This easy lemon pie with condensed milk (a.k.a. lemon icebox pie) has a creamy sweet and tangy filling, crumbly cookie crust, and whipped cream topping. It is easy to prepare and super delish, making the best lemon pie ever on a hot summer day!

Lemon makes some of the best desserts ever… including this easy lemon pie! It has a quick cookie crust, and the filling requires just a 15-minute baking time, cutting down the prep time considerably!

It’s simply one of those classic desserts that never get old! Find out the secrets and tips to make this the best summer sweet treat of your life!

We are making it today to celebrate Father’s Day because it is one of my husband’s favorite desserts! And you?

Table of Contents

1 What’s a lemon icebox pie?
2 Ingredients and Substitutions for Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk
3 Differences between Lemon Meringue Pie and Lemon Icebox Pie
4
5 How to Make Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk
6 How to Store Lemon Pie
7 Other pie recipes:
8
9 Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk (Lemon Icebox Pie)

What’s a lemon icebox pie?

Lemon icebox pie is a Southern dessert made of lemon juice, eggs, and condensed milk in a pie crust, often prepared with graham crackers, sugar, and butter. It is a variant of Key lime pie! It requires minimal baking, although there are also no bake ice box pies.

This easy pie has been around since the 1930’s but it grew in popularity in the 1950’s and 1960’s when refrigerators became a standard item in American kitchens.

Ingredients and Substitutions for Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk

Cookies – You may choose any cookie of your liking. I used one of my favorites, which are Lazzaroni amaretti cookie snaps that I usually buy at World Market. They have a great almond flavor, but you can use graham crackers or vanilla flavored cookies, such as Maria cookies or Nilla wafers. Just choose one with a good flavor! Crumble them either in a food processor or by placing them inside of a sealed plastic bag and hitting them with a rolling pin until they form fine crumbs. For a gluten-free pie, please use gluten-free cookies for the crust. If you don’t want to make a homemade crust, buy yours ready-made and save some sugar, cookies, and butter.
Sugar – more precisely white granulated sugar, although you can use a blend of light brown sugar and white granulated sugar.
Unsalted butter – along with the cookies and sugar, this makes a good cookie crust. Although you can use salted butter, I prefer not to because the amount of sodium varies according to the brand. You’d have no control over it! If you want, you can add a pinch of salt!
Egg yolks – They must be at room temperature and give richness to the custard filling.
Sweetened condensed milk – This makes for a creamy lemon pie. No need for evaporated milk!
Fresh lemons (juice and zest)– You can use regular lemons although Meyer lemons give this pie recipe the best lemon flavor.
Heavy whipping cream – It is beaten until stiff to pipe over the baked pie. No beaten egg whites needed!
Confectionary sugar – This is beaten with the heavy cream to sweeten it, although you can skip it to make an unsweetened whipped cream to top the pie.
Vanilla extract – This flavors the whipped cream but you can replace it with almond extract, for example.

Ours is the baked lemon icebox pie recipe so it does not call for cream cheese. For more vibrant color, add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the filling.

Differences between Lemon Meringue Pie and Lemon Icebox Pie

Lemon meringue pie has a shortened pastry pie crust filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue.

On the other hand, our delicious lemon pie with condensed milk has a cookie crust filled with sweetened condensed milk flavored custard and topped with sweetened whipped cream.

They make look alike, but the main components (crust, filling, and topping) are quite different!

Overall, lemon pie with sweetened condensed milk has a denser and creamier filling with a fresh lemon flavor and is quicker to prepare and less labor intensive than a homemade lemon meringue pie!

It reminds me of Key West Key Lime Pie, which is a similar pie!

How to Make Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk

For the pie crust: Preheat the oven to 350º F (about 180º C). Grease a 10-inch (25.4 cm) non-stick springform pan with unsalted butter or lightly spray with a non-stick vegetable spray. Reserve! If using a standard pie pan or dish (9-inch), cut the recipe in half (ingredients) because the pie dish is not as deep as a springform pan. The baking time will be the same!
In a separate bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of the prepared pan, as well as up the sides (to a height of 1 inch or 2.5 cm).
Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, place on wire rack and let cool down while the filling is being made.
For the filling: In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and the lemon zest at high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Then, add the condensed milk gradually, whipping until thick (4 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the lime juice until fully incorporated.
Pour the filling over the crust and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the filling is set.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the baked pie has completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
For the topping: In a large bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form (the heavy cream, bowl, and whisk attachment must be very cold). To check the consistency, stop the mixer and lift the beaters out of the cream: firm peaks stand pertly!
Either pipe or place big dollops of whipped cream on top of the filling. Decorate the pie with sliced lemons and berries. Served chilled!

How to Store Lemon Pie

Store this lemon pie with condensed milk, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Easy freezer recipe: You may freeze for up to 3 months (preferably without the whipped cream topping) but be aware it may alter the creamy consistency of the filling just a little. Thaw it in the fridge!

Other pie recipes:

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close up of half of easy lemon pie with condensed milk

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4.93 from 14 votes

Easy Lemon Pie with Condensed Milk (Lemon Icebox Pie)

Course:Dessert

Cuisine:American

Keywords:cookie crust, lemon pie, sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories478 kcal

Author Denise Browning

Cost $ 2.00 per person

Equipment

mixer
bowl
oven
pie pan

Ingredients

For the Pie Crust:

2 ¾ cups cookie crumbs Lazzaroni amaretti cookie snaps, Maria cookies, Nilla wafers, or graham crackers. For a Gluten-free version, please use gluten-free cookies for the crust.
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup (plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter melted

For the Filling:

9 large egg yolks at room temperature
3 cans sweetened condensed milk 14 oz or 396 g each
1 ½ cups fresh lemon juice preferably Meyer lemons
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest

For the Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
2 tablespoons confectionary sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 sliced lemon

Instructions

For the pie crust: Preheat the oven to 350º F (about 180º C). Grease a 10-inch (25.4 cm) non-stick springform pan pan with unsalted butter or lightly spray with a non-stick vegetable spray. Reserve! If using a standard pie pan or dish (9-inch), cut the recipe in half (ingredients) because the pie dish is not as deep as a springform pan. The baking time will be the same!
In a separate bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of the prepared pan, as well as up the sides (to a height of 1 inch or 2.5 cm).
Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, place on wire rack and let cool down while the filling is being made.
For the filling: In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and the lemon zest at high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Then, add the condensed milk gradually, whipping until thick (4 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the lime juice until fully incorporated.
Pour the filling over the crust and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the filling is set.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the baked pie has completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
For the topping: In a large bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form (the heavy cream, bowl, and whisk attachment must be very cold). To check the consistency, stop the mixer and lift the beaters out of the cream: firm peaks stand pertly!
Either pipe or place big dollops of whipped cream on top of the filling. Decorate the pie with sliced lemons and berries. Served chilled!

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

How to Store Lemon Pie

Store this lemon pie with condensed milk, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Easy freezer recipe: You may freeze for up to 3 months (preferably without the whipped cream topping) but be aware that this may alter the creamy consistency of the filling just a little. Thaw it in the fridge!

Nutrition

** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.

Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.

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Post first published on June 15th, 2012.

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