So let’s get this sorted out right off the bat. This is not a traditional key lime pie. You won’t find sweetened condensed milk or graham crackers in this recipe. But you will find a lusciously lovely lime cream pie that’s a pretty decent replacement. It’s also a no bake key lime pie recipe, so bonus!
This pie is nut free, low carb, and gluten-free to boot. So not bad, all things considered.
Actually, if you like tart and creamy this recipe is pretty dreamy. And although the filling is no bake, you do need to bake up the pie crust.
A creamy easy key lime pie recipe
This no bake key lime pie recipe is sweet but tart. It’s actually a really nice balance between the two and won’t make your lips pucker.
The texture of this pie changes dramatically when allowed to cool. The filling firms up quite nicely and cuts into clean neat pieces.
It’s a great little pie to make in a jiffy. It’s also a wonderful dessert to finish off a spicy meal.
A bit about The lime Juice
Ok, so key limes are the best limes to use in this recipe. I could not get my hands on key limes. I live in the middle of the prairies and a few hours outside of the city. Finding key limes is a bit of a treasure hunt where I am. They do make the difference in this key lime pie recipe though, so if you can get your hands on some, I highly recommend it. The key limes tend to be a bit less bitter and touch more sweet.
I happened to find a big bag of beautiful fresh limes at the market, so I decided to make my pie with them instead. I’ve made this pie dozens of times over the years and although I do like it better with key limes, regular limes work perfectly fine in this recipe, so if that is all you can get, use them!
Please don’t use bottled lime juice. That stuff is bitter and sour, and will ruin your pie. This is a recipe that does much better with fresh ingredients.
A bit about the key lime pie crust
So I went with a coconut crust for this recipe. Since coconut is a natural partner with limes I thought it was a good fit.
The difference with this particular crust recipe is the cinnamon. I loaded a bit of cinnamon in the crust to mimic a traditional graham cracker crust.
This crust bakes up golden, holds its shape very well and does not get soggy when filled. It’s a very good all around, all-purpose crust.
Also no need to roll and cool this crust you can simply press it into the pan and it’s ready to go into the oven.
But, I have found this crust sometimes sticks, so it’s a good idea to either line the bottom of your pan with some parchment (works like a charm), or grease your pan a bit before adding the crust.
A bit about no bake key lime pie filling
This filling is no bake and uses only four ingredients. When the pie crust comes out of the oven to cool, you can start the filling. It only takes a few minutes to whip up.
You could pull together the crust and make the filling in less than 30 minutes. It’s a great little pie to whip up on short notice.
The trick to getting the filling to whip up thick and creamy is to use cold cream cheese and very cold whip cream.
You could also skip the crust all together if you want and turn this into a crustless no-bake pie. It’s pretty damn tasty on all it’s own.
Oh, and I cheated a little and added two drops of green food dye to perk my pie up for photos.
What sweeteners are the best to use in this key lime pie recipe?
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Use your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute.
Powered is preferred over granular, as it blends better and has a nicer texture. Erythritol and xylitol also tend to get grainy when cold, but I found the powdered versions to do it much less.
If you don’t have powdered erythritol or xylitol and only have granular, go ahead and give it a blast with a high-speed blender, or food processor. My favorite powdered sweetener by far is So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend, I find it has almost no aftertaste at all.
Swerve and stevia will work perfectly fine here as well as does any powdered erythritol or xylitol brand.
Just remember, xylitol is poisonous to dogs and cats, so if that’s your choice and you have little furry friends running around, be aware that it can be deadly for them.
Storage and Serving Suggestions
You can make this no bake key lime pie recipe a day in advance, it does need to cool and firm up for a few hours or overnight.
I added a bit of fresh whip cream and some toasted coconut to the top to pretty it up a bit, entirely optional.
This one will stay fresh in the fridge for daaaaaays. I had one kicking around for five whole days and it was still as good as it was on day one. Make sure to keep it covered and refrigerated.
Got a thing for pies, tarts?
If you like pies and tarts but don’t like carbs and sugar you might enjoy these posts:
How about a pretty lemon tart perfect for a Sunday brunch.
Or these small french fruit tarts with a creamy vanilla custard.
Or this show stopping no bake strawberry pie, perfect for a summer picnic.
No Bake Key Lime Pie
A tart and creamy no bake key lime pie recipe that you can whip up in 30 minutes. This lime pie is low carb, sugar-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and keto friendly.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crust
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp cream
- 3/4 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 Tbsp powdered erythritol
- 1 pinch of salt
Lime Pie Filling
- 1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 cups (16 ounces) cream cheese
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup powdered erythritol
- 1 tsp vanilla
Toppings
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp unsweetened toasted coconut
Instructions
Cinnamon Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add a piece of parchment to the bottom of your pan. This will prevent the pie crust from sticking.
- Grate the butter and add it to a large mixing bowl.
- Blend eggs, vanilla, and cream in a small bowl and whisk until well blended and pour into a bowl with the grated butter.
- Add salt, coconut flour, cinnamon, and powdered erythritol and mix until everything is well blended and comes together into a ball. It will hold together, but still be a bit crumbly.
- Press the mixture into pan and prick all over with a fork
- Bake in a 350F oven for 18-20 minutes until sides are golden brown. Do not over bake. Coconut flour burns easy so keep an eye out on your crust.
Lime Pie Filling
- With a mixer, blend cold cream cheese until the mixture has the texture of soft spreadable butter.
- Add lime juice, vanilla, powdered erythritol, and mix in well.
- Add the heavy whipping cream and mix on low until the batter is well blended. Turn mixer on high and blend until filling is light and creamy and holds a peak.
- Fill cooled pie shell with filling and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Top with whip cream and toasted unsweetened coconut (optional)
Notes
Check the batter for flavour before pouring into the pie crust . Limes can vary in tartness, so you may need to add more or less sweetener to off set the sour. Since the batter has no eggs, you're safe to taste it!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 478Total Fat: 46.8gSaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 175mgSodium: 168mgCarbohydrates: 9.6gFiber: 3.6gSugar: 3.9gProtein: 7g
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.
Is this really 6 net carbs per serving ?
Hi Glenn, I just reran all the ingredients again through the recipe card calculator and a completely different recipe calorie counter. The totals were within .5 net carbs of one another. Different databases will have different totals for carbs, fiber, fat, calories, for each individual ingredient, so you can have different totals from one program to another. You have variances in weight for measurements like coconut (loosely packed vs tightly packed) or with things like lime juice.
I always advise anyone who is calculating carbs and sugars based on medical reasons to do their own calculations with the tool they trust the most or the tool they have found to be most accurate.
Cheers!
You bake it with the parchment paper under the pie crust? It doesn’t appear to have parchment paper under the cut pie in the picture. How do you serve it without serving parchment paper ?
Hi Beth, when the pie crust is cool, it slips out of the pan in one piece easily and I pull the parchment off and either place it back in the pan, or leave the pie crust free standing on a plate. Cheers!