“Is that really going to work?”
That’s what the “chef” asked me about this recipe. Bless her heart, she’d probably made puff pastry from scratch and profiteroles by the dozens but she couldn’t wrap her brain around this simple recipe.
I have lots of chef friends and some amaze me with their creativity, but sometimes all that skill can be an obstacle in the kitchen. More often than not, it’s the simple recipe that most of us want and need in our life.
This pie is a prime example of an old recipe that I remember my aunties making when I was a young girl. Maybe it is a Southern recipe. That wouldn’t surprise me, as Southern cooks tend to be incredibly resourceful in the kitchen. And most Southern homes I went into when growing up had a homemade dessert ready to share. (Mine still does. I’ve told you about Dreamy’s sweet tooth before.)
Perhaps this recipe rose up from that need – to have a homemade sweet treat at the ready – but it was blazing hot, as it tends to be in the South in summertime, and the creator didn’t want to heat up the house (no AC back then) with the oven and gave some version of this pie a try. The original had 2 egg yolks, but I leave them out because it works as well without them.
Maybe the inventor of this pie had full intention of baking it, but her oven went out and she felt frustrated and left the pie in the fridge, thinking she might bake it when the oven was repaired. Pulling the pie from the icebox, she stared in amazement at the now-set filling. At that point, she was a few whisks of cream away from dessert.
We can’t really know, but it sure is fun to imagine. :)
It’s also fun to pull out an old favorite that’s this darned easy and surprise a chef. You can do it, too. And I think you should. In fact, you can make more than one pie – try lime juice for key lime pie – just be sure to buy the real deal key limes for the best flavor. Also, feel free to change up the crust to any gluten-free cookie you like. The Pamela’s that we used have dairy, but you can use a dairy-free cookies, as well.
Enjoy, friends!
I made a little video of this one and you can watch it here.
No Bake Lemon Pie with Gingersnap Crust
Ingredients
2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (1 bag Pamela’s Small Bites Gingersnaps)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I prefer organic)
½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or your favorite gluten-free whipped topping), whipped to semi-stiff consistency for topping pie
Optional garnish: whipped topping, lemon slices, additional gingersnap cookies or crumbs
Directions
Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a bowl; toss to coat crumbs. Press into a glass pie plate evenly then set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk milk and lemon juice until smooth. Pour into crust. Refrigerate until set, approximately 4 hours.
Whip the cream and top pie just prior to serving. Garnish as desired.
Store pie in refrigerator until ready to serve.
The post No Bake Lemon Pie with Gingersnap Crust appeared first on Gluten Free Gigi.