Copycat Publix Key Lime Pie Recipe
Copycat Publix Key Lime Pie Recipe is a homemade buttery graham cracker crust filled with a sweet and tangy key lime filling and adorned with homemade whipped cream and slivered almonds. SO delicious!
Equipment
- stand or hand mixer
- 9-inch pie plate
- zester
- juicer
- large disposable piping bag or a large reusable piping bag
- 1M piping tip
- measuring cups and spoons
- medium and large mixing bowl
- Rubber/silicone spatula
- scissors
- whisk
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 cups (210g) graham cracker crumbs or 14 full sheets of graham crackers if you're crushing them yourself
- 1/2 cup (114g) butter melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the filling
- 4 regular (Persian) or 20-25 key limes For 1/2 cup of lime juice and the zest from two of the limes. (You can also use bottled key lime juice, instead, if you prefer. You will still need limes if you want to add zest. It gives the pie extra flavor)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 14 ounces (396g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon lime zest About 2 limes
For the whipped cream topping
- 2 cups (454g) heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (28g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (57g) slivered almonds
Instructions
For the crust
- Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl. (Or, if you are going to crush the graham crackers yourself, break up graham crackers and add to a food processor. Pulse until the graham crackers turn into crumbs. If you do not have a food processor, you can add the graham crackers to a sealed storage bag and use a mallet or a rolling pin to crush them.)
- Mix together until combined.
- Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl or cup in 20-second increments until melted.
- Pour butter onto crumbs. Stir until combined.
- Pour the crumbs into your pie plate.
- Using a small measuring cup or your hands, press crumbs down evenly into the bottom and up to the sides of the pie plate.
- Once you have your crumbs pressed evenly into your pie plate, refrigerate the crust for 15-20 minutes.
For the filling
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Zest limes with a zester until you have 1 tablespoon and set aside.
- Juice limes until you have 1/2 cup of juice. (You can use bottled key lime juice, instead, if you prefer.)
- Add egg yolks to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Add lime juice and sweetened condensed milk.
- Whisk together until combined.
- Add zest. Mix well until zest is evenly incorporated.
- Remove pie plate from refrigerator and pour filling into the crust.
- Smooth filling evenly with a rubber/silicone spatula.
- Bake pie in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven
- Let pie cool for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
For the whipped cream topping
- Add heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer.
- Using a wire whisk attachment, beat cream on high speed until thick peaks form. (I scrape down the bowl when I see soft peaks form and then beat the rest of the way.)Hint: If you're using a stand mixer, make sure to use the plastic shield so the cream doesn't splatter while whipping. If you're using a hand mixer, you can partially cover your bowl as best you can with a dish towel to keep from splattering.
- Using a large disposable piping bag or a large reusable piping bag, insert your 1M piping tip into the bag to the end.
- Using scissors, mark about halfway up the tip on the piping bag. (Doing this shows you where to cut the bag.)
- Cut the bag using the mark you made with the scissors.
- Push the tip all the way down into the bag.
- Holding your piping bag in one hand, cuff the bag onto your hand to form an opening.
- Fill the piping bag about halfway full with whipped cream. Refill bag as needed.
- Twist the bag closed. You can use a decorating bag tie if you have one.
- Decorate the outer edge of the pie with a shell border, if you know how, or a star border.To pipe a star border, hold the hold the bag straight up, with the tip just slightly above the surface of the pie. Squeeze the bag to form a star. Use light pressure to form a small star; add more pressure to make a bigger star. Stop squeezing before pulling tip away. Repeat all around the pie.
- Sprinkle slivered almonds onto the whipped cream border.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Store key lime pie covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Key lime pie can be frozen for up to 3 months wrapped in plastic wrap and stored inside an airtight container or sealed freezer bag.