It’s the beginning of the school year, which means many of us are mourning summer and already missing the comforts of home. We may also find ourselves with new roommates that we want to make a good impression on. Why not kill all those birds with one tasty stone by whipping up a homemade key lime pie? Impossible in a dorm kitchen, you say? Well, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. It’s shockingly easy to capture those fleeting feelings of summer in this sweet treat. On top of that, your new roommates will regard you as some sort of baking wizard for being able to conjure up a pie in a dorm kitchen, and you’ll instantly be on their good side. It’s a win for everyone.

If you don’t want to bother with making a graham cracker crust from scratch, no one will complain (or maybe even notice) if you use a store-bought crust.

Ingredients

For the crust:

10 graham cracker sheets

3 tablespoons sugar

7 tablespoons butter, melted

-or-

1 9-inch pre-made graham cracker crust

For the filling:

3 cups sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup full fat sour cream

3/4 cup key lime juice (from about 1 lb key limes)

1 tablespoon lime zest

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

For the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Place the graham crackers in a large zip lock bag, removing as much air as possible. Using whatever you have that is heavy and handy (like for instance, one of those giant textbooks you just bought), crush the graham crackers into crumbs. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups.
3. Combine the crumbs and the sugar in a large bowl. Then pour the melted butter over top, and mix well with a fork. The mixture should resemble wet sand.
4. Add the mixture to a 9 inch pie pan (tip: since you probably left your 9-inch pie pan back home, you can get cheap single-use foil pie pans at most grocery stores). Firmly pack the mixture on the bottom of the pan, using the flat bottom of a cup to get an even surface. Use your fingers to pack the mixture up the sides of the pan.
5. Bake for 7-10 minutes, and allow to cool slightly before filling.

For the filling:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until homogenous. Pour into the prepared crust. Bake for 5-8 minutes, until very small bubbles appear on the surface of the pie. The filling will still be wobbly and won’t look much different. Chill for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving with whipped cream.