An easy lemon pie featuring a silky and creamy no bake lemon custard filling. This pie needs just 3 ingredients and is an easy dessert that can be customized for any upcoming celebrations.
These flower shaped pies are so cute and perfect for Mother’s Day and other celebrations. What I love about this easy pie recipe is that you can customize the crust to be other shapes and sizes. You can make individual pies or make one whole pie as well.
Ingredients
- Pie crust dough
- Lemon juice
- Condensed milk
Pie crust: To make this recipe easier, I used pre-made store bought pie crust dough. You want to use the kind that is refrigerated and rolled up. You can make your own crust if you want as well. You will need two pie crusts. Most of the time they are sold in packs of two.
Lemon juice: I used fresh squeezed lemon juice to make the lemon filling.
Condensed milk: Sweetened condensed milk is used to make the lemon pie filling. When it is combined with the lemon juice, it thickens into a custard- like filling. Unfortunately the recipe does not work with coconut condensed milk.
How to Make Lemon Pies
- Use a 3.75 inch flower cookie cutter to cut flower shapes into the pie crust. I was able to get 7 per pie crust for a total of 14 pies.
- Place the flower pie crusts into a muffin pan. Prick a few holes at the bottom using a fork. Bake the pie crust until golden brown and cooked.
- To make the lemon pie filling, simply combine the lemon juice and condensed milk. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the filling into the pie crust. If desired, dust the crust with powdered sugar.
- Then place the pies into the fridge to set. It takes a few hours for the filling to thicken and set, but overnight is best.
Pie Texture and Variation
This pie filling is the same filling I use for my No Bake Lemon Pie. It’s such an easy filling. When the condensed milk and lemon juice are combined and placed into the fridge, it really does thicken up to a custard-like filling. The filling is very sweet though. If you prefer your pie filling to be less sweet, you can also do a three-ingredient no bake filling by adding cream cheese to the filling. The end result will taste similar to a cheesecake.
The two ingredient filling is very creamy and sweet. It may seem like it isn’t thick enough to hold its shape, but it does.
The three ingredient filling is a little more tart from the cream cheese and tastes like cheesecake. The filling is also thick enough to hold its shape when you bite or cut in.
More Easy Pies
- 3 Ingredient No Bake Key Lime Pie
- 4 Ingredient No Bake Blueberry Pie
- 3 Ingredient Chocolate Silk Pie
3 Ingredient Lemon Pie
Ingredients
- 2 (9-inch) refrigerated premade pie crusts
- 1 (14 oz) can full fat sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C).
- Let pie crusts soften to room temperature. Roll out both pie crusts on a pastry board or large cutting board. Use the flower cookie cutter to cut 14 flower shapes out of the dough (7 from each pie crust).
- Gently place cut dough into a standard muffin tray, pressing down to make sure it fits snuggly. Use a fork to pierce the bottom of the crust 3 times. See photo in post for reference.
- Bake pie crusts in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown and fully cooked. Set aside to cool.
- Add lemon juice and condensed milk to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until lemon juice is fully incorporated.
- Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop the filing and release it directly into each of the cooled mini pie crusts. Use a spatula or spoon to smooth and even out the surface if needed. If desired, dust the surface with powdered sugar.
- Place pies in the fridge for several hours to set. I like to refrigerate overnight. Keep pies in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
- You can find premade pie crusts (the kind that is a premade dough that you unroll and bake) at most grocery stores. I tested this with Pillsbury and Amazon Fresh brands.
- I used this 3 3/4 inch flower cutter.*
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- If you prefer a less sweet filling, you can also add cream cheese to this filling for a cheesecake-like filling. To make the cheesecake version:
- 4 oz (113 g) full fat cream cheese, brought to room temperature
- 7 oz (198 g) full fat sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup (59 ml) lemon juice
- Add cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl a few times as needed to make sure all the cream cheese gets beaten. Pour in the condensed milk. Beat until mixture is smooth. Add in the lemon juice. Mix at low speed until completely and evenly incorporated. Scoop filling into the cooled pie crusts.
- Please note the actual nutrition is likely less calories and fat than the estimated. The estimated nutrition assumes all of the two pie crusts are consumed/used but there will be leftover scraps of pie dough.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Hi, wondering if these lemon tarts can be made gluten and sugar free because I’m a diabetic and Coeliac. Thanks
You can use a gluten-free crust but I don’t know how to make them sugar free
Instead of lemon juice can I use orange juice? Thanks.
We haven’t tested with orange juice. It may not contain enough pectin to make the pie set. It does work with lime juice.
So easy!!! Omigosh, I want to make these. Would adding a 1/2 teaspoon or so of grated rind be something to add to give it a little more “lemony” flavor?
You can definitely add some grated rind.
Love the flower pies. Yummy! Can’t wait to make them for our weekly luncheon with friends. They’re going to absolutely love them and will be asking for recipes. I will definitely give them your link so it will also be useful to you. Thank you for all the wonderful tips also.
Rita Stowe
Hope everyone enjoys!
Lovely pies
Thank you!
Love this recipe
thanks!
Will this work with sweetened condensed oat milk?
Sorry we haven’t tried with condensed oat milk yet.
I’ve just got a question. Could a dairy free condensed milk work? Like a coconut one? This seems a delicious recipe but I’m allergic to dairy and looking for desserts. Thank you! ?
We tried with coconut condensed milk and the filling doesn’t set the same way. Not sure if other dairy free condensed milk alternatives will work