or environmentally damaging) ingredients, and the original recipe for this pie called for a tub of whipped topping. While tasty, I wanted to swap it out.

Many of the whipped toppings on the market not only contain high fructose corn syrup, but also a bunch of difficult to pronounce "ingredients'' like sorbitan monostearate (WTF is that?!?) AND palm oil, which is a huge source of deforestation when it isn't sustainably sourced.

Luckily, making homemade stabilized whipped cream isn't hard, and feels much healthier. I'd personally WAY rather eat real food than non-nutritive cereal varnish, but that's just me.

NOTE: Unfortunately, opting for "real food" will set you back $2-3 extra. This is yet another reason we need a reform of our current (broken) food system.

Better For You, More Customizable Ingredients

One of the things that drew me to the original recipe was that "yogurt" was part of the title. I had never even thought to put yogurt into a pie filling, but it sounded brilliant! No cooking necessary, an easy way to add a little tang and extra probiotics that I can eat with dessert?!? SIGN ME UP.

However, when I went to make it, I realized I didn't have strawberry yogurt on hand. Instead, I used what I always have in my fridge - plain greek yogurt and a jar of jam. That's basically what fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt is, anyway. And it's also endlessly riffable depending on what you have in the fridge.

I am currently on a ginormous container of Bonne Maman's four fruit preserves from Costco (36 oz. for under $8? I can't help myself... it's such a good deal!), so that's what I used. Don't feel limited though! There's gotta be like a gazillion ways that you can sweeten plain yogurt for this recipe.

As in the original recipe, I love the addition of fresh fruit. Again, you can feel free to use any kind of berries, fresh or frozen. Heck, feel free to try other fruits too! If you come up with any winning combos I should know about, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!

An (EASY) Homemade Salty-Sweet Crust

I don't know about y'all, but I often feel like desserts need a real hit of salt. There's regular caramel, and then there's sea salt caramel - catch my drift? Salty + Sweet = Awesome.

Well, this super easy pretzel crust requires just three ingredients, zero rolling pins and 8 minutes to bake. If I'm being honest, the hardest part is lugging out the food processor and having it take up space in my dishwasher. (That's to say, not hard at all on most days.)

TIP: Don't worry, you can make it without a food processor, too! Jump to the FAQs to read how.

It also happens to be much tastier than store bought graham crusts, in my humble opinion. (No shame in using them if you want! Here's some advice about choosing the best one. The salty-sweet balance of this crust is on lock, though. If you have the time, I highly suggest you try it.)

And if all that weren't enough, you can also make it vegan and/or gluten free. Simply swap in vegan butter and/or gluten free pretzels (Aldi and TJ's both carry them).

TIP: You can use the pie crust with other fillings! I'll definitely be using this recipe for my cheesecake in the future. And probably in some bar cookies, too.

How to Make Berry Yogurt Pie

Now that you're ready to make this fabulously easy, (almost) no bake desserts, it's time to grab your ingredients. Here's everything you need:

1. Make Press-In Pretzel Pie Crust

The fastest way to make this pie is using a food processor or blender. Read the FAQs for instructions if you don't have either on hand!

Simply blitz the pretzels until they are relatively fine.

Add the butter and sugar. Continue to blitz until the crumbs are uniform and begin clustering together.

Dump the crust contents into your pie pan, carefully removing the blade of the food processor if necessary.

Using your fingers, medium-firmly press the crust into place around the bottom and sides of the pan. As the crust begins to take shape, you can see where to even it out if need be. Here's a good video showing how to make a press in crust with a food processor.

TIP: If you're in a real rush, you can always opt to use a pre-made graham cracker crust from the store. I just prefer the salty-sweet balance of the pretzel crust and love knowing *exactly* what goes into it! And pretzels are under $2 a bag at my local Aldi, so it's also almost inevitably cheaper than store bought.

2. Make Berry Yogurt Filling

Add softened cream cheese to a mixing bowl with vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add in cream and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

NOTE: You can save a bit of time by adding the cream to the bowl with the cream cheese and beating it all together. It will result in a slightly less homogeneous consistency, but since I opt for adding chunkier preserves, it never bothers me a bit.

When the stabilized whipped cream mixture is complete, add the preserves and yogurt, folding to incorporate.

TIP: If you need a shortcut and/or want to knock about $3 off the total cost of this yogurt pie, you can swap in a tub of whipped topping for the cream cheese, heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Aldi and other store versions sell tubs for about $0.80. If you're making a vegan yogurt pie and want the same shortcut, So Delicious and TruWhip both offer vegan options. Just note that the vegan versions won't save you any cash, just time.

3. Assemble & Chill

Once the crust has cooled completely - about 15 minutes on a cooling rack - simply pour in the filling. Level it with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.

If you have fresh berries, feel free to decorate with them atop the pie, or add a hidden layer underneath. Or do a little of both! NOTE: If you are going to freeze the pie, I recommend waiting to decorate until it is defrosted and ready to serve.

Cover tightly (preferably with something reusable or recyclable) and chill.

Place it in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours to set; alternately, you can stick it in the freezer for 2 hours to set up more quickly. Once chilled through, slice and serve. Enjoy!

It should last a week in the refrigerator. If you want to get ahead on an upcoming party, it'll last for up to a month in the freezer! Simply allow the yogurt pie to defrost overnight in the fridge.

Flavor Variations

There are myriad ways you can turn this simple yogurt pie into your own masterpiece. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Use any fruit preserves ~ or ~ liquid sweeteners like honey, agave or maple
• Use any flavored yogurt cups you might have on hand - feel free to mix and match!
• Sub graham crackers, ginger snaps or chocolate cookies for pretzels.
• Add any fresh or frozen berries to the top or inside - you may need to chop them (or blend, if frozen) depending on the size.

Frequently Asked Questions

More easy & adaptable dessert ideas:

• Easily Adaptable Fruit Crumble For a Crowd
• Fruit Cobbler with Protein Pancake Mix Topping
• Healthy Apple Crisp for Two
• Cake Mix Hack: Apricot Banana Upside Down Cake
• Easy Strawberry Shortcakes With Biscuit Mix

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