Key Lime Pie

Sharing is caring!

This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.

This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth, creamy and easy to make, it brings me back to Key West every time.

PIN this KEY LIME PIE recipe in your PIE, DESSERT, SUMMER, AND PI DAY BOARDS on PINTEREST. And follow Sweet Tea & Thyme on Pinterest for more tips, hacks, and tasty recipes!

Jump to Recipe

Summer is ending.

All the back to school stuff is in full effect here, which is funny because I swear summer just started for these kids! Greyson is still too young to go to school, he's turning four in October, but I know that soon I'll be shopping these sales and getting him supplies and packing him a lunch box full of goodies like french dip sandwiches  and baking goodies for his classes and bake sales...

Good Lord, I'm really not ready for it.This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.  

So instead of thinking about it, I buried myself into baking and whipped up something that reminded me of summer vacations to kick me back into some summertime goodness: good ole key lime pie. If you've been following Sweet Tea & Thyme for a bit, y'all know that I lived in Miami as a teen and now live here once again, and key lime pie is as common here as pastelitos de guayaba (guava pastries. Insanely good!)

In fact, it's Florida's state pie, officially!

But the best key lime pies I've had was from this little store which, if I recall correctly, was also this family's house in Key West. My parents and I took the drive down, all the way down, to the bottom of the Keys and would rent this little townhouse-like suite at the Duval House, right next to a drag queen cabaret and across the street from a french cafe and down the street from the beach.

And in a white house, right on the beach, this family would have people coming in and out of their kitchen, people including us, buying pies and other goodies. And my mother would stack up on these key lime pies to bring to Miami and stick in the deep freezer to save til the next vacation.

This recipe tastes exactly like those pies.

This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.  

Shockingly enough, you don't have to use key lime juice in key lime pie. I mean, it IS key lime pie but most people across the country cannot find key limes or even the bottled juice. Regular lime juice is fine, bottled is okay but fresh is preferred. It takes about 5 limes or so to get the pie to a punchy tartness.

And authentically, you could whip up a meringue buuuut I just think homemade whipped cream is better. Everyone likes whipped cream, and the homemade stuff on your pie says, "I put in a ton of effort and I totally did a ton of work." Even though it barely took any effort at all.

Just look at this pie! You can't tell me it doesn't look like I hand dolloped some fresh whipped cream by hand on it.

That's because I did. I wanted a rustic, homemade look. But a piping bag with a nice star tip will totally give you that pro look if you're looking for it.

This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.  

You would think a pie like this would be temperamental, hard to make, full of crazy ingredients even, but no it's extremely easy! From the graham cracker crust to the whipped cream topping, it's put together and set to chill in the freezer in about an hour with the easiest ingredients! If you want it to be even quicker you can use store-bought crust and just whip up the filling and bake for 15 minutes and set to chill out. I mean, could it be any easier?

The thing that takes key lime pie above other citrus pies like lemon meringue (though I LOVE lemon meringue, too!) is the fact that it has condensed milk. We use condensed milk in so many things around here from homemade coffee creamer, Thai iced tea, and dulce de leche, Brian will even eat it outright because it's literally like a can of gold. It brings all the sweetness needed in your key lime pie without overpowering the tart goodness of the limes juice or making the pie sickly sweet.

I say make some pie anytime you are feeling blue, I know I made this plenty of times even in the winter to bring some brightness into my kitchen.

Shop this Recipe

[amazon_link asins='B0026RHI78,B00LGLHUA0,B001CH0ZLE,B004VS32HA,B01M2WMU73' template='ProductCarousel' store='sweetteaandth-20' marketplace='US' link_id='2176b480-7407-11e7-9096-9d1de235ecf2']

 


For more great recipes, subscribe to Sweet Tea & Thyme!
And let’s connect on social media through FACEBOOK, TWITTER andINSTAGRAM. I love getting to know you guys!
This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.

📖 Recipe

This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth, creamy and easy to make, it brings me back to Key West every time.

Key Lime Pie

Eden
This is the perfect key lime pie! Tart and sweet, smooth and creamy, it brings me back to Key West every time.
Be the first to rate this recipe!
Prep Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 10 slices
Calories 329 kcal

Ingredients
  

Graham Cracker Crust

  • 1 ½ cups graham crackers finely ground
  • 6 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
  • 3 tablespoon granulated sugar

Filling

  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • cup key lime or regular lime juice
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • teaspoon kosher salt

Whipped Cream Topping

  • ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make crust:

  • With a spatula in a medium mixing bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, and finely ground graham crackers. Mix well until the mixture is the texture of coarse sand and sticks together when pressed. Press crumbs evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish and up the sides. Use a ramekin or heavy measuring cup to press the crumbs into an even crust. Bake crust for ten to thirteen minutes, then take out and let cool. Leave oven on.

Make filling:

  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks until pale in color; add condensed milk and salt, then whisk together well. Add lime juice and whisk again until well-incorporated.
  • Pour over crust in pie dish and bake for 15 minutes, do not let brown. Let pie cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then let chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Make whipped cream:

  • In a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, whip cream until it just begins to look like it's no longer completely liquid, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and continue beating the cream for another minute. Once cream is at soft peaks, add vanilla extract, then whip until the cream is stiff and completely whipped up.
  • Once set after at least 3 hours, pull pie out of fridge and dollop whipped cream around the edges of the pie (and wherever else on the pie you want it). Serve.
  • This key lime pie lasts for a week in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 329kcal
Tried this recipe?Leave a star rating and let us know!

 


See you in the next post!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

18 Comments

  1. Pingback: Classic Lemon Bars | Sweet Tea & Thyme
  2. CookingOnTheWeekends (@cookingweekends) says:

    Key Lime is one of my favorite pie flavors. My mom was a huge fan, too. This one looks so smooth and creamy. Lovely!

  3. Wow! You could serve this in any restaurant!

  4. savorthebestcooks says:

    wow, I haven't had a Key lime pie in so long... I am really craving one now. great pictures

  5. Celebrating Sweets says:

    This is my husband's favorite pie. I will have to try your recipe. Looks great!

  6. I love key lime pie! This one looks amazing and you make it sound so easy, I'm going to give this a try 🙂

  7. Stacey McClellan Doyle says:

    Seriously love Key Lime Pie!!! This is gorgeous, and now I need a piece of that!

  8. omg that absolutely looks amazing!! i wish i had the opportunity to make this this sumemr >_<

  9. Brittany comeaux says:

    I've never tried making a key lime pie but they're my favorite to eat.

    P.s. I also have a four year old... and we have to start picking schools for kindergarten in just a couple of months! I'm freaking out about it. Why is it all going to fast?!

    1. Britt Anne says:

      I have no clue! I swear Greyson just started crawling and now he's talking to me about Jupiter's moons! It's going way too fast, and I need it to come to a halt for a minute lol.
      P.S. Try this recipe, you'll be amazed at how fast and easy it is to make pie. We aren't usually pie people, but I've been going Pie crazy over here!

  10. One of my favorite desserts and now I have a recipe to try thanks to you! It looks so good.

  11. Gina Marie says:

    I can't believe summer is almost over either! I feel I didn't get to do all I wanted this summer but that's okay LOL

    key lime pie is one of my favorites... I used to get the ones in the frozen section Sara Lees the little individual pie slices LOL ?

    I haven't had one since going vegan do you think this would work full fat can coconut milk? Looks good!

    1. Britt Anne says:

      That would definitely work! It sounds heavenly, a coconut-key lime pie.

  12. Key lime pie is one of my favorite pie to enjoy. Love the tart and fresh taste and it is perfect for summer.

    1. Britt Anne says:

      One of my favorites too! I'd like to think of it as an epitome of summer in Florida.

  13. This looks bloomin lovely! I need a slice in my life right now!!

  14. you've eliminated the "salt" step

    1. Britt Anne says:

      Thank you for bringing this to my attention! It has been fixed on the recipe.