This super easy lemon cream pie recipe is as simple as no-churn ice cream, including sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream and whatever flavors or add-ins you want. It creates a sweet and creamy cloud-like mixture.
It has so many options, so make sure to read through this article of Apronese to find out a couple of quick ways you can change it up and make it your own.
Options for Pie Crust
Graham Cracker Crust
You can make a simple pie crust out of vanilla wafers to play on the whole vanilla-lemon theme of the pie, or use the exact same method with graham crackers instead.
No-bake
You can bake your crust for a few minutes to make it more solid, but baking is not totally necessary.
You can absolutely make the pie no-bake if you want. If that’s the case, the crust will be a little more crumbly.
Store-bought
To make it faster and easier, you can use any type of store-bought crust that you like.
If it’s a traditional pie crust, make sure to pre-bake and cool it before adding the lemon-cream filling.
As for graham cracker crusts, just fill and refrigerate them.
What Dish Should You Use?
This lemon cream pie recipe fills a standard 9-inch pie plate. However, you can also make this into lemon cream squares by using an 8×8 or 9×9-inch square baking dish instead.
If using a square dish, you should only press the crust into the bottom and not up the sides as you would with a pie plate.
Can You Freeze Lemon Cream Pies?
As mentioned before, the filling of this pie is actually the same as no-churn ice cream. So, you can eat it frozen, like an ice cream pie, or just store your leftover slices in the freezer (for a couple of months).
If you do plan to consume your pie frozen, I suggest skipping the baking step for the crust below as it will be easier to cut when frozen if the crust isn’t quite as solid.
Do You Need to Use Fresh Lemons?
I consider fresh lemons to be mandatory for this lemon cream pie recipe because of the zest.
Most of the lemon flavor in this pie comes from the zest itself. The pie will be nice and tart from the juice, but it won’t have a vibrant lemon flavor without the zest.
Can You Use Prepared Whipped Topping?
Yes, you can. If you don’t want to whip your own heavy cream, you can use 2 cups of store-bought whipped topping. But homemade ones will always taste better.
Easy Lemon Cream Pie Recipe
This sweet and creamy lemon cream pie is an easy summer dessert that can be made completely no-bake.
Author: Beth
Prep Time: 20 mins / Cook Time: 10 mins / Refrigerate Time: 2 hrs
Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1.5 cups crushed vanilla wafers ($0.83)
- 6 tbsp butter, melted ($0.54)
- 2 tbsp sugar ($0.04)
Lemon Cream Filling
- 1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk ($1.25)
- 3 lemons ($1.54)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream ($0.78)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Use a food processor or rolling pin to crush the vanilla wafers into very fine, even crumbs. Add the melted butter and sugar and stir until everything is very well combined.
- Press the butter crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and use a flat bottomed glass to compress the mixture until solid. Bake the crust for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. After baking, transfer the crust to the refrigerator to cool.
- Zest and juice the lemons. You’ll need 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 tbsp zest. Slice any leftover unjuiced portions of the lemon to use as garnishes.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk to a bowl along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Whisk until everything is well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks.
- Add 1/4 of the lemon and sweetened condensed milk mixture to the whipped cream and gently fold until combined. Repeat with 1/4 of the lemon mixture at a time until all of it has been folded into the whipped cream.
- Pour the lemon cream filling into the cooled pie crust and refrigerate until completely chilled (about two hours). Slice into 8 pieces and serve.
For a softer crust, just press the filling into the pie plate without baking. You can use either vanilla wafers, graham crackers or any prepared store-bought crust for this pie crust.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice ・ Calories: 462 kcal ・ Carbohydrates: 49 g ・ Protein: 6 g ・ Fat: 28 g ・ Sodium: 244 mg ・ Fiber: 1 g
The nutritional values shown here are only estimates. Please see our nutrition disclaimer.
Equipments
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How to Make Lemon Cream Pie – Step-by-Step Photos
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. You’ll need 1.5 cups of vanilla wafer (or graham cracker) crumbs for the crust.
Use either a food processor or a rolling pin to crush the wafers, making sure the crumb is very fine and even.
Add 2 tbsp sugar and 6 tbsp melted butter.
Step 2: Stir (or pulse in the food processor) until the butter, sugar, and crumbs are well combined.
Step 3: Press the crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and use a flat-bottomed glass to really compress the mixture.
Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to cool.
Step 4: Next, zest and juice the lemons. You’ll need 1/2 cup lemon juice and about 1 tbsp zest. That’s about 2-3 lemons worth of juice and 1 lemon worth of zest.
If you have any leftover lemon that hasn’t been juiced, you can slice it and use it as a garnish for the pie.
Step 5: Add one 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk to a bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tbsp lemon zest, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Step 6: Whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Add 1/4 of the lemon and sweetened condensed milk mixture to the whipped cream and gently fold until combined.
Repeat adding 1/4 of the lemon mixture at a time, until all of it has been folded into the whipped cream.
Step 7: After all the lemon mixture has been folded into the whipped cream, it should still be very light, fluffy, and creamy.
Pour the lemon cream filling into the pie crust. Refrigerate until it’s completely chilled (about 2 hours).
You can also freeze it if you want it to be more solid.
Step 8: Slice the pie into eight pieces and then serve.
And that’s it! It’s never easier to make your own lemon cream pie with this recipe. If you have any other way to make this pie, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. Follow Apronese to get more dessert recipes.
