Key Lime Pie Cookies

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Key lime pie is one of my dad’s favorite desserts, so I really wanted to turn this classic pie into a cookie for our family’s Father’s Day dinner! I got to work in the kitchen and not to brag, but, I think I nailed these on the first try (Ok just tooting my own horn here, because that does NOT always happen)!

These cookies start with a pie crust-inspired base and are topped with a classic key lime pie filling. Sweet, tart, refreshing. You cannot go wrong making these for your summer BBQs!

A few recipe notes:

• I made these into larger bakery style cookies (approximately 3 oz each). I did this by combining two heaping scoops of dough with my #40 cookie scoop. You can easily adjust your cookie size, but remember to adjust your baking time with it.
• I used crushed vanilla wafers in this recipe, but I imagined crushed graham crackers would be just as good if that’s what you have on hand.
• Do NOT omit the lime zest! It really elevates the flavor profile.
• This recipe makes approximately 18 large cookies or 3 dozen smaller cookies. I like to make my cookies in larger batches because I’m usually baking for a crowd, but of course you can reduce this recipe to half to make a smaller batch.
  • PRO TIP- Make the base recipe in the original size, and follow my instructions for freezing cookies here. Freeze half of the base dough and use it to make my Peanut Butter Pie cookies next week. I promise you won’t be sorry – and it’s the same base cookie! Work smarter, not harder.
• Don’t be intimidated by a longish ingredient list. I promise these cookies come together fairly easily!

Let’s get to baking!

Ingredients

Cookie base:

-1 cup butter

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-2 eggs

-1 tsp vanilla

-2.5 cups all-purpose flour

-2 cups of vanilla wafers, crushed (measure 2 cups, and then crush)

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/3 cup vanilla wafers, crushed

Key Lime Filling

-8 oz cream cheese

-14 oz sweetened condensed milk

-1/2 cup lime juice

-1 tbsp lime zest

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Next, combine your dry ingredients – flour, crushed cookies, soda, powder, salt, in a bowl and set aside
3. Cream butter and sugars in a different bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs and vanilla extract
5. Once combined, add in your dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
6. Your dough should be soft and a little sticky. Scoop your dough into whichever size you’d like and then roll in the extra cookie crumbs.
7. After rolling in cookie crumbs, gently press the bottom of a tablespoon into the center to create a little dip in the cookie.
8. Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven, then use a measuring cup (size will depend on size of cookie scoops, I used a 1/4 cup scoop for my 3 oz cookies) to press a larger dip in the partially baked cookies.
9. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes. After baking, cookies should no longer be glossy in the center, but they should not be browning around the edges.
10. Let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to parchment paper or a wire rack to cool completely.

Key Lime Filling

1. Cream together cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until combined and fluffy
2. Add in lime juice and zest, and mix on high until well-combined.

Assemble

Once cookie bases are complete cooled, dollop the key lime filling into the dip in each of the cookies. Spread filling evenly amongst cookies (I used 2 scoops for each cookie using my #40 cookie scoop). Top cookies with extra cookie crumbs and lime zest.

Enjoy!

Since I don’t want to flood this post with pictures that disrupt the flow of reading the instructions, I’ve put a few below.

If you give these a try, let me know what you think in the comments below! I would love to hear your feedback!