This pie contains a brick of cream cheese, so technically it is not an authentic key lime pie. That said, I love the cream cheese! It makes the filling a little smoother and the sour flavor goes well with the lime.
Rather than use key limes, I use bottled key lime juice which works very well. I also use pasteurized eggs just to be safe.
Key Lime Pie with Cream Cheese
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Key Lime Pie with Cream Cheese
Author: Cookie Madness
Serves: 8
Ingredients
Crust
- 12 graham cracker squares (6 rectangles)
- 1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted or roasted unsalted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2-3 tablespoon shredded, sweetened coconut
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, browned
Filling
- 1 (14 oz) can condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks (pasteurized eggs -- see link above)
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons grated lime zest
- 1/2 cup bottled key lime juice or fresh squeezed like juice (see note)
Topping/Garnish
- 1 cup whipped cream, whipped and sweetened to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch deep dish glass pie plate with butter or spray with cooking spray.
- Put the graham crackers, whole almonds, sugar, salt and shredded coconut in food processor; process into crumbs. Pour in the melted browned butter and pulse until crumbs are moistened. Press into pie plate and bake for 12 minutes. It might seem like you have too many crumbs, but everything will fit in the end.
- Prepare filling. Clean out food processor bowl. Combine condensed milk and egg yolks in processor bowl and process until smooth. Add cream cheese and process until cheese is smooth. Add lime zest and key lime juice and process a little more. Pour into the cooled pie shell. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and chill for 8-10 hours.
- When ready to serve, place the whipped cream in a large plastic zipper bag. Snip off the tip of the bag and pie the whipped cream around the edges.
Notes
Cookie Madness Tip: You can roast small amounts of almonds (about ¾ cup at a time) in the microwave. Just spread the whole almonds on a paper towel and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Halfway through, swirl them around with your hand and mix them up a bit. You'll know the almonds are toasted if they start to crack. Remove them from the microwave, let them cool (crisp up), and then taste. If you don't think they taste roasted, you'll know you need to microwave them a tad bit longer next time. My microwave takes 2 minutes for whole almonds. For some reason, pecan halves take a little longer. Of course the oven is the ideal way to toast the nuts evenly, but when the weather is hot and you only have a small amount of nuts to toast, try the microwave.
Anna says
June 9, 2007 at 11:49 pmKelli, I think you will like the cream cheese addition. This pie tasted even better the second day. I will probably freeze the rest. Heat Miser wouldn’t endorse that, but whatever.
KelliRR says
June 9, 2007 at 7:01 pmThis pie looks so good. I haven’t had a key lime pie with cream cheese before so this should be fun to make. And anything endorsed by Mr. Heat Miser has got to be good! (I just love “The Year Without a Santa Clause”!)
KelliRR says
June 9, 2007 at 7:01 pmThis pie looks so good. I haven’t had a key lime pie with cream cheese before so this should be fun to make. And anything endorsed by Mr. Heat Miser has got to be good! (I just love “The Year Without a Santa Clause”!
Anna says
June 9, 2007 at 8:11 amEmilie, my model is Mr. Heat Miser. He’s from an old Christmas show I use to love.
Anj,have pasteurized eggs made it to your town? They’re become widely available….or at least it seems that away.
Anj says
June 9, 2007 at 8:06 amThe ingredients for the crust sound really good. I’ve never done anything with raw eggs though. I might have to tweak that filling a bit somehow. Love your model!
Emilie says
June 9, 2007 at 5:13 amAhhh! That guy is scary! I have no idea who that is.
I’ve been wanting to make a key lime pie lately, so maybe I’ll try this. I like the tropical theme-with the almonds and coconut.