Watermelon Pie Is The Viral Treat Perfect For Summer
Summers just keep getting hotter. According to data from the climate research group Climate Central, summer temperatures have risen by an average of 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit in 229 locations across the U.S. since 1970. Unless you're blessed with air conditioning in every room, the best home cooking in July and August is the kind that doesn't require much cooking at all. And the same goes for desserts.
Keeping the oven on for an extended period of time is enough to take the idea of a traditional homemade pie off the table for even the most devoted bakers. That leaves frozen and semi-frozen desserts as the only reliable option. Enter watermelon pie, a viral TikTok treat that only requires a few minutes of oven time and packs in the right amount of frozen, creamy, refreshing goodness. All you'll need is Cool Whip, graham crackers, brown sugar, butter, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and watermelon.
Minimal oven time
TikTok's recipe for watermelon pie, shared by Mallory Jones Oniki of the food blog The Palatable Life, takes the crumbly, golden-brown crust of a cheesecake and fills it with a fruit normally reserved for salads and cookouts, folded into a whipped delight.
To make the crust, Oniki pulses the graham crackers in a food processor (though it can also be done by hand), adds the brown sugar and melted butter, and pulses again until the ingredients are combined. She transfers the sandy mixture to a shallow pie dish and presses it firmly against the bottom and sides. She bakes it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, which is really the maximum amount of time you want to have your oven blazing on a hot day.
@thepalatablelife watermelon pie!!!!!!!!!!!
In the time it takes for the crust to cool, Oniki cubes a watermelon, letting the pieces drain on a paper towel. She then combines the Cool Whip, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice in a bowl and stirs in the watermelon. Finally, she spreads the mixture into the cooled crust and lets it cool for a couple of hours in the fridge. She decorates the pie with lime zest and tiny slices of watermelon. One commenter suggested adding mint, playing on the classic summer combo of watermelon, mint, and feta salad recipes.
Nothing like a cool pie on a hot day
Once you master the crust for watermelon pie, you can whip up all sorts of fruity — or not fruity — fillings to keep the cool pie rotation rolling all summer long. A classic is key lime pie, which calls for a no-bake mix of egg whites, lime juice, and condensed milk, plus whipped cream (or Cool Whip, if you're saddled with leftovers) on top. Once the filling gets spread into its crust, it chills in the freezer until firm, making it particularly refreshing on a hot day.
If you're craving something richer, try a no-bake cheesecake recipe. All you need, in addition to a graham cracker crust, is cream cheese (make sure it's full-fat), lemon juice, and vanilla extract. For the best results, let the assembled dish sit in the fridge overnight so it's nice and firm when you slice into it.