Mini Key Lime Pies – These healthy easy little desserts are perfect for any occasion. With a simple crust and no bake cheesecake style filling, this recipe is the perfect make ahead option! Just keep them in the freezer until ready to serve. They are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, keto, low carb and incredibly creamy!
Mini Key Lime Pies
I think there are few things more refreshing than the scent and taste of fresh citrus. And man oh man, do I love limes! So when I was dreaming up new recipes to share with you all on this blog I decided we really needed an awesome Key Lime Pie recipe but what is better (or cuter) than Mini Key Lime Pies?
These sweet, creamy and refreshing little desserts are vegan, gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free with options to also make them into keto and low carb key lime pie. And wow are they good! Keep reading for step by step instructions.
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Let’s Talk Graham Crackers
This recipe is designed with substitutions to meet just about every dietary need. Below I list the graham crust options I recommend for each eating style.
- Keto – This Keto and Low-Carb Graham Cracker option is perfect for all the nostalgic graham taste.
- Vegan – It’s hard to find Vegan Graham Crackers as most contain honey but these are great.
- Gluten Free – While you could certainly use the gluten free and vegan graham crackers listed below these Gluten Free Graham Crackers are also a great choice.
- Gluten Free & Vegan / Dairy Free – Both Gluten Free and Vegan these Graham Crackers are the perfect option for this recipe.
How to Make Mini Key Lime Pies
*Full recipe card with ingredients listed below.*
Step 1: Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor with the palm shortening. I highly recommend this organic palm shortening.
Step 2: Evenly fill the bottom of each muffin liner with the graham crackers crust mixture. Press down firmly for a flat crust. Then bake for 8 minutes and allow to fully cool before adding the filling.
Step 3: To your blender add the soaked and drained raw cashews, coconut milk, lime juice, raw honey, coconut oil, lime zest and salt and blend on high until smooth and creamy, about 90 seconds.
Step 4: Evenly pour the filling over the cooled crusts, sprinkle with more lime zest and place in the freezer for 2-4 hours.
Step 5: Remove from freezer and immediately remove the paper liners and arrange on a serving dish.
Step 6: Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving from frozen or refrigerate for serving later.
How To Make Dairy Free Key Lime Pie Ahead
Dairy free key lime pie is a great dessert to make ahead of time. The low carb key lime pie filling needs time to chill in order to set up and can easily be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in the freezer or after initial freezing transferred to the fridge for a softer serve dessert.
How To Freeze this Vegan Key Lime Pie Recipe
These mini key lime pies require freezing for 2-4 hours in order for the filling to set up after which time they can be covered and kept frozen for up to two weeks if desired.
Once ready to eat just remove from the freezer, remove the parchment paper liners while the treats are still frozen and place on a serving tray or plate. They will begin to soften quicken and can be enjoyed immediately or kept covered in the fridge for a day or two but will be quite soft this way.
Can I Make These Mini Key Lime Pies Without the Crust
Certainly! If you wanted a crust free keto or paleo version of this recipe just make the filling portion and pour it into a ramekin and refrigerate until set. You’ll be able to eat it like pudding or a vegan custard!
Are Limes Ok For Keto Diet
Yes, limes are ok for the keto diet! An entire lime has just 5 grams of net carbs. In this keto key lime pie recipe, there are 4 limes divided between 12 servings making for a very low overall carb count.
How To Make This A Keto Key Lime Pie Recipe
To make this a Keto Key Lime Pie recipe you’ll want to use these in place of traditional graham crackers and this keto version of honey, everything else is already keto and you’ll follow the same directions below in the recipe card.
Substitutions for these Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
This recipe for Mini Key Lime Pies comes with a lot of substitutions so that no matter what your dietary needs are you can enjoy them! It definitely took some work and testing to accomplish but now you can enjoy this recipe as a Vegan Key Lime Pie Recipe, Dairy Free Key Lime Pie, Gluten Free Key Lime Pie Recipe, Gluten free and Dairy free Key Lime Pie or Low Carb Key Lime Pie. My hope is that regardless of who you want to make this recipe for these substitution options will make that possible to fit your needs.
Is Honey Vegan?
Honey is typically not considered vegan since it is made from an animal. I love bees and respect their work and work ethic immensely. If you are interested in using honey in this recipe as the sweetener you can use 1/3 cup to replace the 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
I hope you’re family enjoys this recipe as much as mine did! I created this recipe to have lots of substitution options to suit varying diets. When I make these for the family I make them as a gluten and dairy free dessert using honey as the sweetener and with my favorite gluten free graham crackers. Let me know how you make them in the comments below!
Eat and Enjoy,
Nicole
More Healthy Dessert Recipes:
- Vegan Cheesecake
- Montmorency Sour Cherry Crumble
- Double Chocolate Almond Cake Brownies
- Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies
- Sunbutter Cups
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PrintMini Key Lime Pies {Vegan + Gluten Free + Keto}
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 12 mini pies 1x
- Category: Sweet Treats
- Method: Bake Crust/No Bake Filling
- Cuisine: American
Description
Mini Key Lime Pies – These healthy easy little desserts are perfect for any occasion. With a simple crust and no bake cheesecake style filling, this recipe is the perfect make ahead option! Just keep them in the freezer until ready to serve. They are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, keto and incredibly creamy!
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 1/4 cups gluten free graham crackers (*for KETO use these)
- 1/2 cup organic palm shortening
Filling:
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4–6 hours or up to overnight and drained
- 1/2 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice, from about 4 large limes
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or 1/3 cup honey if not vegan) (*for KETO use 1/4 cup of this)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 Tablespoon grated lime zest + more zest for sprinkling on top
- 1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line a standard sized muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Pulse graham crackers and palm shortening in a food processor until the graham crackers are finely ground and the palm shortening is fully incorporated into the mixture.
- Evenly distribute the crust mixture into the bottom of the muffin liners and press down firmly to flatten the crust.
- Bake the crusts for 8 minutes until golden brown.
- Once baked, remove the crusts from the oven and set aside to cool completely before adding the filling.
- Add all filling ingredients to a blender and blend, starting on low and increasing to high until smooth and creamy. This will take about 90 seconds.
- Evenly pour the filling into the muffin liners to cover the crust.
- Pop any air bubbles that surface in the filling carefully with a wooden toothpick.
- Sprinkle the tops of each mini pie with a pinch of lime zest.
- Freeze the mini pies in the muffin tin for 2-4 hours or until firm.
- Remove from the freezer and immediately remove the paper liners while frozen and arrange the pies as you’d like them on a serving platter.
- Allow the pies to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving from frozen or transfer the serving plate to the refrigerator if not serving right away. Enjoy!
Notes
*These Mini Key Lime Pies will keep once frozen for up to 2 weeks if covered.
Keywords: mini key lime pies, keto lime pie, dairy free key lime pie, vegan key lime pie recipe, low carb key lime pie, gluten free key lime pie recipe, gluten free dairy free key lime pie, mini key lime cheesecakes,
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Kathy says
I’ve always been confused on using coconut milk in recipes…would coconut milk in the carton work for this recipe or does it have to come from a can (the related products shows canned coconut milk)??
Nicole says
Hi Kathy! There are so many different brands of coconut milk, each having their own consistency. For best results in this recipe I recommend using the same brand of canned coconut milk that I did. I’ve linked it in the recipe card. This one is thick and creamy with a mild coconut flavor best suited for the recipe. I hope that helps, enjoy!
Lindsey says
Hello, is this asking for 2 1/4 cups graham crackers before, or after pulsing?
Nicole says
Hi Lindsey! Great question, before pulsing.
★★★★★
Theresa says
How do you measure graham crackers in cups before they are crushed/pulsed? This was a very confusing ingredient to me… wish the weight was provided!
Venita says
Hi there, I don’t like using coconut oil.. is it okay if I use another oil like olive oil or sunflower oil? Or can you offer any alternative oil?
Nicole says
Hi Venita, I have not tried out a substitute for coconut oil in this recipe and I do not believe olive oil or sunflower oil will work. Palm shortening might work in it’s place but again I haven’t tried it to know for sure. If you decide to try it let us know how it works for you.
★★★★★
Ida Ferdman says
I know this is a strange question. But I have acid reflux and cannot have citrus. These look so yummy. Do you think it would work if I puréed peaches or apricots and used this instead of lime?
Nicole says
Hello Ida, I haven’t tried using a puré but I think it would likely work. If you give it a try I’d love to know how it turns out!
★★★★★
Ida Ferdman says
Yes! I substituted the lime with chopped peaches and fresh thyme. It turned out delicious.
★★★★★
Nicole says
Ida, that sounds amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★