Aunt Martha's KEY LIME (or Lemon) ICEBOX PIE

To make LEMON ICEBOX PIE, substitute lemon juice and zest in place of lime in the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks at room temperature (4 if the eggs are small or medium)
Key Lime Juice, approximately ½ cup
¼ teaspoon of grated lime zest (optional)
1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 small pinch of salt
1 – 8” graham cracker pie shell
Meringue, Coolwhip Topping, Ice Cream, Whipped Cream, or Sour Cream as described below (the topping is optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks. Stir in the juice and zest (if used), and add the condensed milk. Beat to blend the eggs, juice and condensed milk.&n bsp; While blending, add the vanilla extract and salt. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well blended. Pour into the pie shell evenly. If using a meringue, spread it over the pie, being careful to cover it to the edges. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the meringue (if used) is browned. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
If a meringue is not used, Coolwhip Topping or Whipped Cream may be served on the pie, or use the optional sour cream recipe below.


Notes:
To save time, commercial bottled lime or lemon juice can be used. However, I use at least one fresh lime or lemon for=2 0the zest and fresh juice.
To have fuller pies, if not using meringue, use three recipes of pie filling and fill only two crusts. Bake a little longer for the fuller crusts.

Optional Sour Cream Topping:

1/2 Pint or 1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt

While the pie is baking, mix the sugar and salt into the sour cream.
When you remove the pie from the oven, reset the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spread the sour cream mixture evenly over the pie. When the oven reaches 425 degrees, return the pie to the oven and bake it for 5 or 6 minutes to set the sour cream. Remove the pie from the oven. If you want to add decorations like sprinkles or maybe some lime zest, do so at this time.
Cool to room temperature, cover and wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate or freeze. Slices can be served chilled or frozen.

Note: If you want more sour cream topping, use 3/4 pint (1 ½ cups) of sour cream and ½ cup of sugar.



Just for interest, I read one recipe that was very similar to this fro m Saran Wrap, except it called for 2 whole eggs instead of just egg yokes. Otherwise it was the same.



For a larger pie, buy the larger graham cracker crust with two extra slices and fill with two recipes worth of filling. This brings the filling nearly to the top of the crust, so a topping has little room if you do this.