Key-Lime Pie with Butter-Pecan Crust

5 from 1 vote

Key-Lime Pie with Butter-Pecan Crust

This almost-traditional Key-Lime Pie has a tart and tangy key-lime filling that sits on a delicious, sweet and buttery pecan crust!

Prep Time25 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Chill time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 45 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: pie, soul food, Southern

Servings: servings

Calories: 638kcal

Author: Crystal DaCruz

Equipment

9.5 inch glass pie plate (the one I use is about 2 inches deep, see notes at the bottom of the recipe)
Food processor
Mixer (either a stand or hand-mixer is fine)

Ingredients

Butter Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

8 tablespoons butter
9 graham-crackers or 1 and ⅓ cup graham-cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup whole pecans
½ teaspoon salt

Key Lime Filling

1 cup key-lime juice
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
6 egg yolks
¼ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings (optional)

Cool-Whip or store-bought whipped topping (measure to your liking)
Regular-sized limes for garnishing

Instructions

Prep Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
If using whole graham-crackers, pulse them with the pecans in a food processor until they are finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. If using store-bought or pre-crushed crumbs, just pulse the whole pecans until finely chopped, and combine them in a bowl with the graham-cracker crumbs.
Add melted butter, granulated sugar, salt and stir until combined. The crumb-mixture should be moist and hold together when you squeeze it.
Transfer the crumb-mixture to a glass pie plate and spread out in an even layer. Use the flat side of a dry measuring cup or a your hands to press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the plate.
Bake for 15 minutes and let the crust cool fully.

Pie Filling

Beat the egg yolks on high speed for about 3 minutes. Egg yolks will appear paler in color and double in volume.
Slowly add in the condensed milk and heavy cream and continue to beat on medium high speed for another 2-3 minutes.
Reduce speed to low and add the lime juice and vanilla extract. Mix for about 30 seconds.
Pour the pie-filling into the fully-cooled pie crust and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Let the pie cool to room temperature (about 1 hour) and then chill in the refrigerator for another 4 hours or overnight.
If using cool-whip as a topping, you can top the pie with it before refrigerating, or wait to top it just before serving.

Notes

Please note that oven temperatures vary. If your oven runs hot, adjust the temperature slightly to 325 degrees. For shallower pie dishes (1.2 inches deep) halve the recipe of the pie filling. You will also have some crumbs leftover from the the pie crust.

Nutrition