Key Lime Bars

Three key lime pie bars stacked on top of each other surrounded by cookie crumbles with a lime slice on top

Tart and sweet with a buttery cookie crust, this Key Lime Pie Bars recipe is perfect for spring and summer. Serve it for a backyard BBQ or potluck, and everyone will be asking for the recipe!

Course Dessert or snack

Cuisine American

Keyword key lime bars, key lime bars recipe, key lime pie bars, lime bars

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings bars

Calories 196kcal

Author Isabel Laessig

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!

Nutrition