BEACH PIE (A Lemon Pie) Is the BEST Lemon Pie I Have Ever Tasted AND I Blew My Diet Today!!

When I saw this recipe I just was taken with the crust made with a sleeve and a half of saltine crackers??  Yes there is more, a bit of butter and a bit of sugar equals salty and sweet plus lemon and whipped cream!  I HAD to try this!

I found the recipe on line and have it down as "Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie" and I did adapt it a little.  It comes from Bill Smith of Crook 's Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where it is hailed as a sweet-salty twist on a classic lemon pie from that region.

I would have never thought to make the crust of saltine crackers but this works and well!

Ingredients for 1 Pie Crust:

1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers (about 60 crackers.)
1/2 C. soft butter
3 heaping T. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 8-9" pie plate and set it aside.  Place the crackers in a gallon size zipper bag and crush them with a meat mallet or a rolling pin being very careful not to go too far with it!  You do NOT want to end up with powdered crackers but rather broken up crackers!
Add the sugar and the butter to the bag and knead them together until the crumbs hold together a bit.  Press into the pie shell and bake for 15 -18 minutes until golden.

After removing the crust from the oven as it cools a bit (it does not need to become cold), make the filling.

Ingredients for the Lemon or Lime Filling:

1, 14 ounce of canned sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 C. fresh squeezed lemon juice or lime juice or combination of both
fresh whipped cream
coarse salt for garnish, optional

Beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice.  I just used a big wire whisk and it was perfect.  It is imperative  to completely combine these ingredients until smooth.  Pour into the cracker crust and bake for another 16 minutes until the filling has set.  Cool and then refrigerate, the pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced.  Serve with fresh sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt if desired.

This so good I actually had a second piece, something I NEVER ever do!  So be warned, if you like sweet and salty and sweet and tart this pie is near irresistible. (At least it was for me!)