The BEST Key Lime Pie Recipe
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
graham cracker crust:
- 1 3/4 cups (175g) graham cracker crumbs 12 whole crackers
- 7 tablespoons (100g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
- big pinch of salt
key lime filling:
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 (14-ounce/400ml) cans sweetened condensed milk 2 cans = 28 oz
- 1 cup - 2 Tbsp Key lime juice 210g, I used bottled 'Joe and Nellie's' Key lime juice
topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the graham crakcer crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C / Gas Mark 4, no fan (if you have a convection oven reduce the temperature by about 20° or follow the manufacturer's instructions).
- If you've purchased whole graham crackers and not graham cracker crumbs, you need to pulse them in a food processor with sugar until fine crumbs form.
- Add the cookie crumbs, sugar, salt, and melted butter into a 9-inch (23 cm) deep dish pie pan. Stir with a spoon until all the crumbs are coated in butter.
- Press the mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, making a 2-inch (5 cm) rim. I like to start with a spoon and then press the crumbs with the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
- Chill the crust for 10 minutes before filling.
Make the key lime filling:
- In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk, mixing well with an electric mixer. Slowly add lime juice, while continuing to mix until well blended. Mix it for about 2 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the baked pie shell and bake for 20 minutes. Take the pie out of the oven. It will be a little bit jiggly in the center but it should look set on the surface and not 'wet'. There's no need to test it with a cake tester - it will be still a little bit too wet, it needs to be chilled to fully set.
- Leave to cool to room temperature then refrigerate for 8 hours/overnight or until completely set and chilled. You can cover the pie with plastic foil but make sure it won't touch the surface of the pie.
- Beat heavy whipping cream with sugar until stiff. Serve the pie with whipped cream.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- The recipe calls for an unusual amount of Key lime juice: 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons. The filling with 1 whole cup of juice was a little bit too tart for us, so I reduced the amount, and this was perfect. You can add as much juice as you want if you want it more tart.
- Instead of graham crackers, you can use other crumbly cookies like gingersnaps. I used honey graham crackers for this recipe. You could also swap about 1/2 cup of cookie crumbs for ground nuts or shredded coconut.
- You can use fresh or bottled Key lime juice or freshly squeezed Persian lime juice (regular limes).
- For 1 cup of lime juice you will need about 30-40 Key limes or 6-8 regular limes, depending on how big and juicy they are.
- How to serve it: it tastes best chilled but not straight from the fridge. Its texture is a little bit too firm when completely cold. Leave it on the counter for 10-15 minutes to soften, then enjoy!
- How to store it: This pie keeps very well. It's best on the day of baking only because the crust is still a bit crunchy (it softens the next day). The filling is like freshly baked for at least 5 days. Keep the pie covered in the fridge. The whipped cream is best freshly prepared but it will also be ok-ish the next day.
- If you'd like less crust, use these amounts: 1 1/2 cups crumbs, 5 Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp sugar.
- How to freeze it: This pie freezes very well. It's best to cut it into servings, wrap in plastic foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Storing the crust: You can prepare the graham cracker crust 1-2 days in advance, cool completely, then cover it tightly and store in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
- Chilling the pie: You can't really speed up to process. You could try to serve it after about 3-4 hours but it will be too hard to take clean nice slices out of the pan. I really recommend waiting at least 8 hours and preferably overnight to let the pie fully set - the crust and filling will have a perfect texture. First, let the pie cool to room temperature then put it in the fridge.
- You will need a 9-inch (23 cm) deep dish pie pan for this recipe. If you don't have a deep dish pie plate you can use half of the ingredients and bake it in a smaller 9-inch pie plate (so for the filling you will need: about 1/2 cup of lime juice, 1 can condensed milk, 2 egg yolks, and for the crust: 1 1/2 cups crumbs, 5 Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp sugar).
- You can also bake this pie as bars, using a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan (brownie pan). Baking time stays the same. You don't have to make the rims for the crust, press the crumbs only into the bottom of the pan.
- Calories = 1 serving (1/12 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
Nutrition
Calories: 411kcal