Lazy Mommy No-Bake Key Lime & Cream Pie......Take 1 & 2

Ok.....Here's the deal.....and some cooking honesty. I love key lime pie....have made it a few times....but I have never made the cool creamy ones that I get out at restaurants and in the supermarket. If you're a Key Lime lover like me , then you know the ones I'm talking about.......the ones that practically melt  if you leave it out on the counter for longer than 30 mins. But geeze.....the're good!!  ...so going back to the honesty part...I tried to get lazy with this because I saw a can of key lime pie filling in the store and thought it was just going to be a matter of tossing that bad boy into a pre-made graham cracker crust and voilà! Perfectly tasty key lime awesomeness!.

I was wrong....it was really ...kinda ...one dimensional. So key lime cream pie #1 was a bust....but of course this cookin' mama never lets anything go....not without a fight...so on to take #2!


What did I do to fix this up you ask??? well here we go....!


Here's what you need.............(don't worry....this one's easy!)

• one package pre made graham cracker crust
• 2 packages of 16 oz cream cheese (you only need one....but the extra you may need if you melt your cheese too much in the microwave) be safe..get 2.
• 8-12 plump key limes or some lime juice but make sure to buy 1 or 2 limes for garnish (lucky for me the sell key limes at my local store!)
• half stick of butter (softened)
• 2 or 3 cups of heavy cream, whipped and sweetened with sugar (or use cool whip...I like fresh cream best)
• 1 can of key lime pie filling or 1 can sweetened condensed milk (I used the lack luster pie filling)
• lime zest (just grate the skin of one or two limes).
• 1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar..you can make your own too)

First for the pie crust.....I removed the crust from the package, crumbled it up  in a bowl and mixed it with the melted butter. I used a square baking dish and pressed the soft crumbs to the bottom....but you can leave it in the original foil pie pan if you like ..then skip using the butter.

*juice your limes leaving one or two for garnish!

*soften your cream cheese! (take it out of the foil-ish package..put on a plate..nuke it for 10-20 seconds)

in a mixer or big bowl using your own arm power...mix the lime juice, (pie filling & cup of sugar)  or (condensed milk  & don't use the cup of sugar) and cream cheese until its smooth..or until you're tired and your arm hurts lol! then add  3/4 of your prepared whipped cream and fold it in until its blended well.

Scrape key lime mixture into your graham cracker crust of choice and garnish with lime slices and lime zest....chill in the freezer a few hours until its semi solid. 

Slice, top with some of the whipped cream you set aside & enjoy