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These Key Lime Pie Bars are like a tropical vacation in every bite, with the perfect balance of tangy lime and a sweet, creamy filling on a biscoff cookie crust. They’re an incredibly refreshing treat for any citrus lover!
For more key lime pie recipes, try my key lime pie with graham cracker crust and key lime pound cake!
A good, classic key lime pie is my favorite dessert. If I’m at a restaurant and it’s on the menu, I’m 9.9 times out of 10 gonna order it! I thought that it would be fun to turn a traditional key lime pie into key lime bars – but with a little twist.
For this recipe, I made a bit of a creamier yet tart key lime filling. Also, my favorite part, it has a biscoff cookie crust as opposed to the traditional graham cracker crust.
I love a buttery graham cracker crust but the caramel notes of the biscoff cookies goes SO well with the creamy filling!
If you can’t go to the Florida keys, bring the keys to you by making these delicious key lime pie bars.
Why These Key Lime Pie Bars are the Best!
- Perfect for sharing! Key lime pie bars are a fun variation of the classic pie, perfect for easy serving and sharing!
- You can use limes when key limes are not in season! Persian limes (the kind you buy at the grocery store) work well here too!
- Delicious sour cream whipped cream topping perfectly compliments the creamy yet tart key lime filling!
- Easy to make! Simple ingredients and only a few steps make these key lime bars the perfect go-to recipe when you want something fun and easy to make.
Ingredients
Key Lime Juice – you can juice a billion fresh key limes like I did with my key lime pie recipe.. or you can use the bottled key lime juice. Of course, the fresh key lime juice will have better flavor, but the bottled stuff is far more accessible and available year round. You can also just use regular limes here too, but the flavor won’t be as tart.
Egg yolks – the egg yolks act as a binder and provide structure to the bars.
Sweetened Condensed Milk – the thick, creamy consistency of sweetened condensed milk gives the filling a smooth and rich texture while also adding sweetness and structure. When mixed with the key lime juice, the acidity causes the proteins in the milk to coagulate and set, creating a firm, custard-like consistency.
Heavy Cream – the cream is gonna smooth out that tart key lime flavor as well as provide a creamy texture to the bars. You’ll also need heavy cream for the homemade whipped cream topping. Use any leftovers to make my no bake lemon icebox pie next!
Sour Cream – we’re going to add just a little sour cream to the whipped cream topping. It adds a little tang and helps to stabilize the cream as well.
Vanilla Extract – just like the heavy cream, vanilla extract smooths out the tartness just a bit.
Biscoff Cookies – have a delicious toffee caramel taste that goes so well with the flavor of the tart lime juice. It’s the perfect combination of flavor. If you can’t find biscoff cookies, you can use vanilla wafers or graham crackers.
Butter – I used salted butter but you can use unsalted butter here too. Just add a pinch of salt if using unsalted.
How to make Key Lime Pie Bars
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add biscoff cookies to a food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs form, then add melted butter and continue to mix until the texture resembles wet sand.
Step 2: Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan into a single even layer. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Step 3: Add egg yolks to a large bowl. Use an electric hand mixer and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, until the yolks appear lighter in color and frothy.
Step 4: Add in sweetened condensed milk and continue to mix. Once combined, add the key lime juice (or lime juice), heavy cream, and key lime zest (or lime zest).
Step 5: Pour the filling into the slightly cooled baked crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the edges are set and center is just slightly jiggly. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature, than place in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Step 6: Combine cold heavy cream, sour cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whip on medium speed for 1 minutes, then increase the speed to high and whip together until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Add the whipped cream on top in an even layer. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tips
- Be sure to firmly pack the crust into the pan. You can use the bottom of a cup.
- Don’t overbake! Bake until the filling is just set around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center. It should resemble jello.
How to Serve
I can eat the chilled bars right out of the pan, they’re so good they really don’t need anything else with it! However, if you want to spruce it up some, you can serve with fresh berries, top some finely chopped mint leaves or additional lime zest, and a scoop of ice cream are all great options!
Some people like their key lime pie with coconut flakes, so you can add that on top as well if that’s your twist!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, key lime pie bars need to be refrigerated to ensure food safety and maintain their proper texture. Chilling the bars helps them set ensuring they have the firm, custard-like consistency that is characteristic of key lime pie. Chilling the bars enhances their flavor by giving the flavors time to come together.
Key lime pie is done when the edges are set but the center is still slightly jiggly, similar to a cheesecake. The filling should not be liquid but have a firm, custard-like consistency after baking. Additionally, the pie will continue to set as it cools and chills in the refrigerator.
Homemade key lime pie can last for about 2-3 days when stored in the refrigerator. To maintain its freshness, cover the pie tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
More Summer Dessert Recipes
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Key Lime Pie Bars
Equipment
- 8×8 Square Baking Pan
Ingredients
Biscoff Crust
- 30 Biscoff Cookies, (1 – 8.8 oz pack of cookies)
- 1/2 cup Salted Butter, (melted)
Key Lime Pie Filling
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 2 – 14 oz cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 3/4 cup Key Lime Juice
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Key Lime or Lime Zest
- Pinch Kosher Salt
Sour Cream Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 1/4 cups Heavy Cream, (cold)
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 2/3 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Pinch Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add biscoff cookies to a food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs form, then add melted butter and continue to mix until the texture resembles wet sand. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan into a single even layer. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Add egg yolks to a large bowl. Use an electric hand mixer and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, until the yolks appear lighter in color and frothy. Add in sweetened condensed milk and continue to mix. Once combined, add the key lime juice (or lime juice), heavy cream, vanilla extract, and key lime zest (or lime zest).
- Pour the filling into the slightly cooled baked crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the edges are set and center is just slightly jiggly. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature, than place in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- Combine cold heavy cream, sour cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whip on medium speed for 1 minutes, then increase the speed to high and whip together until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the whipped cream on top in an even layer. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m doubling this recipe and was planning on getting two packages but I noticed the 8.8 oz packages only have 20 cookies not 30. So which is it? Am I supposed to use 60 cookies which is three packages? Or am I supposed to use two packages that is 40 cookies?
Hi! The 8.8 oz packs (250g) I’ve used have had exactly 32 cookies, are you sure that you bought the correct size? If you are doubling the recipe, you would need 60 cookies.
I have two picky toddlers that only eat chicken nuggets and grapes. I made these and they couldnt get enough! I’ll be making your short rib bologese tonight.
Oh I’m so going to make these! About how many Key Limes does it take to get the 3/4 cup juice? Thanks!
I hope that you love it! Also it takes about 1 1/2-2 lbs of key limes to get a full cup. If you can’t find key limes, you can use the bottled key lime juice or even lime juice! Enjoy!
I really enjoyed these bars! I wish I had fresh key lime juice but I just used the bottled juice and it was still uber delish! Also, the crust and sour cream whipped cream was really good too. i’ve never added sour cream to whipped cream before but I’m always going to do this moving forward!
1.2 cups of butter in the crust????
It’s a 1/2 cup butter
Can these be frozen?
Absolutely! These freeze quite well. Thaw in the fridge when you’re ready to eat them again!