There’s a local restaurant here in Johnson City called Cootie Brown’s. One of their signature items is the key lime pie. They describe it as, “The pie that made Cootie Brown’s famous! Two rich layers of creamy filling – one is smooth & silky, the other is rich & tart. It’s so non-traditional and delicious!”. It’s one of my favorites – the other being Orange Cake ;). They have good real food too, but anyone who’s ever gone out to eat with me knows that I generally order a small entree – probably a salad or maybe even a 1/2 order of a salad – and then I totally order the biggest dessert on the menu! So it’s no surprise that my favorite restaurants have really good desserts. I don’t always want or have the time to go out so I try to create my favorites at home. It took me several tries, but I think I’ve got a pretty good copycat here with the major difference being that I have the layers switched – they have their sweet layer on bottom and tart layer on top and mine is just the opposite. The flavors are pretty much identical though. One traditional layer with condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks and another nontraditional layer with cream cheese, powdered sugar, and more lime juice. It’s best if you let it refrigerate overnight to firm up (and get better photos) but as you can see from the photo, Jordan couldn’t wait =). Enjoy!
Two-Layer Key Lime Pie
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
3 egg yolks
8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar (updated from 4 cups originally)
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsp key lime juice
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in large mixing bowl and stir until combined.
3. Press the mixture into a 8 or 9-inch springform pan.
4. Bake for 8 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
6. Turn the oven down to 300. Whisk condensed milk, 1/2 cup lime juice and egg yolks in a bowl to blend and pour into the pie crust.
7. Bake about 25 minutes, or until the mixture is set. Cool to room temperature.
8. With mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar and continue to beat until fully combined. Add remaining lime juice and beat until smooth. Pour over the cooled baked layer. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Note: The second layer is really sweet, so you may not want to use it all. Jordan thought it was perfect as-is, and I thought it would have been better with a little less.
Delicious dessert! Thanks so much for sharing. BTW I am your new follower.
I'm glad you liked it. Yay for a new follower! =)
Do you think I could make this in a cupcake tin to make individual pies?
Hi Allison,
I haven’t ever tried this recipe in a cupcake tin, but I love the idea of individual pies. I think you could probably make it work, but I worry about how easily it would be to get them out of the cupcake tin in one piece. Maybe if you had a jumbo muffin tin or maybe you could even use those pre-made individual graham cracker crusts from Keebler? If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out! =)
Thanks for stopping by!
Kendra
Thanks! I will try those ideas, I am a former resident of JC and was stoked to find a recipe for this awesome pie!
I’m so excited to finally have found this recipe! I have looked forever for it! This is my favorite dessert and I always get a piece when I go there! Thanks for this!
I hope you like it :).
Thank you for publishing this, we moved to Washington state and of course there is no Cootie Browns! We miss it so much!
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
My hubby & I had our 1st date at Cootie Browns in Johnson City over the Key Lime Pie!! We met on Cinco De Mayo so I can’t believe I just found this recipe! We no longer live there but my family does, so we visit as often as we can. I can’t wait to try this recipe for my honeybunny (KLP is also his Fave) Thank you!
Hope you love it!
How much food coloring did you add to make it green? Delicious, by the way!! Tastes just like theirs!
Glad you enjoyed! I didn’t measure. Just added a few drops at a time until it got to the shade of green I wanted.
With regards to your comment about you vs. your friends opinions on the sweet layer, did you think it was too sweet with the updated 3 cups of sugar or was that referring to the original 4 cups of sugar? Thanks!
I prefer it with 3 cups. Hope you enjoy!
-Kendra