Jared/Daddy's Birthday Key Lime Pie

This tart, sweet, and creamy gift from heaven takes a lot of squeezing limes to make, but the recipe itself is simple and so, so delicious and is your "other dad"/dad's most requested dessert.

You can make this with normal limes, and while it would be delicious, it just wouldn't technically be key lime pie. Luckily, key limes are readily available in grocery stores these days, so I've never had a problem getting them. You could also replace the key lime juice with fresh lemon juice for a delicious lemon pie.

INGREDIENTS

For the graham cracker crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup granulated sugar

6 T salted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the key lime filling:

1 cup key lime juice (about 2 bags of key limes from the store)

2 tsp key lime zest

2 (14oz) cans sweetened condensed milk

5 large egg yolks

For the topping:

1 1/2 Heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. key lime zest

DIRECTIONS

First, you want to get the crust done. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Stir together the graham cracker crust ingredients until incorporated well and then press into a 9" pie plate. Bake for 9 minutes and then take out to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Next, prepare the filling by whisking all of the filling ingredients together well until fully combined. Pour into the prepared and cooled graham cracker crust. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the top is just beginning to set (it will still be slightly jiggly). Take out of the oven and allow to cool to room temperature for a couple of hours. Then, refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours.

Before serving, whip up the whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, begin whipping the heavy cream until it starts to thicken up a bit. Add in the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whisk until soft peaks form.

Top the pie with the whipped cream and sprinkles of the lime zest.