Key Lime Pie with Coconut Graham Cracker Crust

One of my "a few times a week" blog reads is Coconut and Lime. Upon reading last week, I saw that Rachel is celebrating her three year blogiversary so I figured, "What better way to honor Rachel and her blog than to make a Key Lime Pie with Coconut Graham Cracker Crust?" This recipe is my standard key lime pie recipe in which I substituted 1/2 cup of the crushed graham crackers in the crust with 1/2 cup sweetened coconut instead. Also, I sprinkled the top of the pie with toasted coconut and added a slice of lime for some much-needed visual pizazz.

Happy 3rd Blogiversary, Rachel and Coconut and Lime!!!

Since Rachel isn't here in person to enjoy this cool, refreshing pie with me, I enjoyed a big, yummy piece of it along with my friend Kurt. I know that key lime pie just happens to be one of his favorite desserts, and since his birthday is coming up, it was an early treat for him (and also a nice change from a traditional birthday cake). The tart, creamy filling is delicious, and the coconut in the crust and on top really adds a nice texture and flavor, too. Who knew coconut and lime were so good together? (Obviously, Rachel did.)

Key Lime Pie with Coconut Graham Cracker Crust

Crust
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons crushed graham crackers
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 (8 ounce) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
½ cup key lime juice

Topping
3 tablespoons sweetened coconut, toasted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In medium bowl, mix crushed graham crackers and coconut together. Add melted butter and mix until well blended. Using the tines of a dinner fork or your fingers, press crust mixture into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake crust until set, about 5-6 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack before filling.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add in key lime juice; stir to combine. Pour filling into crust. Sprinkle top of pie with toasted coconut. Cover pie with plastic wrap and chill at least 12 hours (or until set) before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

 
















A celebratory slice for Rachel:

 

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

My great-grandmother was a fantastic cook and baker. Sadly, after she died, my grandfather threw out all of her wonderful recipes. (She made the best Christmas cookies. I still think about them every December.)

Anyway...

In the past, my mom has mentioned how much she liked a cheesecake pie my great-grandmother used to make. According to my mom, it was "probably made with Philadelphia cream cheese" and it "had a faint lemon taste" to it. That's about all I know. Pretty vague, but I get the point. Simple and basic everyday ingredients are always in style and usually produce darn-good recipes (dern-good if you're from the south). I looked through a few of my cookbooks and searched online for any lemon-flavored cheesecake pie recipes (or anything remotely similar), but most of the recipes I came across either used a box of powdered lemon pudding mix (ewww!!!) or incorporated Cool Whip (gag!!!) to make a fluffy refrigerator pie. After a little bit of culinary thought and experimentation, I combined ingredients and tweaked measurements from three different recipes to come up with the concoction below. I can't wait to make it for my mom when she comes out west in October to visit me. (Sadly, I won't see her again before then.) I'm curious to see if it tastes remotely close to what my great-grandmother used to make for her when she was growing up.

It's cool, creamy and delicious with a slight lemon taste.

In any case, I'm sending this virtual pie to my mom in celebration of Mother's Day on Sunday.

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (8 oz.) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
One 9-inch graham cracker crust, baked and cooled*

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs until thick and light yellow, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and flour, beating until well-blended. Pour the egg mixture into a small bowl and set aside.

In the same bowl used to beat the eggs, beat cream cheese with a small amount of the evaporated milk until smooth.

Add remaining evaporated milk, lemon juice and lemon peel; beat until smooth and well-blended. Pour egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture; beat just until blended.

Pour mixture into the prepared graham cracker crust. Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least four hours (or overnight). Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

* To make a graham cracker crust, combine 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Press into a 9-inch glass pie pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack before filling.

 

Pasta + Candy Bar Pie = Oh, my tummy aches!!!

I think I may fall asleep typing this post tonight. Between eating a big bowl of pasta for lunch/dinner today and eating a piece of Candy Bar Pie for dessert, I am miserably stuffed and currently have no plans to eat again until dinner at Brio with my neighbor/friend Colleen tomorrow night. (I say that now, but I'm sure a peach muffin will be appealing in the morning.) All I know at this point is that a long, heart-pumping and sweaty workout on the stationary bike is in order tomorrow morning. I'd like to burn at least 450-500 of the 5,000 or so calories I've eaten today. (I really hope I haven't eaten that much, but feeling the way I do right now, it wouldn't surprise me.)

I was in Florida when my brother Mike's (36th!) birthday rolled around last month, but I finally got around to making him a celebratory treat. I made the pie last night and let it chill overnight in the fridge. After tasting it, we both agree it was really good. However, Mike thought the Snickers miniatures were too hard and somewhat difficult to chew, and I thought it was just a bit over-the-top too rich and heavy. I did like the creaminess of the middle layer, though. Take my word...a small piece is all you need. I let the pie sit out on the counter for 20 minutes before cutting it, yet the miniatures on the bottom were somewhat difficult to cut through...not impossible to cut through, but I had to cut slowly and use a bit of force. If you plan to try this recipe, I would recommend using thinly sliced candy bar pieces instead and letting the pie sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cutting. If you decide to use miniatures, cut them in half instead of keeping them whole like I did. Use a warm sharp knife to cut the pie, too, or the top chocolate layer will crack as you cut the pie into pieces. Anyway, it's a really good recipe, but take it from me...this would be best served after a light lunch or dinner.

Candy Bar Pie

Source: Taste of Home

5 Snickers candy bars (2.07 ounces each), cut into ¼-inch pieces
1 pastry shell (9 inches), baked and cooled
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place candy bar pieces in the pastry shell; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream and peanut butter; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into pastry shell. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. Cool completely on wire rack.

In small heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat until smooth. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Cut with a warm knife.

Yield: 8-10 servings

More notes: I used 24 Snickers miniatures to line the bottom of the baked pie shell. I also used 1/3-less-fat cream cheese and light sour cream. Make sure not to use that old Peter Pan peanut butter sitting in your pantry, though. I like my brother, so I used Skippy. I also used Guittard semisweet chocolate chips (my favorite chocolate chips). I baked this for the full 40 minutes and it set perfectly…smooth top surface and light brown crust.