Tangy Key Lime Pie
March 20, 2017 | By Jeremy Scheck | 42 Comments
This recipe was given to me by one of my best friend’s mom. Her mom makes it in an 11″ tart pan, which looks gorgeous, but I do not have a tart pan big enough. So I bake it in a 10″ pyrex pie plate. Either way, as long as you make sure not to over bake the pie, it really doesn’t matter what dish you use. Key Lime Pie is my favorite cold pie, if it’s done properly. Often at restaurants it can be way too sweet, but this recipe balances the tanginess of the lime perfectly with the sweetness of the condensed milk. While you can go out of your way to find key limes and painstakingly juice each tiny one (I’ve done it), I find that the difference in flavor between key limes and regular grocery-store limes is indiscernible in the baked pie. I’ve also made this pie using lemons (it was delicious), and you could try using oranges, but that might get too sweet. What’s most important is that you juice the citrus right before using it—the flavor of that bottled juice is incomparable to that of freshly squeezed citrus. Pie doesn’t get easier than this: key lime pie is really just some mashing, juicing, and mixing.
adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/key-lime-pie-351876
Tangy Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
- 8-9 oz (250g) ginger cookies or biscoff cookies
- 6.5 tablespoons (90g) butter, melted
- Pinch of salt
- Finely grated zest from 4 limes
- 1 cup (240 ml) FRESH lime juice (from 2-3 lbs limes or about 1kg) Key limes or regular limes are fine,
- 2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Crush the biscoff/ginger cookies in a food processor or in a gallon-sized freezer bag with a rolling pin. When they are crushed to fine crumbs, add the melted butter and salt to the processor or bag and shake or process to combine.
- Press the crumbs into a deep dish pie plate using a measuring cup to tightly pack them.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the crust is lightly toasted. When done, set aside.
- Whisk together the 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup of lime juice, lime zest, and egg yolks into a large (at least 4 cup capacity) measuring cup or medium–sized mixing bowl until completely combined.
- Pour the filling into baked crust and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the filling is mostly set, but the center quivers slightly when gently shaken. Let cool to room temperature.
- Loosely cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate at least 8 hours (overnight is better).
- When the pie is completely chilled, top to taste with freshly whipped cream.
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.
This is my favorite pie. My family LOVES it they always ask for it! I’m making it for Christmas!
As a key lime pie enthusiast, I got to say this is hands down the best key lime pie I’ve ever had. The texture is perfect, it has the PERFECT amount of tang, and the crust is literally the best thing ever!! I’ve made this recipe at least a dozen times since I tried it this summer because friends and family always ask me to make it for birthdays, events, and just because. This is definitely my favorite desert on the website, from my family, friends, and I…. THANK YOU!!
So glad you like! I love it too
So it’s ok to use regular limes??
yup!
I saved this recipe because I’m definitely going to make it. Key lime pie is my favorite. I’ll let you know how it turns out. One question though, do you cool the pie before you put it in the refrigerator.? Thanks in advance!
Yes, cool to room temp
Love your recipes! Good luck at Cornell! My son is just graduating from there!
seriously the best and easiest key lime pie i’ve ever made!!! It was absolutely delicious my entire family loved it even the ones who don’t like key lime pie. i will definitely be recommending this recipe to everyone!!
Very happy to hear it!!
This was super easy to make (well, ok, maybe my hand almost did fall off squeezing the super small limes I got from Costco…) but, it is now a family favorite! Love so many of your recipes, keep ‘em coming.
Glad you liked! You need a citrus juicer it sounds like haha
I feel your pain, Barb! I also got my limes from costco, took 12 limes just for one cup!!
LOL I did the exact same thing and spent an hour squeezing limes. Well worth it though, the key lime flavor is unmatched!!
I just made this and my whole house is obsessed!!!! Jeremy really popped off with this recipe!!
I am so glad you like it!
This pie was great!! The flavors were super good, and I Even (embarassingly) supplemented the juice from the limes I zested with a bit of store bought lime juice so I didn’t have to do too much juicing. This is so great for the summertime! So fresh and tangy.
No shame! Glad you enjoyed
I just made this pie and it looks beautiful and tastes even better!!
happy to hear it
Hi! I was wondering if you can make this with Lemons instead of Limes?
yes, it will work
After I saw Jeremy’s Tiktok video I knew I absolutely had to try this recipe because key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts. I’ve never actually made it myself, but the video said it was less effort than cake and that was all the encouragement I needed! That conclusion was 100% correct and after making this recipe I was left with the best key lime pie I’ve ever had. I have always been one to enjoy more of a tart pie and this recipe is exactly that and it could not have been easier to make. The steps are easy to follow and I had no issues whatsoever. I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone who has been wanting to try to make a key lime pie but thought it was difficult. This is definitely going to be my new go-to dessert to bring to parties!
So glad to hear it!
Great recipe! First time making a key lime pie and it turned out great. Short ingredient list and easy steps to follow making this the perfect desert. Not to mention it looks effortlessly beautiful! I can’t wait to make this again and again. Jeremy’s recipes just don’t miss!!
Made this the other night with lemons. Came out perfect. Easy to make, delicious, hits all the right notes. I also did not have a pie baking dish so I used an 8″x8″ pyrex glass baking dish. The visual and texture baking notes provided in the recipe were helpful (even with a different baking dish). Also, metric weight measurements are a must for baking so thank you for providing an accessible, free, online banger of a recipe! I will definitely make this one many times over.
I am so happy that it was good even with lemons!
This pie was amazing!!! I loved the biscoff cookie crust. It was a bit more time consuming than I expected bc of the lime juice and zest but ultimately soooo worth it. Also the whipped cream recipe is UNREAL and so easy. You never miss!!!!!!
so glad to hear it! If you get a citrus squeezer, it’ll take less time 🙂
I made this for my mom as a part of a belated Mother’s Day dinner and everyone loved it. It was so easy to make yet so delicious. I loved the biscoff cookie crust (never tried that before) and next time I will hunt down the double cream. I could only find HWC in Austin. Thanks Jeremy!
I am happy to hear you liked it!
I was wondering if you can use this same recipe as mini pies? Like cupcake sized
yes, but the cook time could change!
this was one of the simplest yet most delicious key lime pies I’ve ever made!! mm y husband absolutely loved it and couldn’t stop eating it!!!! This will definitely be my go to for keylime pie!!!!! so so good!!
Made this pie for a dessert after clambake. OMG so good so easy!!! I have never seen my friends go back for seconds on a dessert, ever!! I made with the crust with ginger snaps, wow!! Next time I’m going to make individual tarts so my friends don’t fight over the last three pieces! Thank you!
This is the perfect key lime pie! It is not too tart nor too sweet. For the crust, I used half graham crackers & half biscoff cookies. It was the perfect balance of flavor! This is definitely a fan favorite amongst my family, and I can already tell I will be making it much more in the future.
Jeremy, could you help me with something…..I made the pie exactly according to your recipe. The pie itself, was over-the-top delicious! But my crust was terrible. It was so hard that I could barely cut through it. Do you think I over-baked it?
I made it again this weekend, and it came out perfect…crust and all! I think I did overbake the crust the first time. I used Biscoff cookies this time, and made sure the crust mixture was very moist. Threw my other key lime pie recipes out, as this one is the benchmark! It’s a matter of proportions, and you nailed it!
This is good, like very VERY good. I used graham crackers and that worked just fine!! my family loved it too!!
This is literally the best key lime pie recipe you will ever make. Don’t even bother trying other ones. Seriously. I made this for my boyfriend’s birthday a couple of years ago and have made it on multiple other random occasions because everyone loved it so much. It’s so tangy and not overwhelmingly sweet at all which is probably my favorite part about it. So refreshing and the flavors are perfectly balanced. Thanks for the recipe!!!! 😀
I made this pie after getting back from a trip to Key West. This pie is just as good if not better as the ones in Key West! Absolutely loved this recipe.
This recipe replaced my husband’s favorite desert after one bite, and even won me first place in my office’s pie baking competition. The recipe is so easy to follow and makes for a delicious pie. Will definitely be making this again!