Homemade Key West Key Lime Pie Recipe
This easy key lime pie recipe made with sweetened condensed milk gets a taste upgrade with a gingersnap crumb crust. A simple pie to make, it will quickly become one of your family favorites and get rave reviews!
It’s so funny to me what people consider a classic pie.
To some, this type of key lime pie, using lime juice and sweetened condensed milk begs for a whipped cream-type topping.
I tend to like that topping the best, but here’s the thing… because the filling uses 3 egg yolks it’s PAINFUL to me to think about tossing out those egg whites. So when I was working on this recipe I knew it needed to be a meringue-topped pie, because who — these days — wants to toss out 3 perfectly good egg whites?
Not. Me.
If you have use of 3 eggs white, maybe for an egg white omelet or even Forgotten Cookies, then by all means — whip up a batch of whip cream (or next time go straight for the store-bought shortcut and grab some Cool Whip. I won’t tell.) Either way, it’s the tangy and sweet key lime filling sitting piled atop this slightly spicy gingersnap crust that will leave you wanting more.
What you need to make this Homemade Key West Key Lime Pie recipe:
Homemade Key West Key Lime Pie Recipe
Description
This easy key lime pie recipe made with sweetened condensed milk gets a taste upgrade with a gingersnap crumb crust. A simple pie to make, it will quickly become one of your family favorites and get rave reviews!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup gingersnap crumbs** (about 20 small cookies)
- 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup melted butter
Filling
- 3 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime zest
- 1/2 cup fresh Key Lime juice or freshly squeezed lime juice from ordinary limes or bottled key lime juice
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Meringue
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare the Crust: Combine Crust* ingredients in a medium bowl, mixing well. Press firmly into bottom and partially up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Removed from oven, and let cool while preparing Filling.
- Prepare the Filling: Whisk together egg yolks (reserve egg whites for meringue), sweetened condensed milk and remaining Filling ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until well blended. Pour mixture for Filling into pie crust spreading to edges of Crust. Set aside.
- Prepare the Meringue: Combine reserved egg whites and cream of tartar in a glass, metal bowl or bowl of a stand mixer; beat at medium speed with a hand mixer or using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form; beat in vanilla just until combined.
- Spread Meringue over filling, sealing to edges of Crust.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until Meringue is light golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 1 hour. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
*Alternatively, you could a pie shell or homemade graham cracker crust.
**You may prefer to use your food processor to crush cookies into crumbs.
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