Lemon Pie Recipe

This easy Lemon Pie is light, creamy, sweet and tart lemon pie with a thick graham cracker crust and a creamy lemon filling. The famous Magnolia Lemon Pie by Joanna Gaines is an easy dessert that takes 10 minutes to throw together.

I think I might have been the last person in this world to watch the show Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines.

If you haven’t seen the show, run and watch it now and you’ll immediately fall in love with them. I happened to be on a really long flight and started binge watching their show.

Here’s why I love them. They’re genuine. I don’t think they feel like they have to put on a show, they’re just themselves.

Of course I gravitated to her easy Lemon Pie…which literally is done in under 20 minutes. My kind of pie.

And you know why I’m making pie, right? It’s almost Pi day. March 14th? 3.14? Did I lose you? 3.14 is the digital reading for March 14th and constant for the symbol Pi.

My sister-in-law Kim had her heart transplant 4 years ago on March 14th so every year we make a pie (or eat one if we’re out of town) on that day to celebrate her new chance at life.

This year we will be on a plane once again so I’m here early to share this pie with you. It’s an easy recipe made with simple ingredients. As I was making it, I realized it’s very similar to the Key Lime Pie in my cookbook, except obviously made with fresh lemons instead of limes.

Her original recipe calls for 3 cups of sweetened condensed milk which is about 2 1/4 cans. I stuck with just 2 cans. It definitely doesn’t make a difference so unless you really want to open an entire can to just use a tiny bit of it, do it my way.

I was invited to go on a trip to check out the Magnolia store and meet Chip and Joanna and couldn’t go so this is my way of living vicariously through my friends who went. Enjoy!

Creamy Lemon Pie

Deliciously cool and creamy lemon pie is the perfect summer dessert made with only 7 simple ingredients.

Prep: 20min

Total: 3h40min

Yield: 8

Ingredients:

• 11 (about 160g) full-sheet graham crackers
• 1/2 cup (62g) salted almonds (I used roasted)
• 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
• 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup (180ml) fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
• 4 large egg yolks*
• garnish: lemon zest, lemon slices, almonds, whipped cream, or meringue topping

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
2. Using a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and almonds together into crumbs. A few larger pieces of nuts is OK. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. Tips: You can use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to help press down the bottom crust and smooth out the surface, but do not pack down too hard. And run a spoon around the bottom “corner” where the edge and bottom meet to help make a rounded crust⁠—this helps prevent the crust from falling apart. For more shaping technique tips, see the graham cracker crust recipe page.
3. Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
4. Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and egg yolks together. Pour into warm crust.
5. Bake the pie for 19–21 minutes or until only *slightly* jiggly in the center. You want it mostly set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and chill for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before serving.
6. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Real Lemon Pie Recipe

An easy lemon pie made with real lemon juice. It has a perfect tart flavor and is great for all occasions!

Prep: 20min

Total: 520min

Yield: 8

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 192 kcal, Carbohydrate 38 g, Protein 1 g, Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Trans Fat 0.1 g, Cholesterol 76 mg, Sodium 153 mg, Fiber 0.2 g, Sugar 32 g, unSaturated Fat 1.4 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (cubed)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 tsp lemon zest

Instruction:

1. Prepare and make your pie crust. You can use a pre-made graham cracker pie crust or a homemade graham cracker crust.
2. Preheat the oven and prep your ingredients.
3. In a medium saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
4. Gradually add in the freshly squeezed lemon juice, cold water, and lightly beaten egg yolks. Give it a stir.
5. And cubed butter.
6. Add hot water to the saucepan and then bring the mixture to a full boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly or it will burn.
7. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. This will help thicken the filling.
8. Add in lemon zest and stir.
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
10. Pour the lemon pie filling into a prepared crust and bake for 20 minutes.
11. Once the pie is done baking, it needs to be set to thicken more. You must leave it in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.

Lemon Pie

This creamy Lemon Pie is light, creamy, sweet and tart lemon flavor with a thick graham cracker crust.

Prep: 10min

Total: 20min

Yield: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter (, melted)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 (14 ounce) cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (about 2 3/4 cup)
• 3 egg yolks
• ⅔ cup lemon juice
• 1 dash salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For the Crust: Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Combine crushed graham crackers, butter, and sugar. Press into prepared pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes.
3. For the Pie Filling: Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, mix the condensed milk, egg yolks, lemon juice ans salt together. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Pour into pie shell and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Little bubbles will start to surface. Cover the crust if it starts to brown too much towards the end.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. As the pie cools, prepare the whipped cream.
5. For the homemade Whipped Cream: Mix the cream, sugar, and vanilla. Whip until fluffy and stiff peaks start to form and add to cooled lemon pie. Garnish with lemon slices and lemon zest.

Lemon Butter Pie

Lemon butter pie just might be the best discovery of the summer ~ an easy (almost) no-bake icebox pie with huge lemon flavor and a texture you just have to taste to believe!

Prep: 10min

Total: 265min

Yield: 10

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 344 kcal, Carbohydrate 26 g, Protein 3 g, Fat 26 g, Saturated Fat 15 g, Trans Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 135 mg, Sodium 287 mg, Fiber 0.5 g, Sugar 18 g, unSaturated Fat 8 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut in 1 tablespoon sized pieces. The butter should be firm but not cold. Room temperature is good.

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a shallow 9 inch pie dish.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter. I find this works best if I use my fingers. Once it’s all combined and evenly moistened, gently press it into your pie dish. Don’t worry about messy edges, one of the charms of this lemon pie is the ragged crumb crust.
3. Bake the pie crust for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.
4. To make the lemon butter filling put the lemon juice, eggs and yolk, and sugar into a medium sized heavy saucepan. Whisk everything together well.
5. Heat, whisking or stirring constantly, over medium to medium high heat until the mixture thickens and reaches 180F. I like to use a silicone whisk and spoonula for this job because it makes it easy to scrape the pan completely as the curd cooks. Note: if you haven’t made curd or egg thickened sauces or puddings before you may want to stick to medium heat.
6. Push the lemon curd through a strainer to remove any stray lumps of egg. Stir to cool the curd to 140F (this won’t take long.)
7. Transfer to a food processor and turn the machine on. Add the pieces of butter, one at a time, letting each incorporate before adding the next.
8. Turn the creamy lemon into your pie crust and spread out evenly. Refrigerate the pie for at least several hours before serving. If you would like a firmer consistency you can pop the pie in the freezer.
9. Serve the pie cold, or even frozen. If serving straight from the freezer you may want to let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so to soften a bit.

The BEST Lemon Meringue Pie

FAQ

What is lemon pie filling made of?

Is lemon pie filling the same as lemon curd?

How do you make lemon meringue pie not watery?

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