Atlantic Beach Pie Recipe: When Lemon Meringue Pie Meets Key Lime Pie by Jan Mostrom

This Atlantic Beach Pie recipe was created by a Bill Smith, a chef in North Carolina. He was inspired by the lemon pies of his childhood. If you like key lime pie and/or lemon meringue pie, you are going to love this citrus pie recipe!

Bill assures us that “anyone can make this pie.” I'm not much of a pie baker – other than an apple pie every now and then – so with Bill’s assurances I just had to try his Atlantic Beach Pie. This creamy pie has a crust made of saltines, which is new to me. It is a simple pie recipe, but does take some patience while waiting for it to cool.

Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! My husband, who loves key lime pie, said this is even better. With its extra crispy crust and smooth citrus flavor, you might just have a new favorite dessert.

So grab a pen and jot down your simple shopping list for this Atlantic Beach pie recipe. You will need saltine crackers, butter, granulated sugar, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, fresh lime juice, fresh lemon juice, heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar. Ready to get baking?

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes plus time to cool and chill 
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes plus time to cool and chill 
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Pie

• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed saltine crackers (about 1 sleeve)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 2 large limes)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 to 1 1/2 lemons)
• lemon and lime zest, for garnish

Whipped Cream

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Helpful Products

• Pie Plate
• Mixing Bowl
• Whisk
• Electric Mixer

Recipe Notes

• Use a rolling pin to crush the saltine crackers.
  

• The pie can be stored, covered, without whipped cream topping in the refrigerator up to four days. Make whipped cream right before serving. 

Here's how to make it: 

1. Stir together crushed crackers, melted butter, granulated sugar and egg white in a mixing bowl until combined.
   
2. Press cracker mixture in a 9-inch glass pie plate, firmly spreading on bottom and sides. Place in freezer for 10 minutes, then bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven until crust is lightly brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
   
3. While the crust cools whisk together condensed milk and egg yolks until smooth.
   
   
4. Stir in lime juice and lemon juice until combined.
   
5. Pour lime mixture into warm crust. Bake until center is just set, about 15 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours.
   
6. Shortly before you want to serve, beat heavy cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form (with a hand mixer this can take a while so be patient).
   
7. Spread whipped cream topping over chilled pie. Garnish with lemon and lime zests, if desired.
   
    

Recipe cooking times and servings are approximate. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography. Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

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