Key Lime Pie Cookies – Crumbl Copycat: If you like key lime pie and cookies, you’re going to LOVE this easy recipe! These copycat Crumbl key lime pie cookies are a pie in cookie form and are sure to become a family favorite!
Why you’ll love this recipe
This key lime cookie recipe might be a bit more involved than your typical drop cookies, but I promise they are sooo worth it! These soft cookies are perfectly chewy, and the tart key lime filling on the top is out of this world! If you like key lime pie or key lime cheesecake, you’re going to LOVE these.
These would be the best cookies to take to a dinner party because they look super impressive and they taste delicious. But the best part? They are actually super simple to make!
What are Crumbl cookies?
Crumbl is a cookie company that was started by two cousins with a passion for baking and creativity. What started out with one store is now a chain serving much of North America!
Crumbl’s cookie journey began with their infamous milk chocolate chip cookies, but now they develop unique and delicious cookies inspired by popular flavors, foods, desserts of all kinds – from pies to cakes to candies and more.
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Ingredients
You might need to run to the grocery store to grab a few ingredients for this key lime pie cookies recipe, but you should be able to find everything you need to your local grocery store (and trust me, it’s worth it)!
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups graham crackers, crushed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ⅓ cup (key) lime juice
- whipped cream, sliced (key) lime wedges, additional crushed graham cracker crumbs for topping (optional)
See the printable recipe card below for quantities and detailed instructions on how to make these key lime cookies!
How to Make Key Lime Pie Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
- In a separate medium bowl, add the flour, crushed graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a whisk.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or stand mixer until the dough forms into clumps.
- Take a golf ball sized amount of dough and roll it in your hands. Place it on the prepared baking sheet and flatten it slightly. Do not crowd the cookies, as they will spread and get very large!
- Using the rounded back of a tablespoon or a small cup sprayed in nonstick spray, make little indentations into the dough to form a shallow bowl.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 11-13 minutes.
- When the cookies are done, you will need to reshape the shallow bowls on the tops of the cookies with the back of a tablespoon again. Once the shallow bowls have been made, move the cookies to a cooling rack with a large spatula so they can cool.
How to Make Key Lime Pie Cookie Filling
- In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and key lime juice until smooth and creamy.
- When the cookies have completely cooled, fill the shallow bowls on the tops with the cream cheese mixture and place in the refrigerator to allow centers to “set” until ready to serve.
- Top the cookies with a dollop of whipped cream, additional crushed graham cracker crumbs, and a slice of (key) lime. Serve and enjoy!
Substitutions
Need to make a swap? I’ve got a few ideas!
- Butter – instead of butter, you could use margarine and the end result would be similar.
- Brown Sugar – you can use white granulated sugar instead of brown sugar in the cookies if you need to, but the cookie will likely spread a bit more and will not be quite as soft (will be a bit more crispy around the edges).
- Gluten Free – I haven’t tested this, but it should be possible to swap the flour for your favorite 1:1 gluten free blend and the graham cracker crumbs for a gluten free version and still get a delicious cookie!
Variations
Are you the creative type who always wants to put their own spin on a recipe? I can relate! Here are a few ideas I had for how to change this one up a bit…
- Lemon Meringue Cookies – you could easily switch the lime juice for lemon juice, top these cookies with a bit of meringue and then torch or broil it for that classic golden brown lemon meringue pie look. How delicious would that be?!
- Chocolate Key Lime Pie Cookies – if you swap the crushed graham cracker crumbs for Oreo crumbs, you would get a delicious chocolate twist on this pie inspired cookie! It would be similar to making a key lime pie with a chocolate crust instead of a graham cracker crust.
- Lime Explosion – if you really love lime, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lime zest to the cookie filling before you add it to the top of the cookies. This will add an extra pop of lime flavor!
If you get creative with this recipe, be sure to let me know in the comments. I love trying new versions of my recipes!
Storage
Your key lime sugar cookies should keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge (because the key lime filling has cream cheese in it, these should not be left out of the fridge for more than 2 hours).
I haven’t tried freezing these cookies, so I’m unsure how they would turn out. The texture of cream cheese often changes after being frozen, so it’s likely that the cream cheese mixture would not freeze/thaw well. I do think you could freeze the cookies separately (in a freezer safe container for up to a month) and then add the filling to the cookies when you are ready to serve them. If you do try it, let me know in the comments below!
Expert Tips and FAQs
If you want even more key lime flavor, you can add about 1-2 teaspoons of key lime zest to the cream cheese mixture before you top the cookies!
Yes! In most recipes, regular limes can be used in place of key limes. While key limes are touted as being more acidic and more “tangy” than your average grocery store lime, you can absolutely replace the juice in this recipe with regular lime juice.
Lime is a bright, tropical flavor and it goes well with flavors like coconut, blueberry, and raspberry! Try serving these decadent cookies on a tray with some fresh berries and slices of dried coconut for the ultimate dessert!
Related Recipes
If you enjoyed this decadent Crumbl key lime pie cookie, you should definitely check out the sugar cookie sandwiches on the blog! They are similarly simple to make but impressive to look at!
And if you like the look of cookies with delicious filling on top, you have to try these Twix cookies – these are perfect for cookie exchanges, bake sales, or any other time you need to wow people with a tasty and impressive looking snack.
Recipe
Key Lime Pie Cookies – Crumbl Copycat
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs crushed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ⅓ cup (key) lime juice
- whipped cream, sliced (key) lime wedges, additional crushed graham cracker crumbs for topping (optional)
Instructions
Cookie
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
- In a separate medium bowl, add the flour, crushed graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a whisk.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or stand m mixer until the dough forms into clumps.
- Take a golf ball sized amount of dough and roll it in your hands. Place it on the prepared baking sheet and flatten it slightly. Do not crowd the cookies, as they will spread and get very large!
- Using the rounded back of a tablespoon or a small cup sprayed in nonstick spray, make little indentations into the dough to form a shallow bowl.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 11-13 minutes.
- When the cookies are done, you will need to reshape the shallow bowls on the tops of the cookies with the back of a tablespoon again. Once the shallow bowls have been made, move the cookies to a cooling rack with a large spatula so they can cool.
Filling
- In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and key lime juice until smooth and creamy.
- When the cookies have completely cooled, fill the shallow bowls on the tops with the cream cheese mixture.
- Preferred: Refrigerate to allow centers to "set" before serving.
- Top the cookies with a dollop of whipped cream, additional crushed graham cracker crumbs, and a slice of (key) lime. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Kelly Welch says
Can you freeze these??
Jessica says
Hi Kelly! That’s a great question. I haven’t tried freezing them yet – they tend to get eaten before I get a chance to. Haha! I would be cautious of freezing these with the cream cheese topping – as that doesn’t tend to freeze well at times. But it may be good to test a round ahead of time before making the batch that you need!
Madeline Montgomery says
These are even better after a day in the fridge!
Jessica says
Oh that’s perfect to hear, thank you for sharing!
Jennifer says
Sooo tasty!! & so flavorful!! Came out amazing!
Toni says
This is so good! Everyone really enjoyed it!
Kristyn says
This is one of our favorites to get at Crumbl, so to be able to make them at home, makes us so happy!! Love the flavor!!