These mini key lime pies are everything we love about classic key lime pie baked in individual servings. Each mini pie has a buttery graham cracker crust and smooth, creamy key lime filling. Top with homemade whipped cream and lime slices for a refreshing treat!
Summer and key lime pie go together like Ben and Jerry, mac and cheese, vacation and margaritas. Key lime pie is the type of dessert that takes minimal effort, which makes it perfect when the weather’s warm. As in, when there are a million other things you’d rather do than spend the afternoon in a hot kitchen.
What makes key lime pie even easier (and quicker)? Bake it in a muffin pan rather than in a pie pan. Less bake time, less slicing, less chill time. Plus (and this is the best part!) it is perfectly acceptable to have more than one. Not to mention, mini key lime pies are totally kid-friendly. Little hands, little appetites, little pies! I love these things.
Why You’ll Love These Mini Key Lime Pies
- Quick and simple to prepare
- Just as delicious as key lime pie bars
- Baked in a muffin pan
- Each bite is buttery, sweet, and a little tart
- Cool and refreshing
- Perfect for sharing at pool parties, picnics, and for your BBQ dessert
- The ultimate summer dessert
2 Parts to Mini Key Lime Pies
And only 7 ingredients in the entire recipe.
- Graham Cracker Crust: We use my favorite graham cracker crust for the base of today’s pies. I use this crust recipe for pies, cakes, cheesecakes, and more. The buttery and slightly crisp texture is the exact contrast I want with these little key lime pies. You only need 3 ingredients: butter, graham crackers, and sugar. To ensure a compact crust, make sure you press the mixture tightly into each individual muffin cup. You’ll use a little over 1 Tablespoon of crust mixture in each individual pie.
- Key Lime Pie Filling: Our key lime pie filling is tart, sweet, and creamy—exactly as key lime pie should be. Cream cheese acts as the base of the filling, providing a little structure and a subtle cheesecake flavor. (By the way, if you like key lime pie and cheesecake, you have to try my key lime cheesecake.) Also adding a little structure, as well as a rich texture, are egg yolks. To those, we’ll add sweetened condensed milk and key lime juice. For best flavor, make sure you use key lime juice, though regular lime juice works in a pinch.
An optional but tasty third part is a generous dollop of whipped cream on top 🙂
Use a Standard Muffin Pan
We use a standard size (12-cup) muffin pan for today’s mini key lime pies, not a mini muffin pan. Line your pan with liners, then layer in the graham cracker crust. Try to really pack it down—sometimes I use the back of a teaspoon to help along the edges. Pre-bake the crust for a few minutes, then pour the filling evenly onto each crust.
After they’re baked, let them cool at room temperature then place the entire muffin pan in the refrigerator for a couple hours.
By the way, if you’re looking for another fun key lime option, you will LOVE these upside down key lime pies.
Is it just me or do teeny tiny versions of food taste better? Individual key lime pies > actual key lime pie. They’re quicker to make, chill, and serve than a traditional key lime pie—and cuter, too! 🙂 This is the same process we use to make mini margarita cheesecakes (try those next!).
PrintMini Key Lime Pies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 mini pies
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
What’s better than key lime pie? Little mini key lime pies!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full sheet graham crackers)
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
Filling
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 large egg yolks
- one 14-ounce can (396g) full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) key lime juice*
- optional: lime slices and whipped cream for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-count muffin pan with liners and a second 12-count muffin pan with only 4 (since this recipe makes only around 16). Set pans aside.
- Make the crust: Before you begin, here are all of my tips for a perfect graham cracker crust. If you’re starting out with full-sheet graham crackers, you can use a food processor or blender to grind them up. Or crush them in a zipped top bag with a rolling pin. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and granulated sugar together with a rubber spatula in a medium bowl until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Press a heaping Tablespoon of mixture down into each liner, making sure the crust is tight and compact. You might have a little crust leftover. If so, press a little more into each liner—if desired! Pre-bake the crusts for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Make the filling: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. On medium-high speed, beat in the egg yolks, scraping down the sides as needed. On high speed, beat in the sweetened condensed milk and lime juice until combined.
- Pour the filling evenly into each crust. Bake for 15–16 minutes or until the centers of the pies only slightly jiggle (I check this by wiggling the muffin pan—with an oven mitt on!—while it’s still in the oven). Allow the pies to cool at room temperature in the pan set on a wire rack. Once completely cool, place the pan in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
- Once chilled, serve the key lime pies cold with whipped cream and a lime slice if desired. Store leftover pies in the refrigerator (covered) for up to 1 week. If they last that long!
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Up to 1 day in advance, you can prepare the crust ingredients and the filling ingredients separately. Store each covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to assemble and bake. Likewise, as noted in set 4, you can bake the key lime pies and store in the refrigerator for 1 day before serving. Key lime pies freeze well, up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Food Processor or Blender | Glass Mixing Bowl | Rubber Spatula | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Key Lime Juice: For the best flavor, make sure you use key lime juice. You can juice your own key limes or buy it from the store. It is usually with the regular lime and lemon juice in the juice aisle. I buy Nellie & Joe’s brand. In a pinch, you can use regular lime juice.
- For a Full-Size Key Lime Pie: To make these as a pie, simply use this crust and filling recipe. Press crust into a 9-inch pie dish. Pre-bake for 12 minutes at 350°F (177°C). Pour in filling. Bake for 18 minutes, and then allow to cool at room temperature before chilling in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Adapted from Key Lime Pie Bars.
- Non-US Readers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 2 cups (200g) ground digestive biscuits instead (about 13–14 biscuits), the same amount of butter, and add a bit more sugar (about 1/3 cup, or 67g). You may need to add a few extra minutes to the pre-baking time, as digestive biscuits are not quite as crispy-crunchy as graham crackers.
When I made these, my filling fell, leaving a big indention. What do you think I did wrong? All the measurements were double-checked as well.
Hi Stephanie, that’s typical for mini cheesecakes (the photos above show an indentation as well). More room for toppings!
Made these yesterday and they were great. I don’t like muffin liner papers, so I cut strips of parchment 1 inch by 8 and inches and put it across the bottom of each after buttering. The strips sticking up make perfect handles to lift the mini pies right out.
I also halved the recipe for portion control and it worked perfectly.
I love this recipe so much, it was a hit at my baby shower! I did a graham/gingersnap combo for the crust. Unfortunately ran into issues with the paper muffin liners. They stuck to the crust and tore, leaving little bits of paper adhered to the pies. Any tips to prevent this? Also wondering is it normal for the wrappers to appear really greasy/wet looking, or should it appear dry?
Hi Michelle, we’re so glad these were a hit at your baby shower! Be sure to use high quality paper liners (some simply stick more to the baked goods and look greasier than others). It could be that the crusts were just slightly over baked, too, which caused them to stick. Hope this helps and thank you again for using our recipe!
I just made this recipe for a party this weekend. Doubled the recipe to make 32. Turned out perfectly! My guests loved them. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thank you for your quick reply. I expected some sinking but mine are really messy looking. I was wondering if I possibly could have whipped the final batter a little too much and incorporated too much air. Could this have contributed to my mess I have.
Hi Patti, yes, it could have as the air will expand as the cheesecakes bake, then collapse.
Absolutely delicious!
I made these for a family gathering and they were gone in 10 minutes. This is simple to make but looks like it took a lot more effort. One key part of the recipe is really tamping the crust down so they are easy to handle. I love this website!
These are outstanding! I have made several batches and people who don’t normally like key lime love this! I’m wondering though, can you swap equal amounts of lemon juice for key lime to make mini lemon pies?
I plan to make these tomorrow for a BBQ and would like to use mini muffin tins. If this makes 16 in a regular muffin tin, how many would it make in a mini muffin tin? Thank you in advance.
Hi Peggy, this should make about 40-48 servings in a mini muffin tin. Hope they’re a hit!
These turned out perfect. I ended up using my mini muffin pan to make 24 and then did 8 in a regular muffin pan. The minis were done in about 10mins. I used the graham cracker crumbs that you can now buy and weighed out 150grams. 1.5 cups of the pre-made crumbs was closer to 220g, so most likely they are just a much finer then when I do it myself. One tip, I kept them cold outside at a BBQ by filling a foil pan with water and freezing it, then setting another foil pan on top which i put the pies in. I just had a can of whipped cream next to it for people to top it themselves. Everyone loved them.
Made this for dessert on family dinner night and it was a hit. I put a meringue on top instead of whipping cream and it was perfection!
Loved this recipe, however, it was frustrating to get out of the pan. The liners tore even tho I was using an offset spatula to help. So we started eating them still in the pan. After about 10 minutes, I was able to remove the remaining pies from the tins with their paper liners untorn. Didn’t see anything about spraying the tins before using the liners, but I’ll try it next time.
I recently made these for dessert after a shrimp boil party. They were a big hit. So much easier to serve than slicing a whole pie. Plus, since they were small everyone could also have a brownie. Everyone wanted the recipe which I followed as written.
Hi! Could you use the macadamia nut crust from your key lime pie, or would it be too coarse/crunchy for these dainty mini pies?
Hi Sandy, you can absolutely use the macadamia nut crust from our key lime pie here. Yum!
These mini key lime pies are wonderful!! I’ve made them many times are they are always a crowd pleaser. Would you would recommend taking these treats to a bbq/cookout? I have always served them cold and just didn’t know how long they can sit out. Thank you!
Hi Carrie, So glad you love these! If you can, we’d recommend keeping the in a cooler until you’re ready to eat them.
One tip, I kept them cold outside at a BBQ by filling a foil pan with water and freezing it, then setting another foil pan on top which i put the pies in. I just had a can of whipped cream next to it for people to top it themselves.
These mini key lime pies were excellent. I did whip up the egg whites and put a spoonful on each pie and put them back in the oven to brown up. Came out great. Thank you.
Hi Sally! I love key lime anything – especially with ginger snap crust. Have you ever tested with these mini pies and so you think I could just substitute same amount of crushed ginger snaps for graham crackers? Thanks!
Hi Desirée, a gingersnap crust would be delicious! You can swap the graham crackers with crushed ginger snaps instead. Let us know how it turns out for you!
I’d like to make the mini key lime pies in a mini cheesecake pan instead of a muffin tin. Will it hold up?do I have to adapt the quantities at all? Thanks so much
I was wondering about the size of the cheesecake if you use the regular pan size for a mini and not the mini. Do you use a regular liner as well an just don’t fill them as much? I am making these for bite size no plate just napkin event
Hi Barb, if using a mini muffin pan, we’d recommend purchasing some mini muffin liners. The baking aisle at your local store may have some, or online sites like Amazon should as well. Hope they’re a hit at your event!
Getting ready to make. Cannot find key lime juice. Is it equal amounts of regular lime juice I would use?
Hi Jesane, The same amount of regular lime juice should be fine. Enjoy!
Hi, just wondering if I could use mini tart pans for this recipe?
Hi Janet, we don’t see why not!
Help. I made these in my mini cheesecake pan and also a few in cupcake pan and they all sunk down after removing them from the oven. What did I do wrong.
Hi Patti, sinking is normal with mini cheesecakes – you can see that ours did in the photos above. More room for toppings! Hope you still enjoyed them.
Hi sally, I have a mini cheesecake pan. Do you think I can use that and not use a paper liner? Thanks for your help!
Hi Meg, you can. See recipe notes for details on making these in a traditional cheesecake pan. Enjoy!
Can you halve this recipe?
We can’t see why not. Let us know how they turn out for you!
Can the muffin papers be greased to ensure the mini pies come out easily? Making these for a wedding dessert display and hoping to serve them without papers.
Hi Errign! We’ve never had an issue with these mini key lime pies sticking to the liners. Once chilled, they come out nicely!
Sally, Do you remove the muffin liners before you serve them? It looks that way in the pictures… Please let me know – thank you!
Hi Nicole, the liners are removed in the photos but you can certainly serve them either way!
Hi Sally. I was wondering how come the recipe for the mini Keylime pie says to add 4 ounces of cream cheese to make the filling but the regular Keylime pie recipe does not state that. It says to just add 2 14 ounce can of condensed milk, Four egg yolks,, and one cup of Keylime juice. The notes on your mini key lime pie recipe says its the exact same recipe as your regular 9 inch Keylime pie recipe. I’m just confused about that. I used The recipe for the regular size Keylime pie and it didn’t say anything about cream cheese . I did make mini key lime pies ( I had small tins with graham cracker crust , just need a recipe for key lime filling ) but saw your recipe for a regular 9 inch key lime pie and used that but I assumed The mini Keylime pie and the regular Keylime pie recipe was the same but it’s not. The mini Keylime pie has cream cheese in the filling which I did not know and the regular Keylime pie recipe doesn’t..so if u could clear that up for me that would be great .
Hi Tina– thank you! This recipe does call for some cream cheese in the filling while the full pie does not. (I like the creaminess it adds to these cupcake-size pies!) I had to reword that sentence to clarify– thank you!
Can I use a mini muffin pan?
Hi Kristin, absolutely. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it will be a little less since they are much smaller.
Do you serve these in the cupcake liner or take them out and then serve?
Hi Marlae, either way works!
Hi Sally, I am making these today. How much filling do you put in each liner?
Hi Joan! We’re unsure exactly how much filling goes in each liner. Simply divide the mixture as evenly as possible between each. Hope you love them!
Hi Sally! I love these mini pies!! Do you possibly have a suggestion on how to make them sugar-free? My kids’ grandmother is a new diabetic but loved this recipe. We want to keep the love going but just sugar free if possible. Thanks!
Hi Ashlee! I wish we could help more, but have no experience baking with sugar-free baking or sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
I’m getting ready to make these and freeze them ahead of time. Should they be frozen while in the muffing wrapper or taken out of the wrapper before freezing? Does anyone have any experience with this?
You should be able to freeze them in the wrapper without a problem!
I made these exactly as stated, but added the zest too! Amazing. Sooooo easy and show stoppers. Thank you! Wish I could attach a picture, but won’t let me.
So glad they were a hit, Laurie! Feel free to send us a photo at sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com — we’d love to see your mini key lime pies!
Hey Sally! I’m excited to make these! I’m thinking of using the leftover egg whites to make a meringue. I don’t have a torch though. Do you think it would be okay to pipe meringue on top and broil the mini pies for a minute or two?
Hi Sheryce, That should be ok but these are so small I wouldn’t broil them for longer than that. Enjoy!
Made these for July 4 th barbecue and everyone loved them. First time on this site! I am not known for my baking prowess! Can I make this like a cheesecake and eliminate the lime juice and add some vanilla extract? Is there another suggestion? I figured I would give it a try since I have all of the ingredients.
Hi Jennifer! For a regular mini cheesecake, we’d recommend following this recipe instead. Hope you enjoy them just as much!