How to Make Mini Key Lime Pies

Mini key lime pies are 3 bites of island summer bursting with tart key lime sweetness, creamy topping, and buttery crunchy crust.

Why You'll Love these Mini Key Lime Pies

• Easy and simple to make.
• They're the perfect single-serving size.
• Great for sharing at parties, BBQs, summer gatherings, and picnics.
• Cool and refreshing!
• Each bite is the perfect blend of tangy sweet lime, crispy crust, and creamy filling.

Mini Key Lime Pie Recipe

These are simply brilliant to make at home mainly because the lime filling is tangy, sweet, zippy, and fresh!  When you get a bite of that with a creamy mouthful of whip cream mixed with just the right amount of powdery graham crust.

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups store-bought graham crackers (or make your own)
• ½ cup unsalted melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon lime zest

Filling

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 ½ tablespoon lime zest plus extra for garnish
• 1 cup key lime juice fresh
• 1 can (14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Whipped Topping

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Place all graham crackers in food processor* and pulse until all crackers are fine crumbs
3. In the mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, lime zest, sugar, and salt.
4. Pour the graham cracker crust mixture into the mini pie pans and using your fingers press the mixture evenly into the pan and up the sides with your fingers or a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup.
5. Bake the crust for 8 minutes and cool.

Filling

1. Beat egg yolks and lime zest in the stand mixer or with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until they have increased in volume 4x and turned pale yellow for about 10 minutes.
2. Slowly add in the condensed milk.  Beat for another 5 minutes on medium speed.
3. Lower the speed and carefully add the fresh squeezed key lime juice.
4. Pour into cooled crust and bake for 12-15 minutes until the middle doesn't giggle (set).
5. Cool completely and refrigerate.

Whipped Topping

1. With the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until fairly stiff.
2. OR use an N2O whip canister. Add all whipped topping ingredients into the canister. Screw the top on. Shake gently to mix. Screw on the nozzle and N2O cartridge.

Final Assembly

1. Put a big dollop of whip cream on each mini pie right before serving.
2. Garnish with lime zest and/or lime slices over whip cream.

Mini Key Lime Pie Recipe Notes:

If key limes are not in season or unavailable, use regular limes. In a pinch, I've used Trader Joe's bottled key lime juice which has worked nicely and has a good flavor.

2 Major Elements of Mini Key Lime Pies

The Crust

The key to this crust is not making the crumbs too fine. Leave a few pea sized pieces. This will keep the crust from getting too hard.

Adding a little lime zest into the crust gives it another layer of unexpected flavor boost!

The Key Lime Filling

People often comment on how light my key lime pie filling is. This is because of long I whip the egg yolks. Instead of stopping when the yolks have doubled in volume, keep whipping until they've increase 4 times!

What sets this key lime pie recipe apart from all the rest

The best chefs say, "use the finest ingredients and get out of their way!" To make these the very best mini key lime pies, use fresh limes, whip your own whipped topping and consider making your own homemade graham crackers for the crust.

Best Mini Pans to Use

Mini Pan Pans: Use small disposable foil pans or reusable pans. If you use reusable pans, pop the pies out before serving.

Mini Tart Pans: The removable bottoms make the removal process a snap!

Mini Cheesecake Pans: These are my favorite. If you use a pan like this make sure you let them solidify in the refrigerator overnight before removing them.

Standard Muffin Pan: This is a great pan that most of us have on hand. For easy removal, refrigerate the mini key lime pies over night then let them come to room temperature before easing out with a rounded bread knife.

Key Lime Pie Variations

Upside Down Key Lime Pie is a fun flip on this recipe. All the components are the same, but the assembly is reversed and they're best when made in small ramekins.

Covert this into a gluten-free key lime pie by using gluten-free graham crackers (Nairn's, Simple Mills, Annie's, or Pamela's).

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