Recipe - Lemon Meringue Pie

I just made this tonight. I haven't tasted it all together but I did taste the lemon part of it and it was just to die for so I thought I'd add it as another recipe for you all :)

This recipe is a pretty intense and time consuming. It requires your to make a crust by first crushing GF cookies, then a lemon curd for the pie itself that has to be cooked and then to top it all off you need to make meringue and bake it all! So prepare yourself to spend about an hour on making this dessert but I assure you, if your a lemon lover like my husband and I, it's worth every minute spent!

GF Lemon Meringue Pie

Cookie Crust
1 3/4 cup finely crushed GF cookies (light lemon flavored work really well)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh from 2 - 3 lemons)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue Topping
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions – Crust
Make sure your cookies are crushed as fine as you can get them. Your looking to make a crust similar to a graham cracker crust but without the gluten remember.

Mix together cookie crumbs and sugar until well combined. Mix in melted butter until all of the cookie crumb mixture is moist.

Dump into a 9-inch pie plate and with hands, press it down firmly and up the sides to form a crust. Set aside for now until rest of pie is made.

Directions - Lemon Filling
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large, nonreactive saucepan.

Add egg yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups water.

Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking regularly, 8- 10 minutes, until thickened.

Remove from heat, whisk in zest, then juice, and finally butter.

Keep warm until meringue is made (if heated correctly and you know how to make meringue already this should stay warm by itself)

Meringue topping: Mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan.

Bring to a simmer, whisking continuously until thickened. Stirring all the time will prevent the eggs from cooking and turning into lumps.

Remove from heat and set aside but remember to make sure it stays warm or it will thicken completely before getting it into your crust.

Direction - Meringue
Preheat oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/2 sugar and egg whites until soft and glossy.

Add vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is VERY lightly, very airy and leaves high stiff peaks when you pull the beaters from it.

Assembly and Baking

Pour warm lemon filling into pie crust.

Distribute meringue evenly over the top, starting with the edges and working inward

Make sure it attaches to the crust or outside rim of the pie plate. This will prevent the meringue from shrinking off the sides and not covering the pie while it bakes.

Lifting with the back of the spoon, create peaks in the meringue. You can also choose to do much smaller peaks with your finger instead.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Cool completely before serving.