Journey with me back to 2012 — the last time I shared this perfect lemon cream pie recipe:
“Baking lemon pie brings memories of my Grandmother back to me. She made an incredible lemon pie with sky-high meringue. It was sensational, just like her. She was also very snippy and demanding at times. I think she mostly lived off of coffee and buttered toast, and the occasional chili from Wendy’s. I remember once she put a pizza in the oven and asked me why it looked so funny… it was upside down. True story. I miss her humor, attitude, and that lemon pie.”
Cheers to my Grandma, and to the best lemon pie you’ll ever make (or eat). Share it with friends and family for Easter, birthdays, showers, Mother’s Day, or just to show some love.
What makes this lemon cream pie extra special
The filling is (obviously) incredible, but the secret is the crust. The crust is made from pecans and gingersnap cookies and will seriously make you a pie baking goddess. Ginger and lemon? Yep. Ugh, I wish you could live in my mind. The flavor combination is perfect.
Unlike in my banana cream pie, you don’t have to carefully “cook” the filling on the stovetop before adding it to the crust. You’ll just whisk, pour, and bake!
Ingredients in this lemon cream pie recipe
I tweaked this recipe slightly from the 13 years ago and it seriously turned out better than I even remember. Here’s what you’ll need:
- For the crust: as I mentioned, you’ll need pecans and gingersnap cookies, plus some salted butter and dark brown sugar. So simple.
- For the filling: the lemon custard filling is made with granulated sugar, eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest, sour cream, cornstarch, and salt. No gelatin or sweetened condensed milk required!
- For topping: what’s a lemon pie without homemade whipped cream? Make my version with heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Can I make it gluten-free or dairy-free?
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a substitute in this recipe to make it gluten-free or dairy-free. If you have a gluten-free pie crust you love, feel free to try that and let me know in the comments how it goes!
The magic of sour cream
You might be thinking: wait, we’re adding sour cream to the filling?! Yes! Not only does it give your filling a wonderfully smooth, creamy texture, but it also adds an extra level of tartness with the lemon juice that balances out with the sugar, crust, and whipped cream topping.
If you’re out of sour cream you can also use whole-milk or 2% Greek yogurt!
Not into ginger? Try a new crust
- If you like a traditional pie crust, feel free to use your favorite store-bought pie crust OR (even better) try my fool-proof all-butter pie crust.
- I recommend swapping the gingersnaps for a different cookie like biscoff cookies, vanilla wafers, or graham crackers.
How to make perfect lemon cream pie
- Pulse the crust. Add the pecans and gingersnaps to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they become fine crumbs. Add the butter and brown sugar and pulse again until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Form & bake the crust. Pour the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and evenly press into the bottom and sides of your pan with clean hands or the pack of a measuring cup. Bake, and then let it cool.
- Mix the filling. Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl and use clean fingers to rub them together to infuse the sugar. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
- Bake the pie. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, then carefully transfer to the oven and bake until the filling is set. It can be slightly jiggly, just make sure it doesn’t look “wet.”
- Cool, then cool again. Let the pie cool to room temperature, then loosely cover it with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge for 4 hours. This is important, so don’t rush the cooling process!
- Make the whipped cream topping. Use an electric stand mixer or hand mixer to beat together the whipped cream ingredients until nice and fluffy.
- Top, garnish & serve. Top the cooled pie with whipped cream and lemon zest, then slice and serve!
Can I make it ahead of time?
Yes! Feel free to make the full lemon cream pie OR one of the components 1-2 days ahead of time. Here’s how:
- To make pie crust ahead of time: after baking the gingersnap pie crust, simply store it covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble, bake, and chill the rest of the pie.
- To make filling ahead of time: once you’ve whisked the filling together, cover it with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the top of the filling (to prevent air from getting in) and chill the filling in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble and bake the pie. You can also make the whipped cream topping ahead of time and store it in an airtight container until you’re ready to add it to the pie!
Recommended tools
- Pie pan
- Food processor
- Lemon zester
- Lemon juicer
- Large mixing bowl
- Good whisk
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Pie server
Get all of our kitchen essentials here!
How to store lemon cream pie
Store any leftover lemon cream pie loosely covered with plastic wrap or foil in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
More lemon desserts you’ll love
- Lemon Cookies with Lovely Lemon Glaze
- Lemon Pistachio Cake with Lovely Lemon Frosting
- Lemon Lover’s Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls
- Healthy Lemon Bars (gluten free, dairy free & paleo!)
- Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Frosting
Get all of my lemon recipes here!
I hope you love this lemon cream pie recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
The Best Lemon Cream Pie You'll Ever Eat
Ingredients
- Crust
- 2 cups (140g) gingersnap cookies (or sub biscoff cookies)
- 1 cup (100g) raw pecans
- 5 tablespoons (71g) salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- Filling
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup sour cream (or sub whole-milk or 2% plain Greek yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the gingersnap cookies and pecans and pulse until they become fine crumbs, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add melted butter and brown sugar and pulse again until the cookie crumbs resemble wet sand, about 30 seconds.
- Dump the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and use clean hands to evenly press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the pan. Sometimes I find it helpful to use a small measuring cup to help set the crust firmly and get the crumbs up the side of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven; if the crust bubbles up slightly, very gently press it back down with a measuring cup. Allow the crust to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. (The crust will need to be somewhat cool to the touch before you can add the filling.)
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest and use clean fingers to rub the zest into the sugar for 30 seconds. This will infuse the lemon flavor into the sugar. In the same bowl, add in the eggs, lemon juice, sour cream (or yogurt), cornstarch and salt. Whisk together until well combined.
- Pour mixture into the cooled crust. Carefully transfer the pie pan to the oven and bake until the filling is just set, about 30 to 35 minutes; it’s okay if the filling appears to be just slightly jiggly in the center, just make sure it isn’t wet looking. Cool pie at room temperature for 1 hour, then loosely cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to finish cooling, about 4 hours. Do not worry if the pie cracks, sometimes this happens if you beat the filling too long or if there is a dramatic change in temperature (your house is cold, etc).
- Make the whipped cream: Once the pie and filling are cold and you are ready to serve, add heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a hand mixer!); beat on high until cream reaches stiff peaks.
- Evenly spread whipped cream over pie filling, then garnish with extra lemon zest. Cut into 9 to 12 slices and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
30 comments
Made lemon cream pie this weekend it was delicious!
Isn’t it though? It’s one of my favorite recipes for Spring.
I made this pie and it’s currently cooling. The crust seems to have drifted apart during baking. Your directions say to include flour but flour is not listed in the ingredients. How much flour should I have added? It will look fine once I spread the cream over the top I’m sure. Love this site so many of your recipes are delish!
So sorry Cathy! It’s supposed to be 1/4 cup of flour.
Can I use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar?
I wouldn’t recommend it!
I see another comment mentioning flour with a response to add a 1/4 cup of flour however I do not see flour in the ingredients or in the instructions. I’d like to make this pie however I’m hoping to clarify if flour is required and if so, during which stage is it added. If required can the ingredient list and instructions be updated please? Thank you.
Hi! The ingredient list and instructions are correct as written. I recently updated this recipe to make it even better!
I would like to make this, but before doing so I’m wondering why a review and your reply say there is flour in the crust? I don’t see flour listed in the ingredients or directions.
Hi! I recently updated this recipe to make it even better, so the current recipe is slightly tweaked 🙂
This was so flavorful and not overly tart. The crust is amazing and gives it a great nutty flavor. Was great for my birthday dessert!!
So glad you enjoyed! And happy belated birthday!
Hi there! I’m looking to bake this lemon pie this weekend, and wondering if I can do a meringue topping instead of cream? If so, would I put the meringue on top before baking it, or bake the lemon part first and then the meringue afterwards? Thanks!
Hi! Hmm I’m not sure with this filling that I’d recommend a meringue because the filling doesn’t set until it is baked. And you wouldn’t want to overbake the filling.
Hi! This looks amazing. Could I sub walnuts for pecans?
Hi! I wouldn’t sub walnuts, but you could do hazelnuts 🙂
I have a question because I would like to make this for Easter this weekend. I only have 0% greek yogourt. Can I use that instead of 2%? Thank you!
Hi Caroline! Unfortunately, 0% yogurt won’t work in this recipe. Please use whole milk or 2% so that the filling sets properly!
I made this lemon pie and it was absolutely delicious!! Everyone raved about it.
It was such an easy recipe to follow and make. And when I say easy, I mean really easy!!
Simple straightforward direction and common kitchen pantry stables.
I am will be making this pie again soon!!
So happy to hear that!!
This looks amazing! I am just wondering , based off of another review, are we supposed to add 1/4 cup of flour to the crust?
Hi! No, I re-tested and re-wrote this recipe to be even better, so it is correct as written 🙂
My crust really had a hard time staying together, I used exact measurements (on a scale). Any tips? It tastes delish and was salvageable but would love to make again! Thanks!
Hi! Make sure you process the crust ingredients until very fine, and then press the mixture down SUPER well into your pan. That should help!
Super easy to make and SUPER delish!! This pie the crust isn’t too sweet and pie isn’t too tart! AC baked goods always on point
Absolutely! So happy you loved this one!
I used biscoff cookies instead of ginger snap and OMG, SO GOOD!
Loved this pie so much. I told my bf he had to help me eat it, but I ended up nearly eating the whole thing myself.
YUM that sounds delicious! So glad it was a hit!
I made this for mother’s day, and everyone was literally in love with it. the combo of the pecans/gingersnaps + the creamy lemon is heavenly.
So happy to hear that!!