No-Bake Key Lime Protein Pie
⏱ 20 min + 4 hr chill💪 18g protein per slice🔥 ~295 cal🍽 8 slices
Traditional key lime pie sets with sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. This one sets with gelatin and holds 18g of protein a slice from Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and whey. The one thing that can wreck it is adding hot gelatin or dry powder straight to cold acidic dairy, so the order of operations below matters more than the ingredient list.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (125g) almond flour
- 3 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 cups (480g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt, strained if watery
- 8 oz (226g) light cream cheese, softened
- 2 scoops (60g) vanilla whey protein powder
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1/3 cup (110g) honey
- 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
- 1/4 cup (60ml) cold water
Instructions
- Stir the almond flour, melted butter, and maple syrup together, press firmly up the sides and across the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate, and freeze 20 minutes while you make the filling.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl and let it bloom 5 minutes, then microwave 10 to 15 seconds until liquid and clear. Set it aside to cool to just barely warm.
- Beat the cream cheese alone until smooth, then add the Greek yogurt, honey, lime juice, and zest and beat until uniform. Add the protein powder last and beat on low for a full minute until no grit remains.
- With the mixer running on low, stream in the warm gelatin. Do not stop mixing while you pour or it will set into strings instead of blending in.
- Pour into the chilled crust, smooth the top, and refrigerate at least 4 hours and preferably overnight before slicing.
- Keep covered in the fridge up to 4 days. Do not freeze the whole pie, since gelatin weeps water as it thaws.
Tips
- Gelatin temperature decides everything. Hot gelatin hitting cold whey makes rubbery lumps, and cold gelatin sets before it disperses. Let it cool until the bowl feels barely warm on your wrist, then stream it in with the beaters going.
- Whey plus acid is the risky combination in this pie. Mix the lime juice into the dairy first and add the powder last, on low speed. Dumping whey into straight lime juice curdles it into specks you cannot smooth back out.
- Bottled key lime juice is sharper than fresh. If you use it, cut it to 7 tablespoons and add an extra tablespoon of honey, or the filling reads sour rather than tart.
FAQ
- Can I make this without gelatin?
- You can substitute a 1 oz box of sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix, which sets it soft enough to spoon but not cleanly sliceable. Agar works too at 1 1/2 teaspoons, but it must be boiled in the water for a full minute first.
- Why is my filling grainy?
- The whey never fully dissolved. Beat it in on low for a full minute and let the filling rest 10 minutes before pouring, which gives the powder time to hydrate.
- Can I use casein instead of whey?
- Yes, and it thickens the filling noticeably more. Add 3 tablespoons of milk to compensate, and the pie will set slightly firmer than the whey version.
- Does the crust need to be baked?
- No. Freezing sets the butter and holds the almond flour together. If you prefer a toastier crust, bake it at 350F for 10 minutes and cool it completely first.
