Healthy Key Lime Pie Bars
Why you’ll love this recipe
- These healthy key lime pie bars are the perfect dessert.
- Only 130 calories in a single serving.
- Uses easy and simple ingredients.
- Perfect tangy dessert to bring to parties to share.
What’s better than key lime pie? Healthy key lime pie bars! And ladies and gentlemen, this one does not fail to deliver. The graham cracker crust and creamy pie filling give these bars the traditional key lime taste you’d expect but are made with no refined sugars making them a healthy alternative to the traditional key lime recipes you’ll find. Full disclosure, this perfect combination of key lime zest with sweetened condensed milk makes it hard to stop at just one bar!
How to make these bars dairy and gluten-free
Gluten-free is so easy! Use gluten-free graham crackers, such as Pamela’s, and you’ve got a gluten-free perfect summer dessert.
Dairy-free is a little trickier to accomplish. You can try to swap out the condensed milk with coconut cream but this does tend to change the consistency so keep that in mind. Use dairy-free yogurt in place of Greek yogurt and coconut whipped cream for the topping.
What you’ll need to make these Healthy Key Lime Pie Bars
These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions for Healthy Key Lime Pie Bars.
Graham Crackers: you need 5 sheets, ground to a powder.
Coconut oil: melted. You can substitute it with butter as well.
Key Lime Juice: Grocery store-bought is totally fine. Fresh lime juice also works. It would take about 7-8 regular limes to yield 1 cup of juice. If you can’t find key lime any lime juice works! Store bought is a bit less tart and my preferred.
Lime Zest: Adds a ton of flavor. Usually, one regular lime will get what you need.
Egg Whites: using just the whites keeps these low-calorie and lower in fat.
Sweetened Condensed Milk: I use one 14 oz. can of fat-free, you can use full fat as well.
Non-fat Greek Yogurt: Fage non-fat plain is always my go-to. Any fat % plain Greek yogurt works!
Whipped Topping: Whipped cream or sugar-free cool whip. I put a small dollop of whipped cream on top of each square for serving.
How to make key lime bars
Pre-heat oven and prep baking pan
Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick or line with parchment paper.
Make and bake pie crust
In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted coconut oil. Mix to make sure the cracker pieces are all wet. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of your prepared dish to form the crust. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then remove it from the oven and set it aside.
Prepare filling and add to the crust
While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling. In a large bowl, combine lime juice, lime zest, egg whites, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, and non-fat Greek yogurt. Whisk the mixture until it’s well combined. Pour the filling over the baked crust and spread it into an even layer with a spatula.
Bake
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is set in the center, slightly jiggly but firm and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Cool and serve
Let the bars cool to room temperature in the baking dish for at least 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or until they’re completely chilled and firm. This is best to do overnight so they’re fully chilled before cutting.
Slice into 12 equal squares and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of additional lime zest for garnish.
Recipe Tips
- For the healthy key lime pie bars, use a food processor to get the graham crackers to a powder form. If you don’t have one, put them in a zip lock bag and crumble them into a powder with your hands or kitchen tool, I like to use a rolling pin and roll it in the ziplock bag. You can also store-bought pre-crumbled graham crackers if you can find them.
- Overmixing causes cracks when baking, it’s still good, promise! Just be sure to let the mixture cool prior to refrigerating and to leave it in the fridge as long as possible prior to cutting.
- If you don’t have store-bought liquid egg whites it takes about 4 eggs to yield 120g of egg whites. Just be sure to remove the egg yolks.
- Be sure to let the crust cool all the way prior to adding the filling. This helps prevent a soggy crust.
If you like this recipe be sure to check out some of our other easy recipes!
- Protein Banana Bread
- Chewy Chocolate Protein Granola Bars
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
- Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad
- Dairy Free Egg Casserole
Key Lime Pie Bars
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Ingredients
Crust
- 5 full sheets graham cracker crumbled to powder
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted, 45g
Filling
- 1 cup key lime juice I use a store-bought container of juice
- 2 Tbsp. lime zest
- 120g liquid egg whites
- 1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk 14oz
- 1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt 112g
Topping
- 1 dollop whipped cream, sugar-free cool whip or vanilla yogurt
- lime zest for garnish
- lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray a 8×8 baking dish with nonstick or line with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted coconut oil. Mix to make sure the cracker pieces are all wet. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of your prepared dish to form the crust. Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes until browned, then remove it from the oven and set it aside.
- While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling. You want to make sure to add the filling to cooled crust. In a large bowl, combine lime juice, lime zest, egg whites, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, and non-fat Greek yogurt. Whisk the mixture until it’s well combined. Pour the filling over the baked crust and spread it evenly with a spatula, if needed.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is set in the center, slightly jiggly but firm and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Let the bars cool to room temperature in the baking dish for at least 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and cool in the refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until they’re completely chilled and firm. This is best to do overnight so they’re fully chilled before cutting.
- Slice into 12 equal squares and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of additional lime zest for garnish.
Notes
- About 8 limes yields about 1 cup of key lime juice.
- 4 large eggs yields 120g of egg whites.
- Add a dollop of whipped cream to each individual piece for serving.
- Be sure to let the crust cool prior to adding the filling.
These are amazing! Highly recommend. Just be sure to not overbake.
These were so good!
Can you freeze these to keep longer? I want to try this recipe but 12 servings is too much! Would love to freeze half and keep for next week
Personally, I would half the recipe and make it in a loaf pan or small pan to make 6 vs. 12.
This is amazing!! My 6 year old and my Mom loved it. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
These are so yummy! My only complaint is that my graham cracker crust is soggy. Did I do something wrong or is this how it’s suppose to be? Either way I’m eating these babies.
Did you let your crust brown in the oven and then let it cool prior to adding the filling? Letting it cool helps! It’s definitely not going to be crunchy like a graham cracker but nice and soft.
I did brown it in the oven. Maybe I didn’t let it cool like it needed to before I put the filling. I’ll try that next time. Thanks