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My Key Lime Bars are a heavenly combination of sweet and tart. With a buttery cookie crust and delectable key lime pie filling, these are the best key lime bars ever! Plus, they take no more than 30 minutes to prep and bake before cooling in the fridge.
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These were delicious. Will definitely be making them again!
@carrollnuala
Key Lime Pie Bars
If you have ever taken a bite of key lime pie and wished you could make it at home, but thought it would be too hard to do, this is the recipe for you!
Rest assured that the process of making homemade key lime pie is easier than it seems. In fact, this recipe is so easy, a total beginner can make it without any trouble.
Key lime pie, like cheesecake, is a matter of making the crust and filling, baking, and then letting it cool. They are so similar that key lime cheesecake is a popular choice for cheesecake flavor!
What are Key Limes?
Key limes are hybrid citrus that is much smaller than your average lime, with a different flavor. The name "Key" lime comes from the Florida Keys, where the fruit originates! Key limes are ideal for making key lime pie, of course, and are also popular to use in cocktail recipes.
Key Lime Pie Crust Ingredients
- graham cracker cookies
- salted butter melted
Key Lime Bars Filling
- cream cheese, room temperature
- large eggs
- sweetened condensed milk
- key lime juice
- lime zest - learn how to zest a lime
- Powdered sugar (optional, but so tasty)
How to Make Key Lime Bars
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9" baking pan with aluminum foil. Use enough so that it hangs over the sides just slightly. Lightly spray the inside of the pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs using a food processor or a bag and a rolling pin. You can also use boxed crumbs.
- Pour the crushed cookie crumbs into a mixing bowl with melted butter (5 will yield a slightly more crumbly crust).
- Mix together until fully combined, then add the crust to the prepared baking pan.
- Press the crust down until it forms a nice, tight layer at the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven while you make the key lime pie filling.
Key Lime Pie Filling
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on high speed until smooth using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Beat in egg yolks and scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Finally, beat in sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, and lime zest. Mix until smooth.
- Pour the completed key lime pie filling over the crust in the pan. |
Recipe for Key Lime Pie Bars
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the bars begin to brown. If they haven't yet, leave them in for another 2-3 minutes.
- Allow the key lime pie to cool at room temperature, in the pan, on a rack. A wire rack works best for cooling. Once it cools off, add the pie to the refrigerator and let it chill for 2 hours.
- After at least 2 hours, remove the key lime pie from the refrigerator and lift it out of the pan using aluminum foil.
- Cut into approximately 16 bars.
Top them off with powdered sugar and take a bite. We promise these will be your new favorite spring and summer dessert recipes!
Key Lime Bar Recipe Tips
- You can buy a box of graham cracker cookie crumbs from the store, or crush your own cookies.
- For additional flavor, you can add vanilla cookies, too!
- For the key lime pie filling, you can juice your own key limes or use bottled key lime juice. If you're making your own, you will need around 4 key limes for ½ cup of juice.
- There is no need to throw out the egg whites. Make our Mini Pavlova Recipe! It calls for exactly 4 egg whites and is a delicious little dessert everyone loves.
- Don't skip out on adding the aluminum foil. It really makes it so easy to lift the bars out of the baking dish after they're done chilling!
- Cutting the pie. To easily cut the pie into 16 key lime bars, cut the pie in half both ways so you have 4 even, large squares. Then, cut those 4 squares in half both ways to make a total of 16 smaller bars.
Lime Bars FAQs
The typical lime you buy from the grocery store is a Persian lime. The difference between Persian limes and key limes is in the size and flavor of the limes.
Key limes are very unique. They're tart-like limes, but with a more sweet-and-sour balance, and are less acidic than regular limes. Key limes also have more seeds than regular limes, are much smaller, and tend to have a more yellow rind.
You can use regular limes in most key lime recipes, but the flavor will not be quite the same. I recommend using key limes if you're able to. Look for the limes themselves or the bottled key lime juice. Either will work!
Your key lime pie will be done when the edges of the bars will begin to brown. The center of a good key lime pie will have a slight jiggle to it in the center (like a cheesecake!) but will still be firm.
Dessert Bar Recipes
Key Lime Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
Key lime pie crust ingredients:
- 14-16 graham cracker cookies - equal to 2 cups when finely crushed
- 5-6 Tablespoons salted butter - melted
Key lime pie filling ingredients:
- 4 ounces cream cheese - room temperature, about half of your typical container of cream cheese
- 4 egg yolks - from 4 large eggs
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk - not fat free!
- ½ cup key lime juice - from fresh limes or bottled
- 2 teaspoons lime zest - from 1 lime
- Powdered sugar - optional
Instructions
Making the Key Lime Pie Crust
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9″ baking pan with aluminum foil. Use enough so that it hangs over the sides just slightly. Lightly spray the inside of the pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Crush 14-16 graham crackers into fine crumbs using a food processor or a bag and rolling pin (roughly 2 cups of crumbs). You can also use boxed crumbs.14-16 graham cracker cookies
- Pour the crushed cookie crumbs into a mixing bowl with 5-6 tablespoons of melted butter (5 will yield a slightly more crumbly crust). Mix together until fully combined, then add the crust to the prepared baking pan.5-6 Tablespoons salted butter
- Press the crust down until it forms a nice, tight layer at the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven while you make the key lime pie filling.
Making the Key Lime Pie Filling
- In a large mixing bowl, beat 4 ounces cream cheese on high speed until smooth using a hand mixer or stand mixer.4 ounces cream cheese
- Beat in 4 egg yolks and scrape down the sides as necessary.4 egg yolks
- Finally, beat in one 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, ½ cup key lime juice, and 2 teaspoons lime zest. Mix until smooth.14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk,½ cup key lime juice,2 teaspoons lime zest
Baking the Pie Bars
- Pour the completed key lime pie filling over the crust in the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the bars begin to brown. If they haven’t yet, leave them in for another 2-3 minutes.
- Allow the key lime pie to cool at room temperature, in the pan, on a rack. A wire rack works best for cooling. Once it cools off, add the pie to the refrigerator and let it chill for 2 hours.
- After at least 2 hours, remove the key lime pie from the refrigerator and lift it out of the pan using the aluminum foil. Cut into approximately 16 bars (see my tips below for cutting the bars!). Top with powdered sugar if you like, serve, and enjoy!Powdered sugar
Notes
- Don’t skip out on adding the aluminum foil. It really makes it so easy to lift the bars out of the baking dish after they’re done chilling!
- Cutting the pie. To easily cut the pie into 16 key lime bars, cut the pie in half both ways so you have 4 even, large squares. Then, cut those 4 squares in half both ways to make a total of 16 smaller bars.
- Use your leftover egg whites to make Starbucks Egg Bites or Mini Pavlovas!
Ellen Folkman says
These squares look delicious! I love anything Key lime.
Mary Ellen says
I made these today. Next time I will do a 9x13 pan and double the filling. Otherwise they are really good!
Marion Myers says
So happy to hear you enjoyed them Mary Ellen 🙂 They do disappear quickly, so doubling the filling is a great idea! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!
LORI WILLIAMS says
did you try the fat free sweetened condensed milk and the recipe didn't work? I'd like to try, just wondering
Em Beitel says
Hi Lori! Thank you for your question! You could absolutely use fat-free sweetened condensed milk for the recipe if you like. The two have similar consistencies and should yield a similar result. However, we added the note as using fat-free may change the consistency just slightly in the end product. More fat usually gives a creamier consistency. If you try fat-free sweetened condensed milk, we would love to know how it works for you!