Unbelievably creamy lemon pie is just like key lime pie with a lemon twist and toasty almond graham cracker crust. Made with 7 simple ingredients, you’ll appreciate the ease and simplicity of this refreshing dessert recipe.
I wasn’t going to share my sunshine-sweet lemon pie recipe because it’s extremely similar to my key lime pie. It’s the same recipe but with lemon flavor, though I did alter it slightly to make up for the different juice. And the crust is made with toasty almonds instead of macadamia nuts. It’s pretty! And creamy! This chilled dessert will surely keep you cool. One slice certainly doesn’t compare to cooling off in actual poolโbut is this a summertime sweet or what?
This is my favorite lemon pie recipe, no questions asked. It packs as much lemon flavor as lemon crinkle cookies, and you’ll love the delicious contrast between a salty sweet crunchy crust and smooth and tangy filling. Let’s dive in!
This is EASY Creamy Lemon Pie
- 7 ingredients total
- Filling is only 3 simple ingredients
- You don’t need a mixer
- From mixing bowl to oven in 20 minutes
3 Parts to Creamy Lemon Pie
- 4 ingredient toasty almond graham cracker crust
- 3 ingredient creamy lemon filling
- Fun toppings like whipped cream, meringue, almonds, and lemon slices
Graham Cracker Crust with an Upgrade
We’re not using our typical classic graham cracker crustโinstead, we add almonds, which take this dessert from good to out-of-this-world delicious! We combine whole salty almonds, graham crackers, sugar, and a little melted butter to create the perfect sweet-salty base for our creamy lemon filling.
I recommend using salted almonds to pair with the sweet/tangy lemon filling. You can even toast them in the oven before incorporating for another level of flavor. The crust won’t taste overly salty because there’s sugar in there as well, but it’ll have a super faint salted flavor. I guarantee you’ll only want to make graham cracker crust this way from now on. And I love how buttery and thick it is.
Use a food processor to process the nuts and graham crackers together, then add the sugar and butter to combine. You’ll pre-bake the crust for about 8 minutes, then pour the filling right in. No need to let it cool down. It’s quick and easy!
Or you could use a Biscoff pie crust instead if youโd like.
Creamy Lemon Pie Filling
The flavor of today’s lemon filling reminds me of lemon curd and the filling for my lemon meringue pie and lemon bars, but it’s much creamier. We have the sweetened condensed milk to thank for that. It’s actually adapted from my oatmeal lemon crumble bars filling, but we also add egg yolks here for structure and fresh lemon juice for flavor. That’s itโonly 3 basic ingredients that have big jobs to do. You won’t believe how silky smooth this filling is!
You’ll notice this recipe calls for 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice (as opposed to 1 cup of fresh lime juice used in key lime pie). This boggles my mind as you would think it’d be an easy swap from lime to lemon. The pie wouldn’t set up with 1 whole cup.
Made with only 7 ingredients, this pie is super quickโonly 20 minutes of hands on time! The real waiting game (torture) comes afterwards when it has to cool down and then chill in the refrigerator. I like to serve this pie when it’s super cold, so I make it a day ahead of time and chill it overnight. If short on time, you can get away with only 1 hour in the refrigerator after it has completely cooled at room temperature.
Optional Garnishes
While delicious on it’s own, try garnishing your lemon pie! I used a star tip to pipe homemade whipped cream on top. Or try adding marshmallow meringue topping from my s’mores tartlets, a sprinkle of almonds, lemon zest, or slices of fresh lemons.
Other Favorite Pie Recipes
- Blueberry Pie
- Cherry Pie & Peach Pie
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie & Cheesecake Pie
- Peanut Butter Pie
Creamy Lemon Pie
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 40 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Deliciously cool and creamy lemon pie is the perfect summer dessert made with only 7 simple ingredients.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Almondย Crust
- 11 (about 160g) full-sheet graham crackers
- 1/2 cup (62g) salted almondsย (I used roasted)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling + Topping
- 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4ย cup (180ml) fresh lemonย juice (about 4 lemons)
- 4 large egg yolks*
- garnish: lemon zest, lemonย slices, almonds, whipped cream, or meringue topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC).
- Make the crust: Using a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and almonds together into crumbs. A few larger pieces of nuts is OK. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly.ย Tips:ย You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. And run a spoon around the bottom โcornerโ where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crustโ โthis helps prevent the crust from falling apart. For more shaping technique tips, see theย graham cracker crustย recipe page.
- Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and egg yolks together. Pour into warm crust.
- Bake the pie for 19โ21 minutes or until only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and chill for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before serving.
- Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare and pre-bake the crust up to 2โ3 days in advance. Cover and store at room temperature. Likewise, you can mix up the filling up to 2โ3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then assemble and bake. Freezes well up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowls | 9-inch Pie Dish | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Graham Cracker Crust: If you purchase graham cracker crumbs, you need 1 and 1/3 cups (160g) for this recipe. Even though they are already crumbs, you can still pulse with the almonds. If you want to skip the almonds, use this graham cracker crust recipe instead and pre-bake for 8 minutes.
- Leftover Egg Whites: Here are my recipes with egg whites, or you can make a meringue toppingย for the pie.
- Non-US Readers: โโDon’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 180g ground digestive biscuits instead (about 12 biscuits), with the same amount of almonds and butter, and add an extra Tablespoon (12g) of sugar. Pre-bake for 10 minutes.
Here’s the recipe for key lime pie!
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! I have a question, can I make the recipe with an apple pie crust, or will the flavors not mix well? And if I can, will the rest of the recipes steps stay the same? Thank you!
Hi Eirini! You would need to par-bake the crust if using a traditional crust. You may also love our lemon meringue pie recipe!
If making the day before do I need to put plastic wrap on the top so it doesnโt get a skin or crusty top on it? Also I just want to say thank you. You are my go to Dessert Queen. Always a perfect outcome and never disappoints.
Hi Christy, Yes, you can cover with plastic wrap or foil after itโs baked and cooled. We love to use Press N Seal.
Delicious flavorful creamy lemon pie! Light & refreshing for this hot Labor Day weekend. Graham cracker crust is the perfect pairing. Comes together with ease. Topped with homemade whipped cream for the finish. Thank you Sally for this great recipe. Will definitely make again.
hi does you’re link lead to you’re s’mores tartlets for a reason? sizing maybe? or could I just use your marshmallow creme?
You can definitely use the marshmallow creme, T!
My pie has been in the oven now for 30 minutes and it is liquid in the middle. I did sub coconut evaporated milk due to dairy intolerance. Could that be the problem/
Hi Lynne, yes, that would account for the problem. Sweetened condensed milk is very different from evaporated milk, and even more so from coconut evaporated milk.
I love anything with lemon, so I was excited to try this. I only had a pre-made graham cracker crust, so I used that. The filling was so easy to prepare, and I even added a bit more lemon juice, just because I like my lemon desserts pretty tart.
The pie set really well, and it is unbelievably delicious. I will definitely make this again!
Great texture and breeze to put together, however it is incredibly sweet. This is the third recipe by sally that is overly sweet and itโs disappointing. The level of sweetness Iโm looking for is matched perfectly in her coconut cream pie.
So deliciously tangy sweet! This dessert was easy to make but tastes like I spent all day on it. The only addition was lemon zest, and I don’t know that it added anything. I made this in a 9×9 pan, and I’m still working on the garnish, but the flavors could easily stand alone. This is sure to be a favorite at the family potluck.
Great recipe, however pie needed to be baked for much longer than the recipe said to get center slightly jiggly. Did anyone else deal with this or is it just an issue with my oven?
It’s probably an oven thing. With my oven, 15 minutes was enough (glad I remembered to check). An oven thermometer might be helpful to check whether your oven really is at the temperature you set it for.
Amazing, I didn’t end up adding the sugar to the crust and it turned out the perfect amount of sweet. Will be saving this recipe for future use, delicious dessert for the summer time.
It was delicious
This looks amazing! Would it be okay to add the blueberry sauce from the lemon-blueberry tart before baking, do you think?
Absolutely!
Sally, this was SUBLIME. Zero notes, so amazing! Super easy too. Loved the crust, and made your whipping cream from scratch too. Thanks for another perfect recipe!
It’s an easy recipe, just way too sweet
Looks Delicious. Iโm wondering if youโve tried baking this in a pastry shell rather than graham cracker crust? In this case would you par bake the shell, add the filling and bake 20 minutes more?
Thank you
Hi Jenifer, you can definitely make this pie with a traditional crust! Use this recipe for pie crust and make sure you par-bake it before adding the filling. Enjoy!
HI! Would this lemon pie freeze well? Has anyone tried freezing it? It looks delicious! Thanks!
Hi Holly, this pie does freeze well for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Has anyone tried freezing it? I’ve got half a pie in the fridge and not sure how much more we can eat
Hi Tom, this pie freezes well up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Help! I forgot to put this pie in the fridge overnight, is it still ok to eat?? Itโs been on the counter for almost 24 hours. Thanks!
Hi Chelsea, the concern here is the egg yolks. We recommend keeping the pie chilled, but you can do what you’re comfortable with.
I am trying to make this gluten free. Would an almond flour crust hold up?
Thanks!
Hi Carin! We would look for gluten free graham crackers to use in the crust. We’re unsure how an all-almond flour crust would hold up.
I have made this recipe twice and loved it! This time my husband requested tartlets (about 4โ) which I am planning to do. Two things that have me concerned though are how full can I can the shells after baking the crust, and also, how long to bake them after filling.
Hi Louise, we’d fill similarly to how high we fill the full-size pie. We’re unsure of the exact bake time for smaller tartlets, but let us know if give it a try!
I made this tonight with Sallyโs regular graham cracker crust, because we have nut allergies, and piped swirls of the lightened cream cheese frosting from Sallyโs Sunshine Citrus Cake on top. It was so delicious! And so easy! Will definitely make it again. Adding to my family recipe book tonight!
I was wondering what I would need to do to change the recipe into mini pies? Iโm making this recipe for the Super Bowl and wanted to use cupcake tins instead, what does that do to change the time of cooking?
Hi Tristan, You can make mini pies from this recipe but we are unsure of the bake time needed.
Hi Sally! i made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious!!! I was thinking about making it in a 9×13 inch pan, but was not sure if to double the recipe and if so how much time to prebake the crust and then the pie?
Hi Camila, though we havenโt tested it, this recipe could work as squares. We recommend 9-inch square (22cm) or 11ร7 inch rectangle, but we’re uncertain of the bake time. Make sure you still pre-bake the crust for 8 minutes.