As 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
- 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
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Questions & Reviews
Can this be made ahead and frozen and then thawed before serving? I want to take it on a vacation and it would be so much easier if I could make them in advance and freeze them.
Yes! You can definitely freeze them, but I would wait to top with whipped cream until right before serving.
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).
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 love these! I’m making them for our YW activity this week! 🙂
Can these be frozen for later use?
Never mind, I just read through the other comments and you already answered that! Sorry1
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. (:
What should the consistency for these be when they’re fished cooking?
They should be slightly jiggly, but firmed up.
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 🙂
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.
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!
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 :).
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.
I used your recipe and made them in cupcake tins with homemade graham cracker crust and they turned out amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
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!
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. 🙂
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!
These were SO easy and delicious! Thanks!
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.
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.