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key lime pie

Key Lime Pie

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: key lime, key lime pie, pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Inactive Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 9 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Bobby Parrish

Homemade key lime pie with gluten free almond flour crust. So creamy and tangy.

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Ingredients

Key Lime Filling

  • 1 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup key lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
  • 2 tablespoons water

Crust

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 2/3 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter melted (don't use coconut oil, but ghee works*)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • zest of 6 key limes
  • pinch salt

Instructions

For The Cream Filling

  1. Place 2 tablespoons of water in a small ramekin and sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of gelatin on top. Let gelatin hydrate and expand.

  2. Heat up the coconut milk in a medium sized pot until it just starts to boil and then take off the heat.

  3. Whisk the egg yolks with the maple for 1 minute until nicely combined.

  4. Temper the egg yolks mixture with the hot coconut milk, by very slowly adding the milk to the eggs while whisking vigorously. Continue adding milk little by little while whisking until all the milk is combined.

  5. Pour mixture back into the pot and heat on medium-low heat while stirring with a whisk for about 6-7 minutes. The mixture will become slightly thicker, but not by much. If you have a probe thermometer you can check if the temperature reaches at least 160F - you can take off the heat.

  6. Take off the heat and stir in the hydrated gelatin with a whisk until completely dissolved. Stir well and pour in the key lime juice, continue stirring.

  7. Place on counter for 45 minutes until key lime filling cools down. Transfer to refrigerator and let set for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight.

For The Pie Crust

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and melt the butter.

  2. Toast the almond flour by putting in a pan over medium/medium-high heat. The flour needs to turn light golden brown color. Stir occasionally, it may take about 10 minutes, but watch it closely as it can burn.

  3. Add the cooled-down toasted almond flour to a large bowl, along with the coconut sugar, lime zest, melted and cooled-down butter, vanilla and salt. Stir with a spoon and then use your hands and squeeze the mixture until it forms a dough.

  4. Place dough in a 9.5 inch tart pan and spread it evenly with your hands on the bottom and up the sides.

  5. Bake at 350F for about 20-24 minutes until deep golden brown color.

Assemble The Pie

  1. Once the filling has completely set (it will be stiff and not pourable), take it out of the fridge and use a hand mixer to whip it until it becomes smooth and spreadable.

  2. Fill the pie crust with the filling and use an off-set spatula to smooth it out.

  3. Place pie back in fridge for at least a couple of hours or in freezer for an hour to set.

  4. Zest some key lime on top and serve!

Recipe Notes

We tried using coconut oil to make the crust, but it did not work. You can use ghee, which is lactose and casein free, if you don't want to use butter.