Is this the best key lime pie ever? Honestly, no. Because the best key lime pie is enjoyed with an ocean view, palm trees, and a tropical flavored drink in hand. No matter how good the pie is, it will always taste better on the beach. Because everything is better on the beach.
But, this is still a delicious pie! It’s light and filled with sweet, citrusy flavor with an amazing coconut and graham cracker crust, topped with coconut whipped cream and lime zest.
And it is so simple to make!
First, make a graham cracker crust. I add coconut because I think it adds to the tropical vibe. Don’t like coconut? Substitute for an equivalent amount of graham cracker crumbs. Don’t want to make a graham cracker crust? Get a ready made one from the store. No judgement here, but I will tell you that the homemade ones are so, so, much tastier. Pro tip – use a flat-bottomed drinking glass to gently tap your crust into place. This keeps your fingers clean and lends to a more even crust since you are applying pressure with a larger surface area. Bake your crust until it just golden – don’t let it brown otherwise it will burn when you bake your filling. Once it’s done in the oven, take it out and cool it off.
Next, put all your filling ingredients in a blender. Yes, it’s that easy. Don’t have a blender? Use a mixer – you’ll get the same results, it will just take a few more minutes. Pour it all into your prepared and cooled pie crust and let it bake. Don’t let it over bake – you want a little jiggle in the middle, but no browning on the edges. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven, let it cool, and hide it in the fridge until it is time for dessert. This pie tastes the best after it has been refrigerated for at least a couple of hours, so if you don’t have time to make it the morning of, I recommend making it the night before.
And now for the garnish! If you don’t want to deal with whipping your own cream, reddi-whip is also always an option. I like to add instant pudding powder to my whipped cream, as I find it adds some more stability to it and lets me play with the flavor a bit more. Here, I added coconut cream flavored pudding powder for a light coconut flavor and made the flavor stronger with some coconut extract. If you don’t want to open a packet of pudding for your whipped cream, just substitute powdered sugar.
If you’re feeling really fancy, zest up a lime to sprinkle on top or make some thin slices to place on your pie.
Now sit down, grab a slice, put an umbrella in your drink and enjoy!
Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs about 1 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers
- 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup sugar omit if using sweetened shredded coconut
- 6 Tbsp butter melted
Key Lime Filling
- 2 - 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup key lime juice (store bought or about 25 key limes)
- 2 eggs
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp coconut cream instant pudding powder or substitute vanilla or white chocolate pudding powder, or omit and double powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar (confectioner's or icing sugar)
- 1/2 tsp coconut extract optional, add if stronger coconut flavor desired
- 1 lime optional - use zest or slices for a garnish
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Melt butter
- Crush graham crackers in food processor, blender, or freezer bag with rolling pin. Pulse shredded coconut in blender or food processor until desired fineness.
- Combine melted butter, sugar (if using), graham cracker crumbs, and coconut
- Using fingers or rounded drinking glass, gently press evenly into bottom and sides of 9” pie plate
- Bake for 8 minutes until lightly golden
- Remove from oven and let cool
Key Lime Filling
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Pour lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and eggs into the bowl of a mixer or into blender
- Whip/blend until batter is thickened – this will take less than a minute in a blender and a few minutes with a mixer
- Pour key lime filling into cooled crust
- Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until center is set, but still jiggles slightly when shaken
- Remove from oven and let cool
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving
Whipped Cream
- Pour cold whipping cream into chilled mixing bowl and whip with mixer until milkshake consistency
- Add pudding powder, powdered sugar, and coconut extract (if using) and whip until stiff peaks form
- Decoratively pipe whipping cream onto pie as a garnish, or just place a generous dollop on top or on the side of slices when serving.
- Optional - use lime zest and/or limes slices as additional garnishes
0 Comments