Fun with Florida

How many of you guessed our Florida dessert for this week? I mean it was probably one of our easiest choices yet, with the only surprise coming from how easy it was to make. Are you ready….of course you’re ready – Key Lime Pie!

We adapted this recipe from Cooking Light simply because when you consume this many desserts in one week you have no other choice. We also chose an almond pie crust in place of the graham cracker crust thanks to some of the  kitchen tips Mandy posted over at The Complete Cook Book. It turns out the almond pie crust is much healthier than the graham cracker crust, and it holds up better at cold temperatures. Thanks for the tips Mandy!

The almond crust was simple. We combined almond meal, sugar and melted butter.

We then pressed it down into our 9″ pie pan and baked the crust for 10 minutes at 350F.

We let the pie crust cool completely before preparing the Key lime filling, which was also super easy. We beat together 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice and the zest of a lime.

The custard is then poured over the prepared almond crust and voila! You have a Key lime pie.

The pie bakes for 20 minutes at 350F and is then cooled and chilled for a minimum of three hours. After that it’s ready for the whip cream topping.

You can cover the whole pie with whipped cream or just take it around the sides. We opted to take it around the sides and serve it with a slice of lime.

This pie was a definite success. Dad and Miss A both gave it a solid 4 spoons. Mr. N and I gave it 3 spoons. It’s rich, fresh and delicious! And did I mention how easy this was?! The kids both loved the pie, taking theirs with some extra whipped topping.

Mr. N had a beard, but with the humidity it quickly began to melt. Don’t worry, he still managed to get it all.

It’s fair to say that this pie won’t last long in our house. I actually tried to just eat one bite tonight, but before I knew it my entire slice was gone. It’s a keeper.

Print this recipe: Key Lime Pie with Almond Crust

39 thoughts on “Fun with Florida

  1. spicegirlfla says:

    Yumm that looks delish!! and a really great tip for the almond meal crust! Had I known you were “in” Florida, I would have invited you over- you bring the pie and I’ll pour the lemonade!!

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  2. Kelly says:

    Oh, this pie looks sooo delicious! I feel like I’m right in there with Mr. N & Miss A! I like the way you did your cream on the border – looks so yummy yet not overdone. Aren’t Bob’s Red Mill cereals a great discovery? So many varieties with a fabulous range of whole grains.

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    • ChefMom says:

      I love Bob’s Red Mill! I can’t believe how many varieties there are…I have so many more to try. 🙂 I kept my cream on the border for this pie, but the kids loaded up on the whipped topping. LOL. They had fun with it though.

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    • ChefMom says:

      Oh how fun! I hope you enjoy it. I loved that it was so easy to make and it’s still holding up well in the fridge with the leftovers too. (We had a birthday party here yesterday, otherwise I don’t think we’d still have leftovers. LOL!)

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  3. Alyson says:

    You know when they’re licking it off their hands and faces, that you’ve got a winner! Key lime is my Dad’s favourite… I haven’t had it in years! I feel like I should break out the recipe for his birthday this year.

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    • ChefMom says:

      LOL! So true. They never seem to get the “icky” stuff all over themselves. LOL. I’m sure your dad would love it if you made that. Go for it! 🙂

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    • ChefMom says:

      Miss A’s favorite part was the whipped topping squirted directly into her mouth. She thought that was a hoot! I asked her if she liked her pie. She gave an assertive, “YES! It tastes like sugar!” LOL. Right up her alley.

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    • ChefMom says:

      It’s funny before we made it I figured making a Key lime pie was going to be a challenge. I’ve just always been so impressed by them in restaurants. I had no idea it was this easy. I’m sure we’ll be making it again. And yep, the kids loved it. It was a lot of fun with them. 🙂

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    • ChefMom says:

      That sounds good too. I’m going to have to try out the rye flour. I can’t believe the number of flours out there. Cooking is so much fun! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Aimee.

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    • ChefMom says:

      LOL! We all had fun with that – a few squirts in the mouth, on the nose, a beard for Mr. N. It was good stuff. It was just so darned hot outside that it was melting really, really fast. 🙂

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  4. Lisa {Smart Food and Fit} says:

    I love key lime pie! Yes, I just started to experiment too with almond flour for baking pie crust or baked goods. It’s a great gluten free alternative and great source of fiber, protien, healthy fats and minerals too!
    Now I want to go to FL just to eat a pie! Though maybe next month we’ll do a road trip to visit my mother-in-law!

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    • ChefMom says:

      A road trip sounds like a blast! I can’t wait to leave on ours this summer. So ready. I’ve never road tripped to FL before, but always wanted to. Hubby’s parents have a place down there and I really want to get Miss A down there to a beach. She would just love it. I was a little nervous about the almond crust since I’ve never had one before and wasn’t sure it would match the Key lime, but it was delicious! And it is holding up really well in the fridge.

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  5. kitchenbelleicious says:

    Oh that looks so good! Wow, I wish I was there now not for the beach but for that pie! I saw in a mag recently a little food trucks take on key lime pie. They made it just as usual, froze it with popsicle sticks so they could then cut in into bars and dip in chocolate. A chocolate covered key lime pie Popsicle! Genius!

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    • ChefMom says:

      Oh frozen in popsicles! I’m all about the frozen treats these days. The melting richness. Heaven. 🙂 That sounds delicious and what a great idea! Thanks again for the headband! I’m loving it. 🙂

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    • ChefMom says:

      LOL! And you can get your brownie points just for being you. 😉 We didn’t actually use Key limes in this one, but used a key lime juice instead. We did cook with Key limes in one of our first posts when we were covering Mexico. We made a Key lime chicken. They were yummy little things!

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    • ChefMom says:

      It’s such an easy one! It’s a good one for a busy day when you need a fast dessert. The only time consuming part is the chilling. Other than that – super easy.

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  6. Charles says:

    That almond crust looks delicious! I’ve always been curious about “key lime pie”… and having just looked it up on Wikipedia… holy crap, I just found out that “Key lime” is an actual thing… an actual fruit? Damn do I feel dumb now – I’ve never seen such a thing on sale before? Looks delicious though! Perhaps one day I can seek one out and make one myself.

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    • ChefMom says:

      LOL. Don’t feel dumb…there are so many foods I’ve never heard of and am discovering. For this pie you only need the juice which you can either do fresh from key limes (which are hard to find) or with key lime juice which is what we used this time. 🙂

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      • Charles says:

        I want to make this so bad – but seriously, I don’t think it’s possible to get key limes in Europe… I’ve *never* seen them. Could I substitute, say, limes and lemons or something… or is the taste very different?

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        • ChefMom says:

          I saw a cooking show on tv the other day and they substituted regular limes and supposedly it worked just fine. I’ve never tried it, but then again this is my first Key lime pie. I can’t imagine it would be all that different…

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  7. Laura says:

    Great idea to use an almond crust! I bet it would give a nice flavor too. I see that you bought the already ground almond meal…next time I’m going to do that instead of grinding my own! I love anything lime and I love the pictures. Very cute!

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    • ChefMom says:

      You know I was going to use the almonds that I have, but then I happened upon the already ground stuff in the grocery store. I’m so glad I did – made this dessert soooooo easy. 🙂

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