With Easter right around the corner, many hosts are looking for a light and refreshing dessert to serve their guests. Try this easy key lime pie recipe with a graham cracker crust, then pile it high with whipped cream! This pie isn't just for Easter. It's light and creamy and good any time of the year!

Obviously, it's always best if you can find fresh key limes from Florida. They're much smaller and light colored compared to the typical dark green limes you're probably familiar with. Don't have your own personal key lime tree here in Rhode Island? Then you'll have to do the best you can with fresh limes from the local supermarket. By no means use bottled lime juice! You'll be able to tell right away that the pie doesn't have that clean "fresh" taste. Besides, you're going to need fresh lime zest anyway, so you may as well buy the real thing.

Wondering where key lime pie came from? Read the History of Key Lime Pie by What's Cooking America.

Best Key Lime Pie Recipe

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated

Graham Cracker Crust Recipe

• 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

1. Mix ingredients together in a medium bowl 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Fill a 9-inch pie pan or dish with the graham cracker mixture, forming it into the pan, and pressing all around and up the sides. Set aside.
3. Whip egg whites in a clean, dry bowl of a high-speed mixer, or in a medium bowl with a hand-held mixer. Beat whites until stiff peaks form. Remove egg whites to a clean bowl.  
4. In the same bowl (no need to clean it!), combine lime juice, lime zest, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk, and mix with the whip attachment until frothy and thick.
5. Gently fold whipped egg whites into the lime juice mixture, and blend only until all ingredients are incorporated. You don't want to beat them so hard that the egg whites deflate.
6. Place graham cracker crust on a baking sheet. Pour the Key Lime batter into the shell, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pie is puffy and the edges just start to brown.  
7. Remove from oven and let cool completely before decorating with whipped cream, lime slices and/or graham cracker crumbs.
8. Serves 8. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sweetened Whipped Cream Recipe

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Whip heavy whipping cream until almost stiff.
2. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Whip until stiff.

Shopping for Ingredients in Rhode Island

You should be able to find everything you need for this Key Lime Pie Recipe at Whole Foods Market, Dave's Marketplace, Trader Joe's, and Stop & Shop stores throughout the Providence, Rhode Island area.

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Photo Property of Donna Diegel