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My Key Lime Pie Bars are outrageously delicious and you need less than 10 ingredients to make them! These squares are zesty, filled with lime juice, and are the perfect springtime dessert! And the crust is seriously irresistible!
Something about springtime just makes me CRAVE lime-y desserts that are citrusy and tangy. These key lime pie bars are always the first desserts I crave when spring finally hits. It makes me feel like the humid wind blowing through my hair came straight from the Florida Keys. Or like I’m on vacation or something!
Key Lime Pie Bars! Have you had them? For me, it all starts with the perfect crust and the creamy filling.
And my crust, I guarantee, is like no other you’d had before. That’s because I add a few not-so-traditional ingredients for key lime pies into the crust. I know you’re giving me the look, but let me say that cinnamon and ground pecans are going to take these bars to the next level. The Cheesecake Factory uses nuts in some of their cheesecake crust to make the flavor so unique, along with a pinch of cinnamon. The cinnamon flavor isn’t noticeable if you’re worried about that. Just a quarter teaspoon makes the crust so delicious but keeps the eater guessing what it is that makes these key lime pie bars so addicting. You’ll also find a few typical ingredients like a boatload of fresh lime zest and lime juice in the filling.
Overall, these are sweet but tart, and totally irresistible.
Key Lime Pie Bars Video
Ingredients for key lime pie bars
- Graham cracker crumbs: I like to buy whole sheets of graham crackers in a box and then break them down into fine crumbs in the food processor. You can also just buy premade graham cracker crumbs these days so it cuts down on the prep work a little bit.
- Ground pecans: Adds nuttiness and texture to the key lime pie bar crust.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness to the graham cracker crust.
- Ground cinnamon: Just a pinch works so beautifully with the other crust ingredients.
- Butter: You’ll need a stick of melted, unsalted butter to use from the pie crust.
- Large Egg Yolks: You’ll need to separate 3 yolks from the eggs. I find it easier to separate the egg whites from the yolks while the eggs are cold. You can use the leftover egg whites for breakfast the next day or to make a meringue!
- Sweetened condensed milk: Adds sweetness to the key lime pie bars and keeps the bars nice and firm. A lot of recipes call for cream cheese, but I opt for sweetened condensed milk here and it’s absolutely perfect.
- Lime Zest: You‘ll need a good bit of fresh lime zest for this recipe. Make sure to use a good zester to help get the lime zest nice and fine. We’ll add this to the filling and whisk it together so that the flavor of the zest carries throughout the lime bars.
- Lime juice: Feel free to use key lime juice or regular lime juice for this. Nellie Key lime juice is the stuff that comes in a bottle, usually in the juice section of the grocery store. Key limes have a slightly floral scent and make the bars so much more delicious, but I do understand they aren’t available everywhere. You can also use bottled key lime juice for this recipe, but I tend to like the freshly squeezed version better.
How to make the best key lime pie bars
- Set yourself up with the basics. You want to start by preheating the oven. You’ll also want to grab an 8×8 baking pan for this recipe. Spray with cooking spray then line with a sheet of parchment paper. This keeps the sheet from moving around too much when you the press mixture of graham crackers into the pan.
- Make the crust. In a small bowl, combine the crushed-up graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Make sure that all the crumbs are evenly coated in the melted butter. This will make it much easier to press the crust into the prepared pan. Dump this out into the 8×8 pan and press it out to an even layer. It helps to use round bottom glass sprayed with cooking spray to aid in this step. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
- Make the key lime filling. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks together for 2 minutes. You want to do this when they aren’t cold from the fridge, they mix much easier when they’re closer to room temperature. Then add the condensed milk and continue to whisk until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixer, and add the lemon zest. With the mixer running on low, slowly drizzle in the lime juice while the filling combines. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and then bake the key lime pie bars for 15 minutes.
- Have patience, let them cool. When the bars are out of the oven allow them to cool on a wire rack without attempting to remove them from the baking dish. The filling will continue to set as it cools.
FAQs about this recipe
Yes, absolutely! Many readers have mentioned that they’ve made and frozen my key lime pie bars recipe successfully.
I like to dip my knife in hot water before attempting to make cuts. Cut all the way down to the crust with a very sharp knife, then wipe the knife between cuts to help keep things clean. It also helps to redip your knife in hot water between cutting pieces.
I think compared to most key lime pie bar recipes, my recipe has an abundance of crust – some might say too much. Something to consider if you usually prefer significantly more filling to crust. I’m the kind of girlie that wouldn’t mind pushing the filling-to-crust ratio closer to 50:50. But this recipe has a 60% ratio of filling to crust and I love how they slice up beautifully!
I’ve also made these into lemon pie bars and they are absolutely fantastic! I love topping them with a dollop of whipped cream.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Easy Mini Fruit Tarts
- Texas Blueberry Cobbler
- Classic Southern Banana Pudding
- Quick Warm Cinnamon Apples
- Easiest No Bake Nutella Pie
Key Lime Pie Bars
Equipment
- 8-Inch Square Pan
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups graham cracker crumbs 12 large rectangles
- 2 tablespoons ground pecans
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 stick ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3 egg yolks room temperature
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 4 teaspoons lime zest about 3 limes
- ½ cup key lime juice regular limes are fine too
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray an 8×8 square baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, set aside.
- CRUST: In a small bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Make sure all the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the baking pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, leave the oven on.
- FILLING: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the yolks for 2 minutes. Add the condensed milk and continue to whisk for another 2 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides, add the lime zest. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the lime juice, let the mixer run for 2 minutes once added. The pie mixture will be slightly thicker when done. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 15-17 minutes. The filling will finish setting when the bars cool, but it shouldn't be too liquidy.
- SERVE: Cool completely on a wire rack. Filling will set as it cools. Refrigerate for at minimum of 2 hours, and ideally overnight. Slice and serve chilled.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Excellant recipe…I’ve tried several key lime recipes and this is by far the best one! Thanks for sharing.
LOVE this recipe! It is really easy and makes the best key lime bars ever. I’ve made them three times already, and they are a huge hit every time. Also- you can still make these without parchment. I didn’t have parchment, so I just buttered my baking pan and made them right in there… as long as you remove them carefully, they will come out of the pan fine 🙂
What does 12 Graham crackers equate to in terms of measurements? I have ground up Graham crackers that come in a box
For those who asked about making this recipe in muffin tins…it works great! I doubled the recipe and it filled about 28 standard sized muffin liners. I didn’t spray the paper liners, but they came out clean. I used a cookie scoop to measure about 1 1/2 tbsp of crust mixture into each muffin cup. Flattened the mixture w a spoon and baked at 350 degrees for 5 min. I then filled the cups to the top with the filling and baked for 8 min longer, and followed the recipe as normal, leaving them in the muffin tins while setting/chilling to hold shape. A crowd pleaser for sure, this is going in my tried and true recipe book!
This is my favorite! I’m needing to cook for crowd. I’m going to figure pan size but square inches, How long can these be frozen?
Has anyone tried these as cupcakes? Wondering how many they yield and how long to cook. Thanks!
I love this idea. I’m going to try this when I make them tomorrow and will report back. 🙂
For cupcakes, I doubled the recipe and used standard size paper liners and measured about 1 1/2 tbsp of crust mixture into each cup ( I used a cookie scoop), pressed down w spoon and baked 4-5 min at 350 degrees. Then filled cups to top and baked about 8 min more. I left the pies in the muffin tins while cooling on rack and chilling in refrigerator. This way I could remove them in one piece. They turned out fantastic and worked well for bringing to a party!
I just finished making they are now cooling, I could not wait to taste “they are yummy” love citrus can’t wait to serve for St. Patrick’s Day!
The thing that really make these outstanding, on top of the crust, would be using key limes instead of regular limes. Regular limes work, but they don’t taste like key limes, just like limes don’t have the same taste as lemons. Key limes are kind of a mixture of the two. If you can get key lime juice, even bottled, use that. Luckily I have a key lime tree in my back yard that is ready to drop about 30 limes. This is on my list to make! Thanks for sharing.
How many key limes do you need for the amount of juice you need?
Cool completely on rack? Do you leave in the oven or take out?
You would remove it from the oven and then allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
How would the crust taste without the cinnamon? These look amazing!
You can omit the cinnamon if you’d like, it won’t impact the flavor significantly!
Amazing!! Doubled the batch for a potluck but made it in 2 8×8 pans. These squares are to die for! Besides everyone at the party loving them, all the leftovers were taken home by party guests! Glad I left a couple at home because they wouldn’t fit on the plate! See my pics on Instagram @joannstu. Definitely will be making these again. Super easy too ❤️
I would like to make these for my husband’s retirement party. He loves key lime pie. Can I double the receipt and make in a 13X9X2 glass baking dish?
Glad to hear you’d like to give this recipe a try! Unfortunately, a 9×13 or similar pan would make the crust and key lime mixture thicker and that will then change the baking times. I really can’t say how much longer it’ll take without further recipe testing and I’m not sure if the final product will yield the same results as a single batch would.
These are delicious! The crust is to die for
Will definitely make again
I made these bars this past weekend and they were a HUGE hit! Perfect dessert for the start of summer 🙂
So delicious!! They were a big hit and I’m definitely making them again. I might make them in a 9×9 pan next time, the crust was a bit thick to cut but ultimately it was fine. I followed the recipe exactly.
These are fantastic! I was skeptical that the base would be greasy, but no, it was crunch and caramelized. Just the right combination of sweet and tart. I may try gingersnaps and almonds in the next batch.
I accidentally used almonds for the crust, yummy accident. Also, I topped them with whipped cream.
Absolutely THE best! Easy to make refreshing dessert (35 year Florida resident and we KNOW great key lime!)
Love this dessert (and I am a dessert hater usually) have made this a few times last time didn’t have lime but the husbeast wanted them so I used lemon instead of lime they were WICKED good!!
These are AMAZING! I’ve made them 5 times now, and they are delicious every time! The crust is a show stopper! My family said they would eat the crust alone if I made it, lol! I always use a hand mixer and it works perfectly. I have tried to make a little extra thicker crust by adding some more graham rectangles and it was still delish just a little crumbly (I don’t think I increased the butter enough) I’ve cut back on the lime juice and zest for a friend who is on the fence about key lime and she loved it! When I used the already crushed graham crackers it did come out more crumbly so I always use the rectangles now. I really can’t stress enough how good this crust is! This is by far the most requested dessert I make! Thank you for sharing!