Key Lime Pie Bars With Vanilla Wafer Crust Recipe (2024)

After filling is set and cooled, since you already have the egg whites, why not whip them with some sugar and brown that meringue in the oven in lieu of the whipped cream topping?

Sub in ginger snaps and dried coconut for the vanilla wafers, and you’ll take this tothe next level.

This recipe should specify Sweetened condensed milk... right now it does not.

In a test kitchen survey, tasters could not discern the difference between key lime and Persian lime juice. I have used both with great results. The bottled option is the least acceptable: fresh is always far superior!

This recipe looked great until I got to the extra 1/2 cup of condensed milk. Seriously? I should open TWO cans of condensed milk and only use 1/2 cup from the second can? And do what with the other 10 oz. of condensed milk? Seems so wasteful . . .

This came out great! I only had one 14oz can of condensed milk, so used heavy cream for the extra 1/4 cup. Made sure not to pack down the vanilla wafer crust too tightly; just spread with spatula and pressed gently with fingers.

You can freeze the leftover sweetened condensed milk.

Hello from Florida, where my key lime trees are dropping a bounty of ripe, yellow (the color of a ripe KL) fruit every day. Made these bars today and all I have to say is OMG!! Made them almost exactly according to recipe but: 1) Upped quantity of filling by 1/3 to accommodate bigger pan; 2) Used 4 times the amount of zest specified, because key limes have a milder flavor and needed the bump of the zest; 3) used only 12 oz of ‘Nilla wafers (size of the box I bought). AMAZING!

Canned Condensed milk is always sweetened as opposed to evaporated milk.

Made this gluten free by using GF cookies in the crust. RAVE reviews. Also, subbed greek plain yogurt for the half can of condensed milk. Made the filling nicely tart!

Instead of whipping cream at the last minute, you could go really declassé and bring a can of whipped cream and just squirt some onto each bar after you cut them.

Sorry, you probably hate when people do this, but its so close to my Grandma's recipe: 1/2 pretzels/ 1/2 Ginger snaps for crumb base. You can make this into a pie by using 2 cans of the condensed milk, 6 yolks, 1 cup of juice and all the zest you can find. 25 min at 325 or until set.

So I thought I was making this as written, but as soon as I put it in the oven realized I had only put one can of sweetened condensed milk. I left it in the oven for a couple extra minutes, but other than that did nothing else. It still came out great! The only thing I would change is to make a little less crust, we thought it was too thick. Otherwise very tasty, even with "regular" limes and just one can of sweetened condensed milk.

Fantastic recipe. Made exactly as written, used regular limes and it was delicious. Rave reviews. I’m sure it would be even better with key limes. The vanilla wafer crust absolutely makes this dessert.

I made 1-1/2x the recipe in a 13 x 9 pan, using 2 cans of condensed milk (avoiding the annoying part-of-a-can leftover issue). I also noticed 5 eggs in to the 7 I had decided to use that it called for yolks only; 5 whole eggs 2 yolks worked just fine. More lime zest is a good call: really as much as you have the patience to zest is good, since the base is very sweet. People loved these.

Made nearly as written but used one commenter's suggestion that ginger snaps instead of 'nilla wafers added pizzazz! It sure did and made about 1/3 more filling than called for, extra luxuriant

I love this recipe! I’ve made it numerous times over the years and it’s a hit every time. Super easy, delicious, and guaranteed to impress.

Loved this so much. I used graham crackers because that’s what I had. I also increased the key lime juice to a full cup and left out the lime zest. The result was a smooth and tangy dessert. Disappeared almost immediately. Very easy to make, and will be in our regular rotation.

Made these with my daughter. Family loved the crust, but felt like the bars were too sweet and not tangy enough despite the extra zest we added. So will try with 1 can of condensed milk next time (though we are enjoying the leftover can with our chai!).

So easy. My wife loves cheesecake and loves Key Lime Pie and this is her lifetime favorite versus either. We skipped the topping and though we're sure it's a fine addition, we loved the bars naked. The Vanilla Wafer crust was a revelation.

Two Kinnikinnick boxes minus about a dozen wafersTwo cans of 7.4 oz each of condensed coconut milk

For those complaining about that extra half cup of condensed milk Eagle Brand makes a 14oz squeeze tube. It lasts forever and you can use it in your bitter bitter coffee.

One of the best recipes I ever made from NYT - my friends who I made it for still talk about it.

I just made this a second time - this is a recipe that is open to individual ideas - this time I stirred in a little lime Greek yogurt and two tbsp. softened cream cheese - maybe a little less sweet this time which we prefer.

Almost a shame to assemble all the ingredients and take the time involved and not use the suggestions here for the 9x13 recipe. And it's so easy to keep these bars in the freezer for another time. I also upped the baking time to 30 mins. YUMMY!

My grandmother's recipe for the filling (which could make pie, bars, or pudding) doesn't need to be baked: use the lime juice and one can of condensed milk folded together with the same amount of whipped cream as the topping here. Then top with more whipped cream and the lime zest. Perfect for a South Florida dessert any time, especially with key limes picked fresh the same day.

I also only used one can of condensed milk bc I misread,; turned out great! Extra zest. Actually thought they tasted better after putting whipped cream on and then refrigerating overnight again!

Ran out of condensed milk (300ml) so substituted the balance with (120ml) heavy whipping cream (creme fraîche liquide here in France). Added the white of a single egg's for a fluffier texture. Tart turned out balanced!

Made multiple times and they are always a hit. I make them gluten free by using GF shortbread cookies instead of wafers as they are easier to find, just decrease the butter a bit. A little extra zest on top makes them even prettier!

Made a stabilized whipped cream - kept nicely in the fridge for a full day... before they all got devoured.