We hit a home run. Yesterday, I had said on FB that we wanted Houston’s Key Lime pie, which is our top favorite pies in the world and because it was Valentines and I just knew I would earn more points if I was showing my “thriftiness” by trying to make one at home instead of going and buying 2 slices which would cost about $17, I came home and googled “Houston’s Key Lime Pie” and ding dong, there on the page was a recipe that I tried last night and we sat there just in Key Lime Pie heaven…apparently, there is a chef that goes around and calls himself the CopyCat Chef by trying to duplicate different famous recipes from restaurants that people want, but cannot get…so he had one for Houston’s Key Lime Pie…I did tweak it just a little, because I totally believe their crust has cinnamon in it, plus ground up pecans or walnuts, so I did change the crust he had listed…so will give you my version of the crust, because I feel like it is closer to the real thing than what he had…so here it is!

Make your regular graham cracker crust but add 1 teas cinnamon and substitute light brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Because I was at Trader Joe’s I ended up buying their cinnamon graham crackers which are really good and then just had to add the brown sugar and crushed pecans. I made my crust in a food processor which made the crumbs really finely crushed…I also put the pecans in it at the same time plus the brown sugar.  Add the amount of butter the recipe calls for. Put crumbs mixture into a 9″ pie plate and be sure that you have pushed some up the sides of the pie plate also..bake at 350 for about 8-10 min. Cool completely.

For Filling, I used 2 cans Eagle Brand Milk, 2/3 cup lime juice and 6 egg yolks. Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until light and all ingredients are blended well. I think using the food processor and whipping the mixture well, made it so much more light and fluffy than a normal key lime pie you get at restaurants. Pour into pie shell and bake for 15-18 min until the middle feels almost firm to the touch.

Cool completely and frost with the real thing, whipped cream that you have sweetened, but no vanilla. It will tastes just like Houston’s Key Lime Pie.