BYAs all you long-time readers know, we absolutely love limes around here. You’ll also probably know that Brazilian Lemonade is my favorite drink in the whole world. So yeah, this key lime pie (and tarts, if you prefer)? It’s pretty much Brazilian Lemonade as a pie. The pie itself only has 4 ingredients and is truly one of the easiest desserts I know how to make, so between that and the fact that it’s my favorite drink in pie form, I don’t think things get better than that.
- They’re cute.
- Who doesn’t want their very own mini pie?
- You get more out of the recipe (10 tarts as opposed to 8 slices of pie).
- The mess is completely self-contained; you don’t need plates or a pie server.
- Double the recipe, pop a whole slew of these onto a baking sheet, and you have enough tarts for a party in just a few minutes.
- I must be held accountable at the end of the day for any and all empty tart tins. There are no slivers of pie mysteriously disappearing throughout the day.
You’ll need 5 egg yolks (if you need help separating your eggs, large cookie scoop), a can of sweetened condensed milk (I’m all for generics most of the time, but most generic sweetened condensed milks I’ve found are a little gritty, so I always spring for the name brand), and some freshly squeezed lime juice (key limes if you have the patience for those tiny little things…I do not, so I just look for small, thin-skinned limes that spring back when I press them.)
If you plan on making these ahead of time, use stabilized whipped cream–regular whipped cream will not last more than a few hours before it starts to deflate).
large pie instructions
Key Lime Pie & Tarts
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings
Description
This is the best Key Lime Pie we’ve ever eaten and it only has 4 ingredients! One of the easiest make-ahead desserts you can make!
Ingredients
Instructions
tart instructions
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. Distribute evenly among graham cracker crusts (I used my cookie scoop to make sure things were equal). Place tart pans on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge until ready to serve.
whole pie instructions
53 comments
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I know exactly who I am going to make these for! They are so pretty. Love your blog. Thanks!
wow, those look amazing! uh, we need to make those at our house;)
Looks yummy! And I love how even your mutilated, juiced, limes are are still beautiful 🙂
Love the little tarts!
Those are so cute and fresh and yummy looking. I love individual desserts. Also, I think that last picture is the most perfect swirl of whipped cream I’ve ever seen!
I just LOVE key lime pie. These tarts are a wonderful idea!
Oh they look so cute and delcious.
Oh my gosh! I just discovered your site from my friend’s blog last night and EVERYTHING looks SO GOOD!! I’m making mental notes for the next trip to the grocery store… The Brazilian Lemonade sounds fabulous (my husband served his mission there so I’m anxious to see what he thinks) and I can’t wait to try the chocolate chip cookies!! I pride myself on being a pretty decent baker but have a love-hate relationship with baking chocolate chip cookies and have been desperate for a good recipe.
The key-lime tarts look good (I will definitely go for the cute little tarts over the whole pie) and the french dip sounds yummy. I’m so happy to have your link added to my blog and I really love your posts, pictures and detailed directions!
– Jennifer
Hey I’m Irish but I agree you definitely don’t have to be to enjoy these! They look really great!
Cheers,
Donal
http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com
They’re so cute! And they look delicious, to boot!
Jennifer–I’m so glad you found us!! 🙂 Welcome to the flock… 🙂 Be sure and let us know when you love (or don’t) a new recipe and don’t hesitate to ask any questions!! Welcome again and happy cooking! (Apparently I’m shouting inside my head today…)
Yum! These look awesome. I can’t wait to make them.
Alright, so I made these Monday night so we could have them for dessert last night when my friend was over for dinner. They were fantastic!! I couldn’t get over how easy they were to make and so, so tasty! 🙂
– Jennifer
I LOVE LIME!!!!!!!
I made these last night. They're super cute and taste great! And they couldn't have been easier.
Do you think these could be made into even smaller, bite-sized tarts? As in baked in a mini muffin pan? And if so, what steps would be different.
You'd obviously have to make your own crust for that…and maybe even use cupcake papers to hold it together so the crust wouldn't fall apart.
Do you think it could work? Just wondering because I was thinking of making them for a potluck of sorts, so the mini pies would be too big and too few for the guests that will be there.
Linz–I think the biggest concern with doing mini tarts would be the custard filling. The crust really helps hold that in, but if you had a graham cracker crust all the way up the sides of a mini muffin tin, you might not have enough room for the filling, you know? If you end up doing it, PLEASE let us know how they turn out because they could be super-cute!
I made these into mini-tarts today for a RS dinner and they were a huge hit! I used homemade graham cracker crust and a mini muffin tin with paper liners. I put 1 (slightly heaping) teaspoon of crust and an almost-full cookie scoop of custard in each liner. I baked at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. They came out of the liners easily, with minimal mess (though I would be sure to pack the graham cracker crust down pretty well to prevent crumbling when you take off the liner) and the proportion of crust to custard turned out great! One batch made approximately 32 mini-tarts and I covered almost all of them with the whipped cream from a half pint of heavy cream. 🙂
hey there! I love all your recipes so I came here first looking for a key lime pie recipe (my hubby's request for his bday this week). Do you suppose I could just do this in a pie size crust and all would be just as well? I assume so, but wondered if you have done that before.
jfb–Sure thing! Just get a regular graham cracker pie crust and bake it for 15 minutes. 🙂
I just wanted to double check the amount of egg yolks?
Your picture has 5 yolks, but the instructions did not say…
Thank you 🙂
Hi, Monaca! I think your eyes might be tricking you because the recipe says 5 yolks… 🙂
These look terrific — and I like the "additional" portions! However, after spending the last hour poking around your blog (I just found you), I have one thought for you: Key Lime Pie in a Jar.
I may need to go to the store… ^_^
I think these will be my next it on my list of things to make… My boyfriends birthday is coming up, and I think this is what I will make him!
I made these adorable tarts today for a family get together. Everyone loved them (even me and I don’t like keylime at all). Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Love the site!
This was a total hit! I just made this for my boyfriends surprise birthday dinner. My picky sister even liked it! She said it was way better then my lemon mEringue pie (which she doesn’t like!) I paired it with chili-lime steak and the salad, but ate them as separate dishes and the coconut rice from your cookbook! Everything was fabulous!
Pooh! And i added lime juice to my homemade whipped cream rather then the usual vanilla, since i have failed to get more since i ran out weeks ago!!! I thought it was a good substitute!
Making these for Easter dinner today ! I use Key Limes and use a garlic press to extract the juice – perfect!
Thank you for this recipe! My boyfriend is from Venezuela and this is his favorite pie. I was afraid I might end up having to buy it from a store, but you have solved my problem. Thank you!
I just squeezed 2 bags of those little key limes!! I hope its awesome!! Love your blog, cookbook, everything!!
I made these tonight for book club! They were tasty, easy, and fun!! What a fabulous idea! I bought a few too many limes, so I’m making them again tomorrow for a family party.
Thanks for a yummy recipe that I will use again and again!!!
I made these for my bunko group and they went crazy for them! I squeezed 2 bags of the tiny key limes…it was worth it though.
I’ve made both the full pie and tart versions for company- the one thing I noticed is that having them sit in the fridge for a day before serving actually made them taste better! The first time, I made the tarts and served them after about 2 hrs chilled, and they were a little TOO tart! (and that’s saying something for a sour lover like me!) After a day in the fridge, the taste was much better.
These were SO easy and delicious! Thanks!
These are delicious! I made them tonight. They were super simple and I’m definitely taking the rest to work tomorrow to share.
I really appreciate the simplicity coupled with great taste found in all the recipes on here!
A friend of mine is moving out of state and key lime is his favorite pie, so I made these for him as part of a going away party. They were a hit! I made 3 desserts and these little tarts were the only ones we ran out of. I used a bit more than 1/2 cup juice…I juiced my own key limes and used 15, which gave me closer to 2/3 cup. I also only got 9 tarts instead of 10 and baked them for closer to 15 minutes. Like I said…a complete hit. It was my first time ever making key lime pie, and my friend said it was an amazing success. 🙂
What if you wanted to make this as a deep dish pie? That’s the only kind of pie plate I have…would you double the recipe? How long would you bake it for?
Hi, Lindsay! You know…I’ve never tried it in a deep dish pie plate, but you don’t even need your own pie plate for this recipe because you can use packaged graham cracker crusts and they come out great! I’m sure you COULD do it with a deep dish crust, I just don’t know how much more filling you’d need to make or how long you’d need to bake it.
Sorry I can’t be of more help!
I used your recipe and made them in cupcake tins with homemade graham cracker crust and they turned out amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Hi Kate! I’m going to make these for my cousins baby shower next weekend and was wondering if you think I could make them this weekend, freeze them, and then “defrost” them a day before the shower and just put them in the frig until i serve them? I’m so excited to make these! They are going to be perfect! Thanks!!
I probably wouldn’t–weird things can happen when you freeze custard-based pies! 🙂 The good news is that you can bake a million of them at once and they’re quick!! You can also juice the limes now and freeze THAT, which would save you a ton of time.
Okay, all I can say is, I’m awesome because of you guys! All I ever do is make your stuff. Made these today to bring as a dessert to a friend’s dinner tonight. Had to try one of course to make sure they were okay, and OMG – delish!!! I cannot believe how quick and easy they were and my friends are going to think I’m like a gourmet chef or something. These are going to be my go-to treats for parties and potlucks. By the way, I was slightly concerned when you said these were really tart. I didn’t think they were too tart at all. Definitely not anymore than any other key lime pie I’ve ever tasted. And take note, I live in Florida :).
I made these today and they totally rocked! After making these and the sweetened whipped cream (from Kneaders), I decided you need to come up with a copycat recipe for Kneaders’ fruit tarts. Those things are to die for!
I made these for St. Pats Day and my family loved them! So easy too…seriously, 3 ingredients?! I’m going to have to put other pies into those cute little crusts because they are so appealing and ahem, help with portion control.
These are so cute! I pinned these last night on Pinterest and just had the chance to really read through the recipe. I guess my husband pulled up the link since he went grocery shopping to get all the ingredients we didn’t have 🙂
What should the consistency for these be when they’re fished cooking?
They should be slightly jiggly, but firmed up.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this but if you add a tsp of vanilla it makes them super yummy. Just thought I’d throw that little tidbit in there. (:
Can these be frozen for later use?
Never mind, I just read through the other comments and you already answered that! Sorry1
I love these! I’m making them for our YW activity this week! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s one of my favorites! It’s time, I saw a big bag of those cute key limes on special for a dollar. They are actually pretty easy to juice. I let them sit in hot water for a few minutes to warm them up, then cut in half and squeezed each half with my hands. It took 10 minutes tops to squeeze 40 of them, and I only needed 15 to make half a cup.
I usually use the big limes, but I was feeling adventurous today 🙂
I have made this recipe as a regular pie several times, it’s completely delicious. I would just note that the pie takes closer to 30 minutes to bake in 9 inch pie form. I know most traditional key lime pie recipes say 15-17 minutes but this one is totally liquid at that amount of time. (And I know it’s not my oven, as I make a lot of your recipes and the times are spot on).