Key Lime Pie Cookies (Crumbl Copycat)

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Delightful Key Lime Pie Cookies have all of the Graham cracker crust goodness and citrusy creamy filling of the classic pie in a convenient, personal size! These quick and easy treats will be the star of any summer party. 

• Irresistible textures: Crumbly Graham cracker meets creamy citrus filling, making for a dream pairing.
• No machine needed: You can use a stand mixer to make the dough, but it’s not necessary.
• Better than the cookie shop: Even better than the fan-favorite Crumbl key lime pie cookie! Graham dough and fresh ingredients, including lime juice, give my cookies the edge.
• Hands-off ease: Don’t let the total time fool you—most of it is chilling and setting time in the fridge.
• Cute! Everyone adores a mini dessert.

When the weather heats up and you’re looking for a refreshing dessert recipe, think lime! This tropical flavor is bright and tangy, and feels wonderfully cooling. Enjoy all of my lime desserts this summer, including Frozen Lemon and Lime Soufflé, 10-Minute Key Lime Pie, and Key Lime Pie Dairy-Free Ice Cream.

As a fan of the Crumbl key lime pie cookie, I’m all about making my own version at home. After testing this recipe multiple times, I recommend making and chilling the dough in advance, ideally up to five days prior to baking. This helps develop the flavors of the dough, just like when we make sourdough bread. Also, feel free to make the key lime pie filling up to a day in advance to allow it to chill and thicken. If you make the filling in advance, be sure to whisk it to loosen it before transferring it into a piping bag.

Table of Contents

What are Key Lime Pie Cookies

• Key Lime Pie Cookies are mini versions of the iconic key lime pie. This recipe is much more than a Crumbl copycat. This elevated version features superior flavor and texture, and is truly like a mini pie.
  • Authentic Graham cracker crust: There are Graham cracker crumbles throughout the dough, giving you a homey taste and lovely crunch in each bite.
  • Tangy, real-lime filling: My cream cheese-based filling is flavored with zingy fresh lime juice, and is just sweet enough, not cloying.
  • Authentic shape: The miniature pie crust makes my lime cookies extra-special.
• Key limes, also known as West Indian limes or Mexican limes, are known for their bright, slightly floral, tart-sweet flavor. They are generally smaller, a bit sweeter, and more aromatic than standard limes (Persian limes).
• Key limes aren’t from the Florida Keys, but the island’s bakers there made them famous when they created Key Lime Pie in the late 1800s. With no refrigeration and limited access to fresh milk, using canned sweetened condensed milk was a revelation, and the uniquely flavored limes gave the filling its distinctive taste.

Key Ingredients and Substitutes

Graham Cracker Cookie Dough

All-purpose flour

Graham crackers

• Crumbled Graham crackers are pressed into the dough of this key lime cookies recipe to give all of the flavor and sandy crunchiness of a Graham cracker pie crust.
• Additionally, the toasty, warm flavor of Graham is the perfect partner for the tangy-sweet filling.
• Learn how to make homemade Graham crackers, and you may not go back to store-bought!
• Substitute: If you prefer, use crumbled digestive biscuits or Biscoff cookies instead of Graham crackers.

Baking powder

• Baking powder reacts first with the liquid ingredients and then with the heat of the oven to release carbon dioxide, which lifts and leavens the cookie dough.
• Substitute: See Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda When Baking Cookies for everything you need to know about these leaveners.

Baking soda

Salt

• Salt is essential to accentuate the unique flavors of this cream cheese lime cookie.

Butter

• Butter adds moisture, richness, and incredible flavor.
• Importantly, butter makes the Graham crumbs toasty, mimicking the texture of a Graham cracker crust.
• Substitute: Use an equal amount of solid coconut butter.

Granulated sugar

• Granulated sugar sweetens the cookies.
• Importantly, sugar helps keep the cookies soft and moist.
• Granulated sugar also contributes to the crispiness.

Dark brown sugar

• Dark brown sugar, which contains molasses, gives the key lime cookie base a deep flavor with a caramel note.
• Additionally, dark brown sugar gives the cookie softness and a slight chew.
• Making your own dark brown sugar is a snap with my no-fuss recipe!
• I recommend using dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, as it contains nearly twice the amount of molasses, which gives these cookies a richer flavor.

Egg

• The egg serves as an emulsifier, which means it brings all the ingredients together and unites them in a stable dough.
• Egg adds richness to the dough and contributes to the flavor.
• To mix in smoothly and evenly, your egg must be at room temperature.  Here’s how to warm up eggs straight from the fridge.
• Substitute: Use a flax egg (use 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed plus 3 tablespoons water per egg, mix, and set aside for 5 minutes before adding to the batter) or a chia seed egg (use 1 tablespoon of chia seeds plus 3 tablespoons of water per egg, mix, and set aside for 5 minutes before adding to the batter).
• For more ideas, check out my guide, 12 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking Recipes and How to Use Them.

Vanilla extract

• Vanilla adds the perfect rounded, warmly sweet note to the Graham dough.
• Make your own Vanilla Extract with my easy recipe.
• Substitute: Use an equal amount of Vanilla Bean Paste.

Key Lime Pie Filling

Cream cheese

• Cream cheese gives my lime cookies a delightfully tangy filling.
• Additionally, cream cheese gives the topping a luxuriously rich texture.
  Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese, not a cream cheese spread.
• Substitute: You can use an equal amount of Neufchâtel cheese, which has a very similar flavor and texture to cream cheese.

Sweetened condensed milk

• Sweetened condensed milk thickens and sweetens the filling.
• With my Condensed Milk Recipe, you never have to worry about running out!
• Substitutes: You can easily make condensed milk at home!

Key lime juice

• Lime juice gives the filling a sharp and bright, sweet-tart flavor.
• Additionally, acidic lime juice balances out the richness of the cream cheese and condensed milk.
• Substitute: You can use an equal amount of regular lime juice or lemon juice instead of key lime juice.

Key lime zest

• Zest is a crucial ingredient because the lime skins contain citrus oil, which gives an enticing aroma and additional fresh flavor.
• Be sure to zest only the green peel, and not the bitter white pith.
• Substitute: If you prefer, use the same amount of regular lime zest or lemon zest instead of key lime zest.

How to Make Key Lime Pie Cookies

To Make the Graham Cracker Cookies

1. Prepare to bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup (3 ½ oz/99 g) Graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Add butter and sugars: Add the butter, white and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer) and mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Mix in egg and vanilla: Turn the speed to low and mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
5. Finish dough: Lastly, stir in the flour mix.

6. Divide and shape: Divide the dough into 8 equally sized portions (about ⅓ cup/2 ½ oz/71 g), roll them into a ball, then roll these in the remaining ⅓ cup (1 oz/28 g) of Graham cracker crumbs.

7. Form and bake: Use a tablespoon to create an indent in the center of each cookie ball, then arrange on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

8. Reshape: Pull the cookie sheet out of the oven and use the tablespoon to create a deeper indent in the center of the cookies and return to the oven for 2 more minutes, or until lightly browned and just set.

9. Cool: Let the cookies cool down on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

To Make the Key Lime Pie Filling

10. Mix filling: In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese, condensed milk, key lime juice and lime zest together until combined.

11. Pipe: Put the filling in a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip and fill the cookies in a swirling pattern.
12. Let cookies set: Refrigerate for an hour or two to let the filling set before enjoying.

FULL (PRINTABLE) RECIPE BELOW!

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips

• Make them mini: These make large, Crumbl-style cookies, but you can make them half the size for smaller cookies. The baking time will be shorter—check them after 8 minutes.
• Piping optional: If you don’t want to use a piping bag, you can fill the key lime cookies with a small spoon.
• Lime options: Key limes can sometimes be found fresh in grocery stores or the juice bottled in the juice aisle, but you can make these with regular, fresh-squeezed lime juice as well.
• Make it lemon: Replace the lime juice with lemon juice for a Lemon Pie Cookie variation!
• Fresh or bottled: Fresh key limes might be hard to find in some areas, but you can buy bottled key lime juice on Amazon or look for it in your supermarket near the tonic water and other drink mixers.
• Cool first: Be sure the cookie is cooled completely before adding the filling.

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions

• Make-ahead tips: You can make the dough in advance—it will taste even better after it chills.
  • These cookies can be baked in advance and kept at room temperature for up to five days.
• How to store leftovers:
  • How to store leftovers: Once filled, these cookies should be refrigerated and consumed within two days.
  • Store them in a single layer in an airtight container.
  • I don’t recommend freezing the leftover cookies, as freezing will adversely affect the texture.

FAQs

Can I make these Crumbl look-alike cookies gluten-free?

• Yes, you can make these Crumbl look-alike cookies gluten-free.
• Use a 1:1 gluten-free baking mix, such as my Easy Almond Flour Baking Mix or another gluten-free flour, instead of the all-purpose flour.
• Also, ensure that all your other ingredients are certified gluten-free.

Is it possible to make these key lime cookies without egg?

• Yes, you can make these key lime cookies without egg.
• A flaxseed or a chia seed egg would work well here. Mix 3 tablespoons of either chia seeds (ground or whole) or ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let sit for 5 minutes before mixing into the dough.
• There are more options in my 12 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking Recipes.

What are some fun ways to garnish these Key Lime Pies?

• If you want to add a little something  for an extra boost of flavor and texture, try:

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