Hi guys! Today's post is a yummy and healthy pie that I've posted about before - made the traditional way with sweetened condensed milk. (Key Lime Pie) but I have finally made a healthy version of the traditional recipe with just lime juice, egg yolks and faux 'sweetened condensed milk' - no cream cheese. No jello. I'm thrilled with this version.
Crust Talk: I had a Dixie Carb Counter Pie Crust mix in the pantry from last Fall. I posted about this once before and didn't tout it too much because it really wasn't great. It is a dark brown crumb mixture that seemed to be a lot of bran and flax seed (?) but little else. It wasn't very good tasting and I hadn't used the 2nd package yet for that reason. I decided to use this and 'doctor' it a bit. I added some low carb baking mix (maybe about 1/3 cup?) and I added about 1/3 cup of granular sweetener. Melted 3-4 T butter, mixed it up and put it in the pie pan. The result was amazing. LOVE this crust now.
Last night I had a slice with whipped cream... but I thought it was even better without it. This morning I opted to have an other piece (for breakfast!) with no whipped cream or topping... it was perfect. Delicious.
Low Carb, Sugar Free Key Lime Pie
1 bag of Key Limes (the very small limes!) OR about 2/3 c bottled or fresh lime juice
4 egg yolks
1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk substitute*
1 pie crust of your choice (see my notes above).
*Sweetened condensed milk substitute
1 can Nestle Media Creme
2/3 cup sweetener (plus about 5-10 drops of a liquid sweetener as a blend of 2 sweeteners always tastes best)
2 T unflavored why protein powder
2 t vanilla
Zest about 4 of the limes.
Slice and juice all the limes.
Strain the juice and reserve. You should have about 2/3 cup of liquid.
In an electric mixer bowl whip the egg yolks and lime zest about 3-5 minutes. If you don't have zest, just beat the egg yolks about 2-3 minutes on their own.
Add the condensed sweetened milk slowly while on low and then whip 3-4 minutes more.
Add the lime juice and mix until blended.
Pour into the graham crust. Bake at 325 degrees until filling is set. A sugar-filled version only takes about 15 minutes but this sugar free, low carb version took about 35 minutes.
Cool 20 minutes on counter. Chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator but will be best if you can chill overnight.
Here is the more traditional pie crust I mentioned above. I use this one for pies like my blueberry pie but you could make it and partially bake it, and use it for the key lime pie as well.
Low Carb, Flour-Free Pie Crust
1 c Blanched Almond Flour
4 T Hodgson Mill Vital Wheat Gluten
2 t xanthan gum
2 T Nature's Best Isopure Unflavored Whey Protein
Powder1 t baking powder
dash of salt
4 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 egg yolks
2 T cold water
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk. Cut in the butter with your fingers and work it in until it's coarse. Beat the egg yolks with cold water and blend it into the dry ingredients. When it forms a ball, remove, place on plastic wrap, form a disk, wrap and chill. Roll out the pie crust (between two pieces of parchment because it's sticky) and place in a large, deep dish pan pan. Mine wouldn't transfer easily so I pieced it together in the pan and pressed it all into place. Bake at 350 until golden brown and firm in the center. Use as you would any pie crust.
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| Dry ingredients in a bowl |
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| Starting to mix it after the butter is added |
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| Wrap in plastic wrap to chill |
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| Pressed into a deep dish pie pan |
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| Baked to perfection! |
