This is the perfect “I have never made a pie before” pie. It is super easy. The cook time is doable. It is not a lot of ingredients and the recipe is easy to follow. The only problem: squeezing all of the little tiny key limes to get the juice. Seriously, its brutal. I think I have burned off my fingerprints.
Note: let your limes sit out for a few days to make sure they are ripe when you squeeze them. If they are all super dark green, they are too hard and will not produce much juice, if any at all. You want the limes to be soft and light in color, which means they are ripe. Also you need way more limes than you think you do.
what you need:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Dash of salt
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup key lime juice get like, an insane amount of limes. seriously. see note above
- 2 teaspoons lime zest MAKE SURE TO DO THIS BEFORE YOU SQUEEZE THE LIMES
- Whipped cream for serving
what you need to do:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place a tart pan on a cookie sheet and set aside.
- Combine your graham cracker crumbs, sprinkle of salt, and sugar in a bowl. Pout in melted butter. Mix until it is combined.
- Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of your tart pan until it is firm. I use the bottom of a measuring cup to make sure it is even.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- When crust is done baking, let it cool for about 15 minutes, you do not want to pour the filling into a piping hot crust, let it cool down.
- Adjust oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- In another bowl, mix your milk, egg yolks, lime juice, and lime zest with a whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- Once crust is coolish, pour filling in slowly, making sure to not overfill.
- If you notice your batter is around the same height as your crust, stop pouring, you do not need to use ALL of the filling batter.
- Smooth out the top and place in oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature, and then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Serve with whipped cream!
