Secret Ingredient Key Lime Pie

Y'all ready to enjoy a slice of Southern sunshine with this sweet and tangy Key Lime Pie recipe? This dessert is a classic in the Southeastern region of the United States, and it's the perfect treat for any occasion.

I enjoy making key lime pie and my Nashville boyfriend wanted some recently, but because I am who I am, I needed my key lime pie to be the most unique one he’d ever tasted. I realized that one of my favorite perfumes had both lime and nutmeg as notes and I decided to give this a try. It was a hit with my boo, my kiddo, and countless others I coaxed into sampling this pie. 

Bake ahead desserts for tea guests and dinner parties are the way I keep my sanity, so if you’re looking for a terrific all-weather dessert that you can easily make ahead, this is the one. 

Let's get started!

Ingredients for the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups of crushed cinnamon graham crackers
• 1/3 cup of melted butter
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbps of key lime juice

Ingredients for the topping:

• Whipped cream
• Lime zest

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. To make the crust, mix together the crushed cinnamon graham crackers, melted butter, and nutmeg in a bowl until well combined.
3. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie dish, making sure it is evenly distributed on the bottom and sides.
4. Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
5. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks for one minute until really glossy and smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk.
6. Add in the key lime juice and whisk until well combined.
7. Pour the mixture into the baked crust and smooth out the top with a spatula.
8. Bake the pie for an additional 15 minutes or until the filling is set.
9. Let the pie cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
10. Once chilled, top the pie with whipped cream and a sprinkle of lime zest.

Notes:

• Please don’t bother with locating, purchasing, and squeezing fresh key limes unless that would genuinely light you up inside. 
  • Nellie & Joe’s makes a great bottled key lime juice you can find at your local grocer
  • You can also get amazing key lime juice in a glass jar—ask an associate in your grocer and look for Florribean brand
• If you don’t like cinnamon graham crackers, use plain. No big whoop!
• Can you make this pie without the nutmeg? Yeah. You can. It’ll be great. If you want to, do it.

Enjoy your delicious Southern Key Lime Pie!