Strawberry Lemonade Pie

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With a butter cookie crust, a strawberry ice cream layer and a luscious no-bake lemony cheesecake filling, you can see why this Strawberry Lemonade Pie has been the crown jewel of all our summer desserts.

I am a pie gal through and through. At holiday time it’s all about Pecan Pie. In fall apple crisp. Early summer strawberry shortcake. But in the depths of 100-degree end-of-summer, it’s all about light, fruity desserts that will cool me down and right now Strawberry Lemonade pie is at the top of my favorite list.

Every pie needs a good crust and this one starts with an easy butter cookie crust. We take store-bought butter cookies you find in the cookie isle, crush them up with salted butter and sugar. That’s it. The beauty of this crust is you can swap out virtually any cookie or graham cracker if you can’t find butter cookies.

The next layer is simple. Strawberry ice cream. That’s it. If all you have is vanilla, great. Lemon sorbet, awesome. The ice cream world is your oyster.

The last layer is where the lemonade component comes in. We’re using AE dairy Strawberry Lemonade as a base along with tangy cream cheese, a little bit of sweetened condensed milk and plenty of fluffy cool whip to achieve a luscious lemonade cheesecake filling.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients in Strawberry Lemonade Pie

Cookies. We use store-bought butter cookies but you could use any cookie or sweet cracker, vanilla wafer, shortbread or graham crackers are all great options.

Butter. Butter is what binds the crust together, I like to use salted to add a sweet and savory balance to crust.

Sugar. My butter cookies weren’t overly sweet so I opted to use a little extra sugar.

Ice cream. I love combining textures and flavors so to add a thin layer of strawberry ice cream was a no brainer.

Cream cheese. I normally opt for low fat but here you want to makes sure to use full-fat. It blends a little bit easier than it’s less heavy counterpart.

Strawberry Lemonade. The ONLY store-bought lemonade I will buy is made by AE Dairy. Their strawberry lemonade is not only delicious to drink (my kids love it) but it’s the perfect addition in our lemonade pie. As always we love AE Dairy’s products because they’re local, made with quality ingredients and so darn delicious.

Lemon. To reinforce the lemonade flavor I like to throw in a. little bit oof lemon zest and lemon juice.

Sweet and condensed milk. This helps give the filling a nice velvety.texture, plus adds sweetness.

Whipped topping. I love using this for frozen desserts or when I want a more low-fat alternative to whipped cream. Use regular or lite.

Let’s make Lemonade Pie.

Make the crust. Add the cookies to a food processor. Pulse until crumbled completely. Drizzle in the butter and sprinkle with sugar. Pulse until combined. Press the mixture into a pie plate. I don’t like to pack it in too tight so it’s not rock hard when I cut into it later.

Layer in ice cream. Let the ice cream sit out for a few minutes then scoop it on to the cooled crust. Spread it into an even layer and chill in the. freezer.

Make the filling. Add the cream cheese, condensed milk and 1/4 cup of the lemonade to a stand mixer. Beat until smooth. Add another 1/4 cup lemonade and beat until smooth. Add remaining lemonade, lemon juice and zest to the mixture. Beat until smooth. Fold in 2 cups of the whipped topping.

Assemble. Pour. the lemonade filling on to the crust with the ice cream. Freeze for at least five hours or overnight.

Serve. When you’re ready to serve, pipe some whipped topping on the top. Garnish with. fresh lemon and strawberries.

Can I make Lemonade Pie in advance?

Yes and you should. Making lemonade pie a day or two in advance is crucial to the success of the recipe. Freeze and then cover the top with plastic wrap until you’re ready to serve.

Do I have to use whipped topping?

Unfortunately I haven’t tried this with real whipped cream so I’d advise you to stick with regular whipped topping.

Substitutions

• Swap out butter cookies for shortbread, graham crackers or even ritz crackers
• Use any ice cream you find pairs well with lemonade. Blueberry, vanilla or raspberry come to mind.
• Use any kind of whipped topping you’d like.
• Feel free to use regular lemonade instead of strawberry lemonade