May 2 2016

No Bake Coconut Key Lime Mini Cheesecake Pies

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Okay now that it’s May I REFUSE to allow Mother Nature to give me any more cold weather that requires me to turn on my furnace in the morning or late evenings. I REFUSE to wear a coat in the morning to work only to ride home with my air conditioner on. I REFUSE to have to keep a coat in my car “in case” it’s nippy out. I REFUSE, you hear me lady? Yeah… that went over like a ton of bricks considering my furnace is actually running right now AND I have sweats on. I swear, Mother Nature is a cruel witch. But you know what I decided if I can’t make her change the weather to that in the tropics, I can bring the flavors of the tropics to me! That’s where these amazing No Bake Coconut Key Lime Mini cheesecake pies come into play. They have all the tart and citrusy flavors of the tropics but sadly without the grass hut or the cabana pool boy. I tried asking Mr. Fantabulous to be the cabana pool boy but he wasn’t having it. But what he was having were these pies!

Are you a key lime lover too? Do you know the different between key limes and regular limes? I’ll be the first to confess I didn’t. I mean I used to think they were one in the same. Man was I sooooooo mistaken! When I was in my 20’s I went down to Key West and it was there I had my first real key lime pie. OMG it was unlike any other pie I had ever had. SUPER tart but yet you craved more and more. You’d make that ‘tart’ face – you know the one where your lips purse, you close one eye while squinching up the other, you maybe shudder a bit from the tartness but then as fast as it hits it, is as fast as it dissipates leaving you with such a smooth bright flavor.

Check out some more Effortless Pies!

When I returned back home and tried to replicate that pie I failed miserably. It was ‘off’. It wasn’t until I met someone who was from the Caribbean Islands who explained to me that you actually need to use key limes and not traditional limes (Persian). You see Key Limes aren’t as tart as traditional limes. They are significantly smaller than traditional limes and yield less juice. But the flavors are more pungent and almost bitter in the key lime which gives it that unique edge over its counterpart. When you make key lime pie you want green key limes. Because they are immature fruits they are coveted for their acidity. As the lime ripens it turns to a yellowish hue thus the acid content diminishes greatly and produces a more sweeter fruit.

So when the great folks from Oikos®, Keebler® and Reddi-wip® asked me to create simple summer #EffortlessPies I knew I had to go with key lime. A quick jaunt to my local Wal Mart was all I needed to pick up the ingredients. Key limes are sold in the cutest little bags. They are small, about the size of golf balls. Next I headed over to the dairy section to grab some Reddi-wip® because one needs this on a pie! While I was there I grabbed my all time FAVORITE Greek Yogurt – Oikos®. Immediately I was drawn to the Key Lime flavor. Hey, that’s half the work already done plus knowing I can use yogurt in this cheesecake gives me a sigh of relief as I’m able to cut calories and fat while increasing my protein.. IN A DESSERT!!! Once I was done in the dairy section I made my way to the baking aisle to pick up the Ready Crust® Mini Graham Cracker Pie Crusts. I grew up with these in my cupboards. I used to sneak these as a kid and eat them as-is. I love them! Plus they are so stinkin’ adorable! OMGosh OMGosh before I continue, right now if you use Ibota (you NEED to use it!) you can earn $1.50 cash back when you buy both the Oikos® Greek Yogurt and Reddi-wip®!!! Check it out! I love the app!

Once I got home I immediately go to work. Since I had taken out a package of cream cheese before I went to Walmart by the time I got home it was perfectly soft at room temperature. This is important! If your cream cheese isn’t at room temp, it will not whip up creamy and smooth. Trust me, I learned the hard way years ago. Also I decided to toast up some coconut chips though if you wanted you could go with untoasted. I actually made half toasted, half not. I whipped up the cream cheese until light and fluffy then added in 2 containers of the key lime yogurt (and yes I still lick the lids – c’mon, that’s good stuff on there!), zested in 1 lime and added in the juice of 2 limes. A few more churns of the mixer and the mixture with creamy and thick and perfectly tangy!

Seriously the whole assembly took maybe 5 minutes. However I must take a minute to bid farewell to something. Unfortunately we had a casualty while making this recipe. My beloved beaters that I’ve had for 20 years sadly went off to that big kitchen in the sky. Once I had given them a proper send off (lol) I got back to this dish. I think the hardest part was restraining myself from sticking a spoon in and eating it straight out of the container. IT’S THAT GOOD!

As I set out the mini graham cracker crusts I couldn’t help but smile as I immediately thought back to my Mom and her trying her best to hide these in the tippy top of the cupboard in the way back. However I would manage to find them and sneak one out. She’d “yell” while smiling and shaking her head. The best was when she was making mini ice cream pies in these during the summer. I’ll have to share that recipe soon! To fill these I keep it pretty simplistic. Sure you could pipe it in and go all fancy but honestly, I think I like this domed visual best. It’s like you can see that you’re getting a HUGE amount of pie in such a small package.

You could easily use the filling and fill 8-10 pies if you want to keep the pie filling flat but I’m all about that filling here. Here’s a little trick though to make them look ‘prettier’. Once you have your filling in the pie crusts, take a damp offset knife and smooth the filling out. Treat it like if you were smoothing out icing on a cupcake. But please, don’t lick the knife between pies – well unless they are all just for you then it’s ok! LOL Once they are all smoothed out, cover them babies loosely with plastic wrap and set them in the fridge to chillax for a few hours.

Next, seriously probably the 2nd best part – adding the Reddi-wip® Dairy Whipped Topping. I say 2nd best as the stuff is awesome and it means by adding it you’re next step is to eat!!! Now please when you go and spray this stuff on, don’t turn the can completely upside down. No, you actually want to keep it on a slight angle. It works best that way.

Full disclosure… I’ve literally been sitting here for 5 minutes trying to figure out how to type out the sound the can makes when you spray it. It’s not a ‘whoosh’ or a ‘spshshhhhhhhhh’ sound. Yes I’ve been making the sound out loud but I can’t figure out how to spell the sound out for you. But unless you live under a rock or on Mars, we’ve all heard the sound it makes when the whipped topping is sprayed out. So once you <insert Reddi-wip® sound> spray the whipped topping over the pies, garnish it with some more lime zest and a wedge of key lime.

FYI… key limes are tart. No, like SERIOUSLY tart so don’t think that because it’s nestled in luscious folks of whipped topping that they lose their tartness. NOPE! Still tart, still has you make the squinched up WOW face but so totally worth it!

These pies are so ridiculously simple and well effortless that there is ZERO EXCUSE for you not to make these today. With summer coming up, these would be perfect for a block party or cook out! Or what about your kid’s baseball game on the weekend?! Be that cool parent that serves up mini key lime cheesecake pies to the kids instead of frozen water pops or concession soda! Plus feel good knowing that while they are eating cheesecake, that you’ve lightened it up with greek yogurt!

Also how fun is it that they are mini pies – bring these along with a few cans of Reddi-wip® to a party and watch as YOU become the hit of the gathering! You’ll be the first one to be invited for the next get together because of these pies!

But I want to take a minute to discuss just how effortless these pies truly are. So as you know we’re in the middle of a HUGE renovation to our house including the kitchen. A job that Mr. Fantabulous said would take a “little while” is now on 3 weeks without my actually having a functioning kitchen or sink. I have a fridge, no counters, no stove, NO SINK and about 42 pieces of construction equipment in my kitchen. I have no floors, access to none of my pots, pans, bowls, kitchen gadgets or the like.

However we still need to eat and yes, we still need dessert. I set up a piece of plywood on a milk crate, found my hand mixer, a single bowl and spatula. I sat down on a milk crate and still was able to make this dessert without a ‘real kitchen’. If *I* can make these without a real kitchen or the like ANYONE CAN MAKE THESE!

Plus to be honest, after a long day of plastering, primering, sweeping, mounting cabinets and getting paint in places God never intended paint to get these honesstly are the best thing ever! It’s like that trophy after running a super hard race. You push through the challenges and you persevere. Mr. Fantabulous didn’t know I had made these while he was out weed whacking. So when he came in, showered we went downstairs to primer some more. After a few hours we were beat as it takes a lot out of you. Once we got all cleaned up and had dinner he joked, as he has every night for the past 3 weeks, and asked “What’s for dessert?” Now since I don’t have a real kitchen or my appliances the best I can give him is ice cream or Italian ice. But even that gets old. I just said “Seriously you expect dessert? How about a sink instead?” as I fought back my grin. I got up and opened up the freezer to which he said “Nah I’m kind of sick of ice cream”. I then shut the freezer (was trying to syke him out – it worked!) and opened up the fridge and said “here, eat this” and handed him the can of Reddi-wip®. He laughed.

Then I turned around and said “Orrrrrrrr you could top these with the Reddi-wip®!” and set one of the coconut key lime cheesecake pies in front of him. Folks his eyes got as big as the pies! I mean the smile on his face was priceless. He kept saying “How??? How did you do this? You have no kitchen? How in the world were you able to make these? What is it anyway?” as he shoveled a forkful in his face.

He was surprised at first by the tartness but then immediately closed his eyes and formed a smile because that cheesecake creamy note set in. He went nuts over his – so much so that he asked if we had anymore. The man ate 2 of these without a blink of an eye. He then stood up, kissed me on the forehead and said “I don’t know how you do what you do. For someone to make something do amazing without a kitchen. God Lor, I’m so lucky to have you as my wife. GO ME!” then he kind of danced away singing how lucky he was. *grin*

So go put a smile on someone’s face and make these No Bake Coconut Key Lime Mini Cheesecake Pies today!