Simple Atlantic Beach Pie
Simple Atlantic Beach Pie
Why this Atlantic Beach Pie is so simple:
- The crust is made of items you probably have in your pantry- crackers, sugar, a pinch of salt and a bit of melted butter
- The crust does not require rolling, shaping or fancy lattice work
- The filling is just 4 ingredients and no cooking- just mix and pour into the shell
- You can make this pie ahead of time- it actually gets better on day 2
Ingredients in Atlantic Beach Pie:
fresh ingredients:
- lemons and limes
- heavy whipping cream
- eggs
- butter
pantry ingredients:
- saltine crackers
- salt, sugar ( granulated and confectioner’s)
- vanilla extract
- sweetened condensed milk
How to make this Simple Atlantic Beach Pie:
- Make a saltine cracker crust with crushed crackers, butter, sugar and salt. Press the crumb mixture into a glass or ceramic pie plate.
- Chill the crust for 10-15 minutes. bake at 350 until golden brown. Chill on a wire rack.
- Make the filling with a can of sweetened condensed milk, lemon and lime juice and 4 egg yolks. Pour into the cooled pie shell.
- Bake the pie for an additonal 15 minutes. Chill the pie for 4-8 hours. Overnight is best.
- Top the pie with dollops of barely sweetened whipped cream or pipe whipped cream along the edges. Garnish with lemon slices. Chill leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Tips for a great pie:
Common questions about this pie recipe:
Ritz, while super yummy, are way too sweet for this recipe. They will make a great crust but the saltiness of the saltines is what makes the flavor of this lemony pie so good.
Yes- the pie will tastes more like a key lime pie, but it will still be yummy. You may want to add a bit more sugar to the crust to help balance the flavors. Maybe add 1 TBSP more of granulated sugar. .
This pie is so good, it does not need the whipped cream- it just adds a layer of sweetness to the salty crust and the sour filling. Just a lemon slice or two is fine. You could also add a dollop of sweetened yogurt. Another idea is chill a can of full fat coconut milk, scrape off the solids and whip it in your stand mixture- add a little sugar or sweetener of choice- makes a great mousse like topping.
The pie will keep I up to 4 days in the fridge, but I doubt you’ll have any leftovers that last that long. 😉
Egg whites are a great binder, but there is no substitute for the richness of butter.
Other delicious citrus recipes to try:
- Classic Key Lime Pie
- Calamondin Pie
- Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with buttercream frosting
- Classic Lemon Blueberry Tea Cake
- Lemon Coconut Wedding Cookies
- 4 Ingredient Homemade Limoncello
- Spiked Chai Lemonade
Equipment needed for this recipe:
- 9″ pie plate
- mixing bowl- buy my favorite HERE
- mixer for whipping heavy cream
- pie server
History of this recipe:
Back in 2011, chef and owner of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, NC , Bill Smith, re-created this vintage pie as a dessert to serve after a large seafood meal. What goes better with seafood than lemon? The pie became a sensation launching Bill onto NPR’s All Things Considered, The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival and more. Although Bill Smith retired in 2019, he is well known for his food columns in the New York Times, Food & Wine, his two cookbooks: Southern Cooking and his best selling Crab and Oysters.
Bill’s original version calls for coarse sea salt on top of the whipped cream and less juice than my version.
Crook’s Corner is temporarily closed.
Meggen’s Favorite Southern Cookbooks:
- Heritage of Southern Cooking, Camille Glenn
- The Foster’s Market Cookbook, Sara Foster
- Callie’s Biscuits and Southern traditions, Carrie Morey
- Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, Nathalie Dupree & Cynthia Graubart
- Deep Run Roots: Vivian Howard
- Charleston Receipts, Junior League of Charleston
- Lee Bailey’s Country Desserts
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 ½ units sleeves saltine crackers
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 3 TBSP granulated sugar
- ½ tsp sea salt
For the filling
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 4 units large egg yolks
- ½ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3 TBSP lime juice freshly squeezed
- 2 cups whipped heavy cream
- 2 TBSP confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 slices lemon- thinly sliced
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
- In a zip top bag OR the bowl of a food processor, pulverize the crackers into fine crumbs.
- And in the butter, sugar and salt and mix well into the crackers. Press the cracker mixture into a pie plate. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs into the bottom and the sides in a smooth even layers. Chill the crust in the freezer for 10-15 minutes
- Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until just golden brown, but set. Let cool on a wire rack.
- As the crust is cooling, mix the citrus juices, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl until smooth and fully incorporated. Pour this mixture into the cooled pie crust.
- Bake the filled pie for another 15 minutes until the center is set.
- Remove the pie from the oven, let cool on the wire rack for 30 minutes, then chill in the fridge at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, mix the vanilla and sugar into the whipped cream to sweetened. Pipe or dollop the cream onto the chilled pie and garnish with thin slices of lemon.
