Take a bite of this refreshing Key Lime Pie and instantly travel to a tropical island.

Who doesn’t like Key Lime Pie? It’s light, refreshing, creamy, sweet and tangy. Perfect on a hot, summer day, to bring to a BBQ party or to enjoy without any occasion.

This pie calls for Key limes which can be hard to find sometimes. Use regular, sometimes called Persian, limes and it will be equally delicious. The difference is hardly noticeable. To me, Key limes taste slightly more like a regular lemon than the Persian lime. Key limes are often sold in 1lb bags, if you can find them buy one and give it a try to see for yourself. But to get the 3/4 cup of lime juice required for this recipe, it is more time consuming to squeeze 1lb of Key limes than about 7 regular limes. A good way to get every bit of the juice from these small jewels is to cut them in half and then use a garlic press (washed very well, you don’t want a hint of garlic in your pie).Out of curiosity, I checked Maida Heatter’s “Book of Great Desserts” originally published in 1974 to see her recipe for Key Lime Pie (Maida Heatter is a pastry chef and a cookbook author who received 3 James Beard Foundation awards). She calls her pie a Spanish Lime Pie which , from what I was able to find, is another name for Key Lime pie. She uses eggs in this recipe and the pie needs to be frozen.

To make the crust, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted coconut oil. Coconut oil gives a nice hint of coconut, isn’t too overpowering and goes so well with the taste of limes. If you prefer not to use it, melted butter will be just fine. Press the crumb mixture onto a 9- inch pie pan and bake for 8 minutes or until the edges are golden. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before pouring in the filling.To make this delicious pie filling, zest 2 regular limes or 4-5 Key limes. It is easier to zest the regular limes since they are bigger so I tend to buy some when making this pie. After zesting, you can either use the juice right away or wrap the limes tightly into a plastic wrap and store in the fridge.  Juice all of the limes to have 3/4 cup lime juice. If using the Key limes, the garlic press will come handy when getting all of the juice out. In a large bowl, stir together lime zest and juice, 2 cans (14 oz) condensed sweetened milk (oh, so good) and 1/2 cup sour cream (plain yogurt works, too).Pour the prepared filling onto the cooled pie crust and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool down completely. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. Before placing the pie into the fridge, cover it with plastic wrap but make sure the wrap doesn’t touch the surface of the pie or it won’t be smooth anymore. If that happens, don’t panic, just use some whipped cream, toasted coconut flakes, lime zest or even fresh raspberries to decorate this pie before serving.

Makes: one 9-inch pie      Prep time: 30 minutes         Ready in: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cups ground graham crackers (1 pack, 9 crackers)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted or 5 tablespoons melted butter

Key Lime Filling:

• zest from 4 key limes or 2 limes
• 3/4 cup key lime juice ( about 1 lb key limes)
• two 14 oz cans condensed milk, sweetened
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Garnish: whipped cream, toasted coconut flakes, lime zest, fresh raspberries.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place the graham crackers in a ziploc bag and using a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer crush the crackers into a fine crumbs. Place into a small bowl. Add sugar.
3. Melt the coconut oil and pour into the bowl with crumbs and sugar. Stir well. Press the mixture into a 9-inch round pie pan. Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges are golden. Cool completely.
4. Zest 4 Key limes or 2 regular limes and juice all of them. Place into a large bowl, add condensed milk, sour cream or yogurt and stir well.
5. Pour into the cooled crust and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Cool for 30 minutes or so. Carefully wrap it using plastic wrap and make sure the wrap doesn’t touch the surface of the pie. Refrigerate for at least 3 hrs or overnight.
7. Before serving, decorate with whipped cream, toasted coconut flakes, lime zest or fresh raspberries.

Enjoy!

Adapted from here.