This easy lemon pie is a tart dessert made with whole Meyer lemons! Simply blend the filling ingredients together in a blender, bake, and serve!
A couple of years ago, the husband bought me a dwarf Meyer lemon tree for our anniversary.
It lives in a pot, I bring it inside for winter, and it's still a baby tree.
These Meyer lemons are not from that tree-- but I'm still hoping that one day soon I'll be picking lemon after lemon from my happy little tree.
Bob Ross would be proud of my lil' lemon tree.
In the meantime, while my tree grows bigger and thinks about making me lemons, I'm brushing up on my Meyer lemon recipe skills with store-bought lemons.
This quick and easy Meyer lemon pie is made with whole Meyer lemons, and is a bright and citrusy winter or spring dessert.
What is a Meyer Lemon?
Meyer lemons look a lot like regular lemons, but they're a darker yellow-orange.
They're also sweeter than a regular lemon, and have an edible rind. Also, excitingly-- the white pith in between the rind and the fruit is less bitter than in a yellow lemon.
See the photo above for an example-- the Meyer lemons are on top, the regular lemons are at the bottom of the image.
Where Can I Find Meyer Lemons?
Meyer lemons are seasonal-- they start showing up in grocery stores in winter, and stick around through spring.
These sweet lemons are getting pretty easy to find-- I've found them recently at Walmart, Kroger, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods.
And of course-- happily-- you can grow your own Meyer lemons in a potted tree!
If you live outside of a citrus-growing zone (like me), and occasionally see potted lemon trees for sale in plant nurseries-- there's a good chance that those trees are dwarf Meyer lemon trees.
You can even buy a Meyer lemon tree online!
I'll take 12 please!
Do I Have to Use a Graham Cracker Crust for this Meyer Lemon Pie?
No, but it's a pretty easy option!
This recipe is inspired by Dorie Greenspan's "Tartest Lemon Tart" recipe in her book Baking: From My Home To Yours. In her recipe, she uses a shortbread crust and a tart pan.
This recipe is a simplified version that uses a graham cracker crust and a pie pan.
I use this easy, 10 minute vegan graham cracker crust recipe, but you can also use store-bought crust.
If you'd prefer to use a shortbread tart crust instead-- go for it.
Can I Use Regular Lemons instead of Meyer Lemons?
You sure can!
Check out this Lemon Pie with Whole Lemons recipe for a variation of this pie that uses regular lemons.
Dorie Greenspan's "Tartest Lemon Tart" is made with lemons (not Meyer lemons). Keep in mind that this pie is bright and mellow, but a pie made with regular lemons will be much tarter!
How to Make a Meyer Lemon Pie
This pie is incredibly simple!
Simply add the lemons and sugar to a blender, and blend until smooth. Then, add the eggs, butter, yogurt, and cornstarch to the blender, and blend until smooth.
Pour everything into the pie crust, and bake! After baking, let the pie cool for about an hour.
How to Serve Meyer Lemon Pie
I like to serve my pie with whipped cream (like this homemade whipped cream from Celebrating Sweets), but it would also be delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I also like to add candied lemon slices as an edible pie decoration. They're totally unnecessary, but so so cute sitting on top of the pie.
I buy candied lemon slices pre-made from Trader Joes, but you can also make your own! Try this candied lemon slices recipe from Love is in My Tummy.
Dig in to this sweet, mildly tart pie, and enjoy this bright, springtime dessert! (Even if it's still winter!)
Meyer Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Lemon Pie:
- 2 Meyer lemons, cleaned + dried
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup Greek yogurt, plain (whole milk)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted + cooled
- 1 graham cracker crust (homemade or store-bought)
- To serve: fresh whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar
Instructions
Lemon Pie
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Quarter the lemons + remove any seeds.
- Add the lemons (including the peel and pith) and sugar to a blender basin. Blend, scraping down the sides if needed, until smooth.Tip: Add the lemons to the blender first and then add the sugar. If you add the sugar first, it tends to pack down and become difficult to blend.
- Add the eggs, yogurt, cornstarch, and butter to the blender, and blend until smooth. Tap the blender on the counter a few times to remove as many bubbles as possible.
- Slowly pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust.
- Bake for 20 minutes, and then increase temperature to 350°F. Bake another 25-30 minutes, until the lemon filling has mostly set with a slight wobble.
- Serve within 1-2 days along with whipped cream or powdered sugar. If not serving within a few hours of baking, store covered in the fridge.
Notes
- Make sure to add the lemons to the blender first, and then the sugar. (Adding the sugar first will make it more difficult to blend.)
- If your blender struggles to get the lemon peel smooth, do not pour it into the pie crust with bits of peel. Instead, strain the batter through a mesh sieve.
FRAN bixby says
If I used two of my Meyer lemons for this pie it would be a disaster because my lemons are the size of very large oranges.
Sarah Trenalone says
Just use one then 😁
Amanda G says
if i'm using a store bought frozen pie crust do i need to bake the crust before filling and baking? Or fill the raw crust with the pie mixture from blender and bake?
Alisha Trenalone says
Hi Amanda! We haven't tried this pie with frozen crust, sorry! If it's a frozen graham cracker crust, you could probably just use it straight out of the freezer. If it's a traditional pie crust, you might try blind baking it for about 8 minutes first. (But we haven't tested it personally.)
Thanks for getting in touch!
-Alisha at Champagne Tastes
Joan says
Can I use my food processor instead of blender?
Alisha Trenalone says
Absolutely! The important thing is just to get the ingredients well-blended before adding the mixture to the pie crust. Enjoy!
-Alisha at Champagne Tastes
Cookie says
I'm a lemon pie lover too, and I followed this recipe to the T. I used a Ninja blender and it was impossible to get the lemon batter completely smooth no matter how long I blended.I decided to just bake it and cool it and hope for the best. Well the best isn't very good. I have pieces of the peel that are bitter and give the pie a poor consistency. I'd look for a recipe that doesnt use the peel and pith in the future.
Sarah Trenalone says
Hi Cookie,
Sorry it didn't work out for you! As noted in the recipe, it's extremely important to get the batter smooth before baking. If you try this again and your blender is still not getting things smooth, strain it before adding it to the pie crust.
I hope that helps!
Daniel says
Deliciously sweet and tart! We loved it
Gene T Mitchell Jr says
this makes a great Meyer lemon pie, however if you are going to use a 9 inch pie pan I would recommend making one and a half times the amount of filling.
Alisha Trenalone says
Good note! Glad you enjoyed the pie.
-Alisha at Champagne Tastes