(A Slightly Healthier) Key Lime Pie Recipe

This recipe won 3rd place in the Beverly Hills pie contest!

This pie is always a crowd pleaser and it’s very simple to make.

When my husband and I were first dating, he told me loves key lime pie. I’d never had it before but I set about learning how to make it and went on to win 3rd place in the Beverly Hills pie contest. Judges included Evan Kleinman (host of KCRW’s Good Food), and pulitzer prize winning food critic Jonothan Gold.

The following recipe includes tips on how to make this special dessert with more real-food-feel-good intention. Most recipes advise adding sugar to the crust and the whipped cream, but the condensed milk is so sweet that you can skip the extra sugar.

Recipe

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs- grind graham crackers to avoid the extra ingredients added to pre-made graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp butter, softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks- from pastured chickens

3 limes and 1/2 orange, to make1/2 cup squeezed lime/orange juice

1 tbsp+ grated zest

1/2 cup heavy cream

vanilla

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grind graham cracker crumbs in a food processor. Add the crumbs to the softened butter in medium bowl and combine really well. Press the mixture into a 9 inch pie plate and bake for about 7 minutes. Cool.

Lower oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Zest one lime into the bowl. After zesting, use the lime, one more lime and half an orange to make 1/2 cup of juice. Keep one lime aside for zesting on the pie before serving.

In medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, the zest and the juice. Next add the condensed milk and stir well.

Pour into crust.

Bake until center is set but quivers when nudged, about 17 minutes. Cool

Before serving whip cream and vanilla. Spread over cooled pie and sprinkle with fresh lime zest.