There’s nothing like a cold, refreshing, creamy, no-bake, dessert on a hot day like we’ve been having this summer. I went looking on Pinterest for something sweet and tasty to pair with a summer dinner done on the grill, and what I came up with was Individual Frozen Key Lime Pies. They looked simple enough, which of course means they weren’t really simple at all.
The ingredients included key lime juice (fresh but I just bought one of the little lime shaped bottles of it), sweetened condensed milk, whipped topping, cream cheese, butter, and graham crackers. I actually misunderstood the amount of whipped topping required and just got lucky that I bought a new container of it to go with the bit of vanilla whip cream I already had.
Mixing everything together was relatively easy. Smashing up the graham crackers for the crusts was fun and making the filling was messy but not a big deal. It was when I got to the assembling and freezing part that I had some issues. The recipe called for individual silicone baking cups which I did not have. I decided to use a muffin tin and hope for the best. I contemplated adding cupcake wrappers as I thought maybe they’d make it easier to remove the pies when they were done. In the end I forgo using them as I was worried they’d stick too much once the filling froze.
The pies were placed in the freezer and given almost five hours to set (there was exciting Family Dinner stuff going on during that time). Once they were ready I pulled out the muffin tin and tried to pop out one of the pies. It did not go well. They were really, REALLY stuck in there. But then I tried the trick that was mentioned in the recipe and submerged the bottom half inch of the muffin tin in warm water for a half a minute. When I tried again to remove a pie from the muffin tin it slid around a bit and then came right out. The sides were a bit melty but the mini pie retained its shape better than I expected.
I placed the pie on a little plate, topped with a dollop of vanilla whip cream, and served to the first family member I could find. I had taste-tested the filling earlier so I was fairly certain the pies would be good, but I was pleased when the first one was devoured in record time.
The mini frozen key lime pies were a success. Everyone enjoyed them and at least one person had a second pie. They were sweet and tangy, cool and refreshing, and definitely a great summer dessert idea. I’m calling this recipe a WIN.
SOURCE – Individual Frozen Key Lime Pies
