Key Lime Pie

Never buy bottled lime juice of any kind. Taste horrible. You'll never taste the difference between limes in a key lime pie. Cooks Illustrated did a blind taste test and absolutely no one could tell the difference.

I grew up in Florida with a very prolific "Key Lime Pie Tree" outside my bedroom and squeezed thousands of limes over the years for my mother's pies. Most Florida old timers like me assert that a "real" Key Lime Pie is topped with a lightly sweetened meringue, not whipped cream. It seems intuitively obvious that's what the first pie-maker would have done with the leftover whites. I know, there's a debate, but take a second to think about it. And it's a lot more special than whipped cream.

My family’s favorite substitution is making the crust out of crushed Ginger Snaps. It wins over graham crackers by a mile!

The perfect crust is biscoff lotus cookies with with some dessicated coconut added in. It’s an interesting crust versus bland G crackers

Key limes are a pain to juice. They’re grape-sized, so you need a lot of them, with each producing a tiny amount of juice. I’ve made this pie many times with key limes and with regular limes. There isn’t much of a difference in taste and no one has ever been able to tell the difference (including Floridian friends and family members). I’ve also made the pie with whipped cream or meringue toppings and they are equally delicious. Sweetened condensed milk is essential for the pie to set properly.

Oh, Claudia. Just stop. Find another recipe. In the meantime, I love sweetened condensed milk and will happily eat it plain. I don’t think you can make key lime pie without it because of how the ingredients have to work together to become the filling. See you in The Keys, everybody!

I've been using Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice for decades. EVERYONE adores my key lime pie and begs for me to make it. We all prefer bottled (real!) key lime juice to Persian limes, though the latter is perfectly good. As someone that ran a boutique dessert business, trust me and save yourself some time if that's the difference between making KLP and not. Most important is the lime (or lemon in a pinch) and extra crust.

Ugh on the sweetened condensed milk. I didn't know it still existed. Is there a healthier alternative, like yogurt?

No, no, no. Regular Persian limes have a different flavor than key limes. You can buy key lime juice in grocery stores.

Use your garlic press to squeeze the juice of key limes. Halve them and place one half cut side down in the press. Much faster and more effective than hand squeezing!

And chocolate, ginger snap or shortbread cookies make a much better crust

This is a great gluten free dessert to make. If you are allergic to gluten you need only find a favorite gluten free graham cracker (I used Schar brand - 1 package 5.6 oz.) and a gluten free sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand). This pie turned out great! I did not have key limes so I followed the recipe in the notes to make Persian lime juice mixed with lemon juice to give the filling a key lime taste. Delicious.

Lived in Key West for 3 years and worked as a pastry chef making hundreds and hundreds of KLPs. Nellie and Joe's all the way! And NO ZEST in the filling!!! It turns bitter and grainy! Ick!!

On the west coast, I don't really have access to key limes, so I make this recipe with local Meyer lemons in place of the limes. It's absolutely stunning and one of my favorite desserts ever!

Thanks for the options regarding limes. Surprisingly not every NYT subscriber lives in the USA.