This easy lemon pie recipe features a fantasy, creamy stuffing, homemade Graham Cracker crust and a ball of whipped cream on top. This is a goalkeeper!
Whenever I make this homemade lemon pie, my son goes crazy about it. This is probably his favorite dessert!
Traditional lemon pies require critical lime juice and are very effective in the recipe below. That said, I usually make this pie with regular limes and actually find it the same, and it isn’t even more delicious in the end. For this type of pie, see our Lemon Melon Pie, Fresh Strawberry Pie, Banana Cream Pie or My Favorite Coconut Cream Pie.
Key Ingredients
- Graham Cracker Crust: While the store-bought shell works great, I really like the Graham Cracker Crust recipe below. Store-buying crusts are usually small, so you may have some delicious fillings.
- lime: You can use key lime or regular lime here. Although the key lime in Florida Keys is traditional, my family loves this pie when it comes to making it with regular limes. So if you can’t find the key lime, don’t worry. Regular limes in the produce aisle are really good!
- Sweet condensed milk: This is the magic ingredient in the classic Lemon Pie. This is a thick sweet syrup that perfectly balances the sour sauce and leaves the filling rich and creamy.
- Heavy cream: Many recipes skip this, but it’s the secret to achieving a truly smooth, fantastic filling. I firmly believe that buttercream is the reason why I make the best lemon pie at home.
- yolk: You will use 5 egg yolks to fill the pie with thick and perfectly help with its setup.
- Topping: Nothing can be better than a bunch of homemade cream pies on the rich lime filling. I made mine with a little sugar and salt, which helped the cream stay steady for days.
Find the complete recipe in the measurements below.
Tips for making the best lemon pie
Key Lime Pie is one of the easiest pie you can make at home, and it’s one of the most exciting pies (on my list of the best holiday recipes, it’s high!). Here are some tips so you can make our recipes with confidence:
Tip 1: Buy extra limes. The amount of lime you need varies greatly. To get the ¾ cup fresh juice you need for our pie recipe, you need 6 to 8 regular limes. The key limes are even more unpredictable. I used to need juice for 32! It is always a good idea to buy more limes than you think (especially with smaller key limes). You can easily freeze any remaining juice for use in smoothies, cocktails or curries. There are more guidance in the recipe below.
Tip 2: Know when to finish baking. Knowing when to finish baking a key pie can be tricky. You want to set the edges when the center is still quite swinging. It doesn’t look right at first, but rest assured that the pie will be set up and firm as it cools down.
Tip 3: Cool the pie before topping. You really want the pie to be completely cool before adding the whipped toppings. If it’s still warm, the whipped cream will melt and slide immediately. After removing the pie from the oven, let it cool on the counter for about 30 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator and cool it thoroughly before adding the toppings. Then, store the finished pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It lasts for up to 4 days!
Perfect key lemon pie
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Our family loves this key lime pie recipe. We used the homemade Graham Cracker crust for the base and placed the pie on the pie with whipped cream. Thanks to the added heavy cream, the filling is rich, very sweet and creamy (my best pie!).
Made 1 (9-inch) pie, 8 to 10 pieces
You will need
Graham Cracker Shell
12 Graham Cracker plates or 1½ cup Graham Cracker Crumbs (180g)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (24g)
6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (85g)
Cook sea salt
Key Lime Pie
1 tablespoon lime peel, plus more decoration
¾ cup fresh lime juice (177 ml)
1 (14 ounces) can be added with sugary milk
1 cup heavy duty cream (315 ml)
1½ tablespoon sugar (18 grams)
5 large egg yolks
Whip
1 cup Cold Heavy cream or heavy whip cream (240 ml)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Small pinch of salt
direction
1Prepare the oven and pot: Preheat the oven until 350°F (180°C). Place the 9-inch pie plate on a large baking sheet.
2Make Graham Cracker debris: Place Graham cookie slices into a food processor. Pulse until fine bread crumbs are formed.
3Hybrid shell: In a large bowl, mix together Graham cookie crumbs, sugar and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir until the mixture resembles wet sand.
4By crust: Pour the bread crumb mixture into the pie. Using the bottom of the glass or the bottom of the measuring cup, wrap the mixture firmly to the bottom and sides of the dish. To get a smooth edge, use the back of the spoon to shape the corner where the sides and bottom shell meet.
5Partially baked crust: Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the wire rack until it touches warm.
6Make fill: While the crust has cooled, place lime peel, lime juice, sugared milk, cream, sugar and egg yolk in a medium bowl until smooth. The mixture will thicken slightly. As an optional step, at this point you can taste very little stuffing to see if you need more sugar. It should taste sour, but each one is very sweet.
7Bake pie: Pour the filling into a warm crust and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When most of the edges are set, the pie will be finished, but the center still swings. The pie will look a little underflated, which is exactly what you want.
8Cooling pie: Remove the pie from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Cool at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, then place it in the refrigerator to cool, then add stirring.
9Do whip: Use an electric manual mixer or stand mixer to beat cold heavy cream at low speed until foaming begins. Increase the speed to medium and high. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and continue to hit at high speed until medium to firm peaks form (you will need firm peaks if you transport it to the pie).
10Finished pie: Spin or pipe cream on top of cool pie. Sprinkle lime peels over cream (or garnish with thin slices of lime). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- storage: The pie with whipped cream will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Store-purchased crust: Feel free to use one, but remember that they are usually 8-inch rounds, so smaller than the 9-inch pie in our photos. You may have some leftovers. You can skip making the crust, but it will still partially bake for 10 minutes.
- Limes and Key Limes: You can use key lime or regular lime (also known as Persian lime) in this recipe. However, when we tested this recipe, we found that regular limes are actually more delicious than key limes. So my family sticks to regular limes.
- How many limes are used: If you are using regular limes, you will need about 7 to 8 limes to get ¾ cup of juice. For key limes, the numbers may depend on their size. In our tests, we needed about 32 small key limes to get the same amount of juice.
- Bottle Key Lemon Juice: Use ¾ cup bottle of key lemon juice, such as Nellie & Joe’s, and 1 tablespoon of fresh grinding stone lime peel (from regular lime).
- Use different citrus fruits: While this recipe is written as a lime pie, you can substitute lime for any sour/tart citrus such as lemon, Meyer lemon, grapefruit or lime, such as Sevilla orange. The Calamansi lime is cute too.
- The nutrition facts provided are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
Service size
1/10 of pie, 1 out of 10 pieces
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Calories
507
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Total fat
30.6g
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Saturated fat
18.1g
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cholesterol
178.1mg
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sodium
229.5mg
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carbohydrate
52.2g
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Dietary fiber
1.2 g
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Total sugar
40.8 grams
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protein
8G
We are Adam and Joanne, a couple who are passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? Inspire you to enter the kitchen and cook fresh and delicious meals confidently.
