Summer Dessert - Key Lime Pie

Have I mentioned that I love to bake? Well, just in case you were in doubt...I LOVE TO BAKE. And I love to eat what I've baked. :) This week as I was melting from the heat in my kitchen I thought, "Hmmm...what kind of dessert can I make that would be cool and refreshing?" And then like a message from heaven I thought "Key Lime Pie!". I have never made Key Lime Pie before so I started scouring the internet for a good recipe. I decided to use "The Pioneer Woman's" recipe* and proceeded to go to the store to buy the ingredients. (One side note I must add is that I didn't use real "Key Limes", I used good ol' regular limes and bottled lime juice.) I don't even know if they sell "Key Limes" in California or not. But they didn't have them at Target.... before you wonder why on earth I'm buying limes at Target; it's because we were there already for other needed toiletries! So, like any other crazy busy mother who doesn't want to make two trips, I picked everything up I needed there.

The recipe was so easy to follow. I started by making a homemade graham cracker crust (easiest thing ever and is so much better than pre-made)

After that, I mixed together the filling (pictured at top of page) and poured it into the cooled crust. The filling consists of:

1 Cup Lime Juice

1 Tablespoon of Lime Rind

2 Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

4 Egg Yolks 

I baked the pie for 25 minutes at 350, let it cool completely and then let it stand in the fridge for about 3 hours. WOW! Talk about a delicious, easy dessert! I decided to top the pie with whip cream. You can make a meringue topping or homemade whip cream. 

My husband was happy and so were my taste buds. Despite the boiling temp outside we felt cool! 

Might I also mention that the cost of making this pie was fairly inexpensive? I already had the graham crackers (a toddler's best friend), butter and sugar (a mom's best friend) and 4 egg yolks. So, all I needed to buy was the rest of the filling ingredients: 

Two limes (for rind) $0.39 a piece

2 Cans sweetened condensed milk $1.69 a can 

1 Bottle Lime Juice around $2.80 or so

So if you already have some of these ingredients you are only looking at about $5.00 or so (depending on what you already have) to make a delicious pie! 

*This recipe was taken from "The Pioneer Woman" website. I doubled the recipe ingredients and altered the bake time*