Sometimes for family gatherings and holidays, you need a dessert that will go far. And this is a great one. It is made in a jelly roll pan and you just cut into little squares. Now, does everyone like Key lime pie? Probably not but as the hostess, it is at your discretion what you provide at the table.

The graham cracker crust is the easiest to make. Crumbs, sugar, and melted butter will bake into a nice thin crust. Most people like to use the easy condensed milk version but I listened to Momma and made my own custard filling. It did not take but a few minutes.

Within 30 minutes, I had this whole dessert made and in the fridge so that is a plus right there.

I still hear pantry doors slamming, pots clinking and other kitchen noises as Momma multitasked during the Christmas season. She didn’t believe in “dragging around.” Everything she did was fast. She said that was because her Momma was “slow as a doodle.” She reported that her and her siblings almost starved to death waiting for her Momma to cook their meals. Ethel, as we called our grandmother, was slow all the way to the end of her 97 years.

She had a string of keys. She even had a key to her freezer that was on the back porch. After all that pea shelling and corn-shucking, she wasn’t going to have anyone helping themselves to her filled to the top largest chest freezer I had ever seen. When I say filled to the top, it was exactly that. Things in the bottom were probably dated over ten years prior. My Momma carried on that tradition.

We learned to start asking Ethel to get her keys ready within ten miles of arriving at the house, especially in the hot summertime. You would think the purse was a bottomless pit but it was a standard black patent purse with a snap clasp at the top. The problem was that it had a lot of pockets so while she was rifling through, we were sweating bullets waiting to get to that cool house. As she finally found the right key ( cause there were several on the ring), we all let out a sigh of relief. She was much loved by all of us. I may have inherited some of her leisurely ways but now I realize it just means ” I am stopping to smell the roses.”

Yield: 16

KEY LIME PIE SQUARES

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Key lime pie with cooked custard, graham cracker crust and whipped cream topping

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

CRUST

• 3 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup melted and cooled butter

FILLING

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch salt
• 2 cups milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup Key lime juice
• 1 tablespoon butter

Topping

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 cup confectioners sugar

Instructions

CRUST

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 15 x 10 jelly roll pan lightly with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix crumbs and sugar. Then pour butter in a stream stirring constantly to ensure all crumbs are moistened.

Press mixture in the pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Cool.

FILLING

In a saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt well.

Put egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside.

Add milk to .the sugar mixture and whisk well.

Cook, stirring constantly (med-high heat) until the milk begins to bubble around the sides.

Dip a cup of the hot milk mixture and pour in a small stream over the egg yolks as you whisk them well. Pour back into the saucepan. Stir and cook until the mixture becomes thick like a custard (3-4min).

Remove from heat and gradually pour in the lime juice.

Cool and then spread onto your crust.

TOPPING

In a large mixing bowl, begin beating the cream. Gradually add the sugar. When you see soft peaks, spread over the filling.

You can garnish with lime slices and zest.

Notes

To save time, you could use Cool Whip topping.

I used Nellie and Joe's Key West Lime Juice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 441Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 232mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 1gSugar: 32gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.

_ Eleanor Roosevelt