Quick Baked Homemade Key Lime Pie

Hi hi! Just popping in to share this key lime pie recipe with you! I can't believe it has taken me this long to get a key lime pie up on my site - they are one of my favourite things to eat, and they are just so, so easy to make.

This is a super easy version - we start with a homemade graham cracker crust, made with brown butter for extra toastiness and depth of flavour, then fill it with a super simple four ingredient key lime pie filling.

The whole thing bakes in about 45 minutes, and then you just need to leave it to chill, then finish it off however you like and you are good to go!

The amazing thing about Key Lime pie is how well it holds up in the fridge - this can be made up to three days in advance, and keeps for a week in the fridge.

What are Key Limes?

I had never heard of Key Limes until I moved to the US and tried them. They are a variety of lime, which are smaller and less acidic than a regular variety of lime. They still have an amazing tart flavour, but a pie made with Key Limes has a super distinctive flavour to it - slightly more mellow, but very limey.

I tested this key lime pie recipe with both regular limes and key limes, and can confirm both are very delicious, so feel free to use whatever you have on hand here! Either bottled or fresh key lime juice will work - key limes are tiny and juicing them kind of sucks, so if you have access to the bottled stuff, I would use that.

How to make Key Lime Pie

This key lime pie is super easy to make, and is a great make-ahead dessert. It needs time to chill in the fridge, so make sure you account for that.

• Make the crust. I use my brown butter graham cracker crust, which you can use straight from the oven - no need to wait for it to cool before adding the filling.
• Add the filling. While the crust is in the oven, combine the filling ingredients. It is a super simple filling - the ingredients are just condensed milk, lime zest, lime juice, and egg yolks.
• Bake. Bake the key lime pie for 20-22 minutes, until the middle is only just a little jiggly.
• Chill. Once the pie is baked, leave it to cool to room temperature then transfer it to the fridge until cooled completely. The longer you let it chill, the easier it will be to slice.
• Finish. Finish your key lime pie however you want - I like to just add whipped cream to mine.

How to tell when Key lime pie is baked

Key lime pie filling will be fairly thick when you mix it up, which makes it really easy to transfer to the baked graham cracker crust. The pie only needs 20-22 minutes in the oven, and the best way to tell when it is done is to give it a jiggle - only the middle should be a little jiggly. Remember that it will set up as it cools.

If you do over bake your pie you will be able to tell as the top of the filling will crack slightly due to the proteins in the eggs overcooking and causing fissures. Don't worry if this happens though - whipped cream is there for a reason, and sometimes that reason is to cover up cracked pie!

How to get a clean cut on Key Lime Pie

Getting a crumb crust pie out of the pie pan cleanly can be a bit of a mission, but here are my tips for doing the best you can:

• Start with a cold pie. Having a nicely chilled pie will give the crust adequate time to fully set up and the filling will be nice and firm, so easy to cut through.
• Use a sharp knife. This one is important - a nice sharp knife will give you clean cuts. Wipe the blade between cuts.
• Take a sacrificial slice. The first slice always comes out a little wonky. You can make this a little snack sized slice if you like, or just know that the first one might break a little. Once you have cut one slice out and gotten a little wiggle room in your pan, cutting the next slice will be easier.
• Use a spatula. Especially with a crumb crust and a ceramic pie dish - an offset spatula is particularly handy as you can use it to go between the crust and the pan to help release your pie.

How to finish Key Lime Pie

You can finish this key lime pie with whatever you like! I am a fan of just some plain whipped cream and a little lemon zest.

I piped blobs of whipped cream onto the pie using a wilton 1M tip which gives super cute squiggles. If you are making whipped cream for piping, make sure that you do not whip it too much so that it is a good consistency for piping.

You can also finish this pie with some meringue if you like - the key lime pie filling uses yolks only, so meringue is a great way to use up the leftover egg whites. I have a meringue recipe on my lemon meringue pie recipe.

How do you store Key Lime Pie?

This Key Lime Pie is the perfect make ahead dessert - it can be made up to 3 days before serving, and will last at least a week in the fridge.

Before serving, I store key lime pie in the fridge in the pan. Once it has been finished with cream or meringue, I store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last up to a week.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which pan did you use?
I baked this key lime pie in a staub ceramic pie dish. I prefer to use a ceramic pie dish for my pies with a crumb crust. My pie pan was 9-inches, however if you have a slightly larger pan, it will work fine for this recipe too. I also made a lemon pie version of this recipe in a removable bottom tart pan which worked super well as it was easy to remove to serve.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

• baking in grams
• adjusting oven temperatures
• what kind of salt to use
• and many more!

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!