Key Lime Pie with Coco-Macadamia Nut Crust and Greek Yogurt

Key Lime Pie with Coco-Macadamia Nut Crust and Greek Yogurt

This is one of my favorite summer desserts.  There is nothing like chilled custard-y lime flavors to refreshen the palate on these hot summer nights.  This recipe is extremely quick and easy.  The texture tastes like a delicious egg-based custard, however, the creamy consistency is achieved with sweetened condensed milk.  I like to romanticize this recipe…as if it’s from an isolated island in the Florida Keys with limes growing in kitchen gardens with a bucket of Stone Crab Claws about to get steamed for the main course.  A simple graham cracker crust is delicious but I punched it up a notch last night when I found coconut thins at Trader Joe’s.  I used the same ratio as a graham cracker crust but split the graham crackers 50/50 with the coconut thins and added a handful of chopped macadamia nuts for added texture and butteriness.  Bring on the heat Boston! 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

(yields 1x 9″ spring form pie)

For the Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed cookies (I used 50% graham crackers, 50% coconut thins from Trader Joe’s)
• 1/4 cup crushed macadamia nuts, dry roasted, unsalted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

• 3 cups Sweetened Condensed Milk (approx. 2 1/2 14oz cans)
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 2%
• 3/4 cup pressed key lime juice
• 2 Tbs grated lime zest

PREPARATION:

For the Crust:

• Preheat the oven to 375F
• Combined cookies, nuts, sugar and butter in a medium bowl.  Pour crumbly mixture into spring form pan and firmly press down.  I use the bottom of a 1/2 cup
  

  Crumbly texture of Coco-Macadamia Nut Crust

  measuring cup to get a nice solid, even press.

• Bake for 8 minutes.  Set aside.

For the Filling

• Lower oven temp to 350F
• Zest limes before juicing
• In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, greek yogurt, lime juice and zest.  Stir until smooth.
• Pour into spring form pan over cookie crust and bake approx 25 min.  Do not allow edges to brown.  Pie will still be slightly jiggly and is done when small bubbles begin to form on surface.  Be careful not to over bake.
• Allow to cool and chill for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.  I used a ring mold to make mini pies for everyone and garnished each with a dollop of chilled greek yogurt, a key lime slice and chopped, dry roasted macadamia nuts.  Nom Nom!  Happy heat wave…

Key Limes – slightly sweeter than conventional