Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In an effort to be festive today, I wore my flashing clover earrings! I also made a lovely tart but sweet Key Lime Pie! Whenever I am at a restaurant (and have room for dessert), I will order the key lime pie to see how it compares to my previous pie ventures. This recipe is a mixture of 3 of the best recipes that I found online (IMHO). My key lime filling is a marriage between @iamahoneybee and @FuelinRoadie. 

Setting the foundation…

First, we must start with the crust. To me, crust is the BEST part. I’m one of those strange people that would rather eat the cookie than the cream of an Oreo. Say what? Yes; it is true. So, I scoured Pinterest (my best bud) to search for a perfect crust…and so I found the Perfect Graham Cracker Pie Crust . I couldn’t believe how quick and easy this was!

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

You’ll need:

• 1 package graham crackers (or 9 full graham cracker sheets)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Put graham crackers in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can. Using a rolling pin, smash/roll out the crackers until you have very fine crumbs.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and butter until all crumbs are evenly moist.
4. Pour/press crumbs into pie plate.
5. Bake for 7 minutes in oven. Wait until the crust cools before adding filling.

Fill me up…

Note: Key limes are smaller than regular limes, so juicing them will take some time – yes, your hand will hurt but you’re making this pie with love! 

Filling:

•  5.3 oz. of non-fat Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani)
• 1/2 fresh squeezed key lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. grated lime zest
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 (14 ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Juice the key limes to get 1/2 cup. (Fair warning: this will take some time but check out FuelinRoadie for a tip to make it easier.)
3. Drain any liquid from the Greek yogurt.
4. In a bowl, combine the yogurt, lime juice, zest, eggs and condensed milk. Beat with a stand mixer or by hand at medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Pour mixture into a chilled pie crust (see above).
6. Bake for 14 minutes at 350 degrees or until set.
7. Cool pie completely on a wire rack. Then, put it into the refrigerator, covered loosely with tin foil, for at least 2 hours prior to serving.