Kermit's Key Lime Pie Recipe: Create a Tart and Tangy Masterpiece

Key limes, a native of Florida, traveled a long way from Southeast Asia to win hearts and become an inspiration for countless recipes. The lime family consists of several varieties gently touching or hard-kicking the sour-tasting buds. With their firm acidity, key limes can be the perfect balancing ingredient for sweet pies.

Kermit's Key West Lime Shoppe, an iconic business venture of Key West, is enjoying national and global fame. They are devoted to their main ingredient. The store sells around 150 products made with key lime, and they are not all food either. They also sell personal care products carrying the fragrant essence of key limes. Their pie, one of the most sought-after of Kermit's merchandise, brings all the goodness of a sweet-sour combo. One of the most distinctive features of the pie is that despite its powerful ingredients, the outcome is very balanced. Kermit's pie is a mouth-pleaser, offering sweet, sour, crunchy, and creamy together in one bite.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Pro Tips
• Kermit's Key Lime Pie Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

1. For the homemade crust

• Graham crackers — 1 ½ cups, crumbled
• Brown sugar — ¼ cup
• Butter — 3 tbsp. and 1 tsp. (for greasing the pan), softened

2. For the custard

• Egg yolks — 6 pcs. (the eggs being at room temperature) 
• Sweetened condensed milk — 2 cans (14 oz. each)
• Kermit’s key lime juice — ⅔ cups, room temperature

3. For the topping

• Whipped cream — 1 ½ cups, cold

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 360°F.

2. Mix the crushed crackers, brown sugar, and softened butter in a bowl. Use your hands for the ingredients to incorporate fully.

3. Grease a 9-inch pie tin or mold with 1 tsp. of butter. Place the crust dough on it. Press the mixture to disperse evenly, using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a glass.

4. Put the egg yolks in another bowl large enough to hold the custard ingredients. Whisk well using a hand whisk or an electric mixer. Add the condensed milk and continue whisking. When you get a homogeneous mixture, add the lime juice. Whisk till the mixture thickens.

5. Place the pie tin in the oven and bake it for around 20 minutes. Check after 18 minutes. When the custard looks settled, take it out. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

6. When the pie cools to room temperature, put it in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.

7. Put the cold whipping cream in a bowl and whisk until you get soft peaks. Decorate the top of the pie with whipped cream and slices for serving.

Substitutions

• Pie crust — There are ready-to-use pie crust alternatives for this recipe. You can buy a 9-inch graham cracker pie crust if you aim for quicker results.

• Kermit’s key lime juice — You can substitute this ingredient with fresh lime juice in the same amount. If you opt for this, you should be careful about two things. First, use key limes. If you can't find them, look for lime varieties with similar acidity to key limes. The second is to strain the fresh juice before using.

• Graham crackers — If you are making your own crust, you may substitute graham crackers with biscuits.

Variations

• Make it gluten-free — If you are gluten intolerant or on a gluten-free diet, the way to enjoy your Kermit's key lime pie is to use gluten-free biscuits.

Equipment

• Measuring spoons and cups

• 9-inch pie dish or tin (for the homemade crust)

• Oven

• Hand whisk or electric mixer

• 3 mixing bowls

• Serving plates

Storage

• You can store the pie in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. It is best to use a pie plate with a lid. 

• You can store the pie in the freezer for up to a month. You can use the pie plate covered with a lid. Another way is cutting it into slices. Put the leftover pieces in an airtight container. When you take it out of the freezer, allow the pie to thaw for about 15 minutes, then serve.

Pro Tips

• Using the egg yolks at room temperature for this recipe is essential. After taking them out of the fridge, eggs should wait on the counter for around 45 minutes to an hour to reach room temperature. When the eggs get to room temperature, break them and separate the yolks.

• You may be thinking about what to do with all the egg whites. Well, we have some suggestions. The first one is preparing a meringue for the pie. Separate half of the egg whites and measure them with a cup. Add powdered sugar twice the amount of the egg whites and beat it with a stand or hand mixer until firm peaks occur. Transfer the meringue to the top of the pie. With a blowtorch, toast the meringue. You can also use the oven's broiler for toasting.

• Our second tip for using egg whites: Use them to prepare a fit omelet. Finely chop some greens such as dill, basil, coriander, etc. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, add salt, ground black pepper, and greens, heat on a nonstick pan, and there you have a healthy breakfast.

• If the above suggestions don't work for you, you may use pasteurized egg yolks instead of separating six eggs. You should use about six tablespoons of pasteurized egg yolks for this recipe.