A smooth and creamy pie with fresh lemon filling and whipped cream in a buttery graham cracker crust.
Lemon desserts. Yay? Nay? Meh?
Lemon Cream Pie
- Graham cracker crust
- Sweet and tart lemon filling
- Freshly whipped cream
I went the homemade route with each of the components of this pie. If you have to take a shortcut with a store bought crust or prepared whipped cream, you can. I highly suggest you try the whole recipe from scratch at least once. This pie is straight up heavenly.
LEMON RECIPES: Raspberry Lemon Tart, Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake, Lemon Coconut Cake
Lemon Cream Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
Crust:
- 9 whole rectangular graham crackers
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Lemon filling:
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- scant 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
- 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 large eggs yolks lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter cubed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream use a thicker sour cream, not runny
Whipped cream:
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Break up the graham crackers and place them in a food processor. Pulse until the graham crackers are processed into fine crumbs.
Pour the crumbs into a bowl and stir in the melted butter and sugar. Once all the graham cracker crumbs are moistened, press the crumb mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust for about 13-15 minutes, until fragrant and light golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Lemon filling:
- In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk and lemon juice. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened and bubbling. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat.
Place the egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly add a cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking as you pour (this will slowly bring up the temperature of the eggs). Add the egg mixture back to the pan and bring to a gentle boil for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in butter and lemon zest, mixing until completely combined. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, whisk in sour cream. Whisk vigorously to maintain the creamy texture. Pour the lemon filling into the crust. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
Assembly:
Before serving, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Top the pie with whipped cream (I used a star tip and piped it on, but you can also spread it using a butter knife or offset spatula). If desired, garnish with a sprinkling of finely grated lemon zest.
Recipe updated March 2018 – I increased the lemon filling to make it a little bit thicker. The rest of the recipe remains the same.
Lemon filling adapted from Taste of Home
Perfect spring pie!
I love watching reruns of Friends and never get tired of them. That pie on the floor scene is hilarious! I have been into lemons lately and this pie looks irresistible!
Friends is the best! I’ve been into lemons too, I love them this time of year.
Yummmmm I need this in my life!
Thanks, Carly!
Thanks for the great recipe! It’s SO good! Will absolutely make this again 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for stopping by!
Thank You. I used your recipe to make a lime pie and it is fantastic.
I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for stopping by! Happy New Year!
Thinking of making for Easter; what did you change to make it thicker?
Hi! I slightly increased most of the filling ingredients so that the lemon filling would be thicker/higher. I like having the filling reach almost all the way to the top of the pie crust. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Easter!
Just made this for Easter…which is today. Cutting it close but I am sure it will turn out great! I love lemon so much. This is a nice change from typical Lemon Meringue pie!
I hope you like it. Happy Easter!
Made this for Easter and it was delicious! However, for some reason my pie didn’t set up too well and therefore would not slice neatly. Any idea what I may have done wrong? I followed the recipe exactly but I do know that custard-type pies that are not baked can be tricky.
Hi, Andrea. I’m sorry that the pie didn’t set up all the way. What type of milk did you use? Also, was your sour cream thick or runny? I’ve made this with two different brands of sour cream, but both types were rather thick. I’m wondering if a thinner sour cream would yield a different end-result than what I typically get? Also, the thickening agents are the cornstarch and egg yolks, I’m assuming you used both as written, since you said you followed the recipe?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a Happy Easter!
Can this dessert be made ahead and frozen?
No. The dairy (sour cream, heavy cream) would likely separate.
Can I use lime juice, to replace lemon juice?
Yes, you can use lime instead of lemon. I have never tried doubling it. Enjoy!
P.S. can recipe be doubled successfully?
An absolutely delicious pie. Finally a lemon pie that is lemony and tart. I made it twice. Once with thick sour cream and the second time with Greek yogurt and both were a great success. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to stop by!
Mine was a big pile of a runny lemon mess with a healthy mix of graham crackers. As I can’t eat this like an actual pie, I will have to put it on ice cream.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. As long as your cornstarch was fresh, and you used large egg yolks, it should have set up.