No Bake Key Lime Pie
This quick and easy no bake key lime pie takes a couple of shortcuts, but it's just as delicious as the "real thing."
Servings: 8 slices
Equipment
- Handheld mixer or stand mixer for making whipped cream
- Blender for blending the juice mixture
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 ½ cups gluten free graham crackers crushed into crumbs (See Recipe Notes)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
For the filling
- 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream chilled
- ⅝ cup freshly squeezed key lime juice (or combination of freshly squeezed lemon and lime juices, each half the total volume)
- 1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin (if using packets, you'll need 1 whole packet)
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- Chocolate fudge frosting chilled (optional; see Recipe Notes)
Instructions
Make the crust.
- In a large bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and melted butter until well-combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9-inch nonstick or greased pie plate.
- Place the pie plate in the freezer until firm (at least 10 minutes, but longer is fine).
Make the filling.
- Place the heavy whipping cream in a medium-size bowl and, using a handheld mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer), whip until the cream holds lightly stiff peaks. Place the whipped cream in the refrigerator to chill.
- In a blender, place the citrus juice, and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Add the zest, cover the blender, and shake to combine. Allow the gelatin to sit in the liquid briefly so that it can gel.
- Blend the mixture until very smooth. The gelatin should no longer be at all visible, and the zest should appear as no more than a few, very small green flecks.
- In a large bowl, place the sweetened condensed milk and the juice mixture. Mix to combine well.
- Add the chilled whipped cream to the large bowl, and carefully fold it into the lemon-lime sweetened condensed milk mixture. Continue to fold the mixture together, taking care not to deflate the whipped cream, until no more than a few white streaks remain.
- Pour the filling into the chilled crust, and smooth the top with a spatula. You can cover the top of the pie now with some chilled fudge frosting or ganache, or add it later after the pie is set or on top of each slice before serving.
- Cover the pie with plastic wrap, but don't let the wrap touch the surface of the filling and/or frosting.
- Place the pie in the refrigerator and chill it for at least 4 hours or until fully set.
- Remove the pie from the refrigerator, and uncover it. Using a sharp, moistened knife, slice the pie and serve it chilled.
Video
Notes
For the cookie crust.
We have a whole post on how to make a gluten free graham cracker crust for no bake pies just like this. I used my gluten free graham crackers recipe, but really any crunchy gluten free cookie, crushed into crumbs, makes a great no bake pie crust.
For the chocolate fudge frosting.
I used the recipe we made with our gluten free chocolate zucchini cake. It can be poured on each individual slice when you serve it, or poured on top of the pie and chilled together with the pie until the filling is set (but the frosting will not harden).
You can also use the simple chocolate ganache topping from our peanut butter pie, or just leave the pie plain.
Originally published on the blog in 2013. In 2022, recipe simplified, photos, video and text mostly new.
Adapted from the “Key” Lime Pie Squares on page 156 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy: 100 Recipes for the Food You Love–Fast! (Da Capo 2012).