Key Lime Pie Cookies
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Key Lime Pie Cookies are buttery and sweet, with a creamy topping bursting with fresh lime flavor! This key lime pie cookie recipe has all the best parts of the original dessert but only takes 30 minutes to prep and bake. And each cookie is big enough to satisfy your sweet tooth and your hunger at the same time!!
Key Lime Pie Cookies
Sweet, citrusy, tart, creamy, and buttery… These cookies have everything you could want in a dessert, especially if you’re not a chocoholic like me.
These aren’t your average cookies, either. This key lime pie cookie recipe makes 6 large and thick cookies that you might need to split with a friend!
With plenty of fresh lime flavor in every bite, it’s the perfect summertime treat — or when you’re dreaming of an island vacation during the colder months.
Enjoy more key lime pie flavor with this cheesecake recipe (a perfect Cheesecake Copycat dupe!) or try my boozy margarita cupcakes next!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Butter – Unsalted is preferred here, for the dough and the frosting, though you could use salted butter and omit the additional salt.
- Sugar – You’ll need 3 kinds of sugar for this key lime pie cookie recipe!
Combine granulated and brown sugar in the dough for chewy results, then use powdered sugar to make the frosting. - Egg – Go ahead and set this on the counter with the butter to come to room temperature. It’ll blend much easier into the dough that way!
- Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is perfect for the job, though a cup-for-cup gluten-free blend will work as well.
- Baking Powder – This is double-acting, so it will start working when mixed into the dough, then give your key lime pie cookies an extra lift in the oven.
Don’t try to substitute with baking soda — it will react immediately with the lime juice and won’t provide lift when the dough is baking. - Limes – You can use true key limes or regular limes — just as long as they are fresh!
Not only does fresh lime juice taste so much better than bottled, but you’ll need zest for this key lime pie cookies recipe too. - Sweetened Condensed Milk – A sweetened form of evaporated milk, which is to say milk that has had most of the water removed. Find it in cans in the baking section of the store.
How to Make This Key Lime Pie Cookie Recipe
- Start with the cookie base.
Cream the butter and sugars really well, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Once you get to the dry ingredients, stop as soon as there are no more streaks of flour — continuing to mix will cause the cookies to be tough and dry.
Don’t bother scooping or measuring out the dough. Just divide it into 6 equal pieces and roll each into a ball.
Flatten them a bit with the palms of your hands before placing them on the baking sheet.
Then, make a slight indent in the center of each — this is where your cookie scoops can help!
- Chill the dough before baking.
It’s never a bad idea to chill your cookie dough for 20-30 minutes, but it’s especially important when you’ve been shaping it with your hands.
The heat from your body will cause the butter to soften even more, which means spreading in the oven.
Chilling dough causes the butter (fat) to firm back up, gives the flour time to hydrate properly, and allows the gluten to relax a bit too.
All of that means tender, chewy, and moist cookies once baked!
- Make the filling and the frosting.
The filling really couldn’t be easier — simply whisk freshly squeezed lime juice into the sweetened condensed milk. It’s especially easy with an electric mixer, but you can do it by hand too.
It should have almost a pudding-like consistency, meaning it still runs off a spoon but not too quickly. If it seems too thin, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until it’s just right.
Next comes the frosting. Beat the butter until it lightens in color and is nice and fluffy.
Then, mix in the powdered sugar, starting on a lower speed so it doesn’t fly everywhere. Finish with the lime juice to make it smooth and creamy.
- Assemble and chill key lime pie cookies.
Once your cookie bases are completely cooled, transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe it just around the outer edge.
And if you don’t have a piping bag, use a Ziploc baggie instead and snip off a bottom corner.
Next, you’ll add the creamy filling in the middle. It will nestle right into the indent you created earlier and stay in place with the frosting as a border.
Pop your decorated cookies into the fridge for about 20 minutes to help everything set, and feel free to add some extra lime zest on top for decoration (and flavor!).
Prep Ahead
- Bring butter to room temp
- Make and chill key lime filling
- Line baking sheet with parchment
- Preheat oven to 350°F
Kitchen Tools You Will Need
- Stand Mixer or large mixing bowl with Hand Mixer
- Baking Sheet lined with Parchment Paper – Used for anything from cookies to roasting, a good baking pan will last for years.
- Mixing Bowls – I like to have a variety of sizes on hand, and this set has them all.
- Citrus Juicer – This gets every last drop out, which makes juicing citrus so much easier.
- Citrus Zester – You can also use the small holes of a box grater if you don’t have one.
- Wire Rack – Great for cooling all kinds of baked goods.
Storage and Freezing Tips
Key lime pie cookies will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. They’re fine on the counter, but it wouldn’t hurt to pop them in the fridge so the toppings stay fresh.
Enjoy them chilled or let them come back to room temperature on the counter before serving.
You can make and freeze the dough, or freeze the baked cookie bases if you’d like.
But wait to make the filling and frosting so it has the best texture — it will likely separate if you try to freeze decorated cookies.
Key Lime Pie Cookies Recipe FAQ
No. The biggest difference is that it has a sugar cookie base instead of a graham cracker cookie base.
It also features a creamy filling on top surrounded by a border of lime buttercream frosting. Crumbl copycat recipes combine the same condensed milk topping with cream cheese to make one thick and creamy spread.
Finally, Crumbl’s version is topped with a wedge of lime and a swirl of whipped cream — though, you’re welcome to do the same with these if you’d like!
Yes, as long as the consistency is thick enough for piping! Go ahead and start with 3 cups of powdered sugar and see where it’s at.
The amount of lime juice can vary depending on the size of your limes, so you may want to reduce that to start as well.
Keep adding more powdered sugar or lime juice as needed until it’s thick enough to not fall off a spatula but will release with a gentle shake. Make sure to taste it too!
Luckily, it’s a very easy adjustment to make! Swap the butter for a plant-based version and use sweetened condensed coconut milk instead of the regular kind. Everything else is naturally dairy-free.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Key Lime Pie Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- Zest of 1 lime
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Key Lime Filling
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup of lime juice
Topping
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- juice of half a lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and lime zest.
- Add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined. The dough will be very crumbly.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and form each portion into a ball. Flatten the balls slightly and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- To create an indent in the middle I use my large cookie scoop to press an indent into the middle of each cookie.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep the lime filling.
- In a small bowl whip the sweetened condensed milk and the ½ cup of lime juice using an electric mixer or whisk. Refrigerate this filling while the cookies bake.
- Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes. You want the edges to just be golden brown, we want the cookies to stay chewy. Cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile make the buttercream for topping: Using a hand mixer or stand mixer whip the butter until fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add in the juice of half a lime.
- Transfer the frosting into a piping bag or ziploc bag with the tip cut off. Pipe just around the edge of each cookie. Next fill the middle of each cookie with the lime filling.
- Garnish with more lime zest if desired. Refrigerate for 20 minutes just to set up.
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published November 2024
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