key lime pie bars;

Originally posted April 20, 2016. Updated March 17, 2023 for content and clarity.

Key lime pie bars are a juicy, mouth watering, smooth and creamy key lime pie in perfect bar form. With a toasty graham cracker crust studded with mild coconut as the base, this tart and sweet creamy filling is the perfect complement to make your tastebuds water. Plus, this recipe is so quick and easy, it’s hard to find a reason not to make it!

Key lime is one of the many wonders of the world that I didn’t discover until after I graduated college, if you can believe it. I never understood why people wanted a sour dessert, but I’ve been proved wrong. The tart-sweet combination draws parallels to the salty-sweet taste (which I love), and they’re both amazing. I owe it all to my roommate at the time, who made me help her eat her pie slice because she couldn’t finish it! And it was love at first bite.

I was a little key lime obsessed for a while then, trying to make up for lost time.  But these key lime pie bars are easy to make, and keep for a while as long as they’re covered in the fridge. They keep great more than a week, up to two weeks if you throw the baking dish in the back of fridge where it’s coldest.  (I’ll admit I’ve eaten them even past the two week mark.)  Key lime pie bars are perfect as a make-ahead recipe. As long as you can keep yourself from eating the whole thing before you want to serve it!

Don’t have sour cream? Try swapping in a full-fat greek yogurt instead, for an extra protein boost. That makes it healthy…right?

secret to success

Don’t have sour cream? Try swapping in a full-fat greek yogurt instead. I try to keep yogurt around because it’s tasty and easy to adapt to various recipes. (I often use it in place of sour cream.) I honestly can’t tell the difference when I make the swap, so it’s an easy 1:1 alternative. You get an added protein boost…which makes it healthy, right?

This particular recipe, adapted from My Baking Addiction, throws some coconut flakes into the graham cracker crust of the key lime pie bars.  Normally I’m not a huge fan of coconut, but it surprises me how much I like it here.  So if you’re not a coconut lover, leave it out. But if you’re ambivalent, definitely try it out. I’m usually not a coconut fan, but with all the other strong flavors in this recipe, I actually really like the texture and mild flavor the coconut adds.

Not a coconut lover? Skip the coconut in the crust! I promise, these key lime pie bars taste just as good without it.

secrets to success

It’s still delicious, it just looses a tiny bit of mild coconut flavor and a little bit of texture in the crust. An additional swap you can make is to sub greek yogurt for sour cream. I pretty much always keep greek yogurt on hand, and sometimes I don’t want to run out and buy sour cream. In my opinion you can’t even tell the difference.

Don’t over-bake your bars! Sweetened condensed milk is an odd texture to tell when it’s done. I look for little bubbles at the edge of the pan. I also look for the edges to be firm with minimal movement because they usually adhere to the side of the pan. The middle will still jiggle when taking it out of the oven, but remember it will continue to firm as it cools, and then chills in the fridge. There’s also no egg or ingredients to undercook here, so it’s safe even if you pull it out early.

Don’t overbake your bars! I look for little bubbles at the edge of the pan. I also look for firm edges with minimal jiggle.

secret to success

So get out your limes and your sweetened condensed milk! Make this recipe immediately, and don’t skip out on that lime zest. It really adds so much extra lime flavor without changing the texture of the creamy, delicious, sweet-tart filling for these delectable key lime pie bars.

secrets to success;

Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!

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more recipes;

Looking for other easy, make-ahead recipes? Check out these delicious options:

• Chocolate icebox cake is a two-ingredient favorite in our household. It does require you to make it ahead, since the cookies need time to absorb the moisture from the whipped cream to get that cake-y texture. But it’s so easy, so delicious, and so much fun to make with kiddos or family!
• For a fruity, healthful, and delicious dessert, try this easy fruit cobbler recipe. A great way to use up sweet fruit maybe a little past its prime, bake off these cups filled with fruit and topped with an oat crumble. My favorite is strawberry, but try blueberry, raspberry, or a blend of your favorite fruits.
• For savory make-ahead meals, try this twice baked breakfast sweet potato to meal-prep nutritious, filling breakfasts for your whole week, and make ahead some enchiladas verde for a Mexican twist on dinner! You’ll thank yourself as soon as you bite into either.