Shortcut Protein-rich Tiramisu-Inspired Mini Pies Recipe

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Friendship Dairies . All opinions are 100% mine.

Breastfeeding makes me STARVING. And when I say starving, I don’t mean for a hard boiled egg or kale chickpea salad. I mean for cookies, chocolate, and coffee-flavored goodness. Because, you know, I’m all about the coffee…

These tiramisu-inspired mini pies have some of the calories removed, and plenty of protein added. That way, when I snack, I know I’m sneaking in a little extra goodness.

Why did I make these mini pies with cottage cheese?!

While mascarpone cheese is normally what’s used in tiramisu, it’s heavy in calories, lower in protein, and pretty expensive. Substituting that for cottage cheese ups the nutrition quotient a ton. It’s not quite a health food, and still totally a comfort food, but hey, if we can improve on it, why not? These tiramisu-inspired mini pies have about seven grams of protein per pie!

Cottage Cheese is The Original Superfood. Eating energizing protein-rich foods such as Friendship Dairies cottage cheese will fuel your fancy and let you do what you really want. For me, having the energy to persevere and breastfeed even though it’s been extremely difficult has made all the difference.

I also love having the energy to hold my toddler a little, as I’ve had to refuse him a lot when I was pregnant and during my postpartum recovery. And, of course, eating properly gives me the energy to keep on crafting and bringing you fun tutorials and coloring pages.

Supefood dessert? Yes, please! These tiramisu-inspired mini pies pack in some extra protein by using COTTAGE CHEESE! It's absolutely delicious and easy to make this dessert recipe because yes, this IS the shortcut version. So there you have it - an easy, fun coffee-flavored snack or dessert with extra protein, perfect for busy and breastfeeding moms. — My loves! This may or may not be the reason I need all that fuel 😉

From August 15 to September 9, you can enter the Fuel Your Fancy contest to win $5000 toward whatever you fancy! Take a photo of something you love to do and that makes you YOU. Upload it here, or on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #FuelYourFancy. You can enter on Twitter too, just include #FuelYourFancy, #contest and @FriendshipDairy.

Hint: I’m not allowed to enter myself, but if I won it would go toward the crafting angle of things. I’ve spent enough on the two precious monsters pictured above 😉

Friendship Dairies cottage cheese comes in a huge variety so that you can choose. If the curds will bother you in a dessert like this you can go for the small curd option, and if you’re looking to cut back much more, you can go for 0% milkfat.

How to make tiramisu-inspired mini pies:

Tip: You can make these gluten-free by buying Kosher for Passover lady fingers! You just might need to wait for April to find them.

I did this the “shortcut way” – because my baby breastfeeds pretty much eight hours a day which doesn’t leave much time for whipping eggs and sugar. Here’s to “dump and serve” desserts! I used whipped cream and ready-made pudding. The pudding adds the sweat and gives it a rich, dessert texture. The whipped cream both lightens it up and adds a fun topping.

Make stronger-than-usual coffee. At first, I accidentally made the dipped lady fingers too strong, with bitter results. How strong you make your coffee should depend on how bitter you like it. You can also make it strong and add sugar if it totally masks the sweetness of the lady fingers, and if you want that strong coffee taste.

Crack your lady fingers in half and dip them in the coffee. My first ones were broken and not as nice.

I used this recipe as an excuse to splurge on mini glass pie dishes. They are perfect for entertaining, and prepping these tiramisu-inspired mini pies in advance can make the actual dessert time go much smoother. They don’t look too much like pie plates so I plan to use them as dessert bowls as well, for ice creams and such.

But, of course, “practice makes perfect” and they started coming out beautiful. Arrange the half-cookies in a mini pie dish. Mine fit five around.

Blend your cottage cheese and pudding together. If you want fewer curds, blend for longer. Add whipped cream to lighten it up until you reach the desired texture.

Spoon your cottage cheese mixture into the center of your pie.

Top it off with a swirl around of whipped cream (if you want. You can definitely skip this step.)

And garnish with some shaved chocolate. Yeah, I need some practice with that….

These tiramisu-inspired mini pies are not only absolutely delicious, but they are also very presentable, and easy to make that way.

Bon Appetit and Enjoy!

Here is the printer-friendly version of this recipe:

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Tiramisu-inspired mini pies recipe:

Ingredients:

Crust:
2.5 lady fingers
2 oz. water
1 t. instant coffee
Optional – 1 t.sugar

Filling:
1/4 cup Friendship Dairies cottage cheese
1/4 cup prepared vanilla pudding
a squirt of whipped cream

Garnish:
Another squirt of whipped cream
Milk chocolate shavings

Equipment:
Mini pie dishes
A blender (a stick blender works fine)

Instructions:

Prepare your coffee. Break your lady fingers in half and dip them into coffee mixture. Arrange around the pie dish.
Mix your cottage cheese and pudding and blend. Add whipped cream and taste. Add more if you want a lighter filling. Add less if you like it very rich.
Fill your mini pies with the cheese mixture.
Add a squirt of whipped cream and chocolate shavings right before serving.
Serve chilled.

Visit Friendship Dairies for more fun protein-rich cottage cheese recipes and videos, including smoothies, dips, breakfast bowls and more!