Looking for a fresh take on a classic dessert? These Mini Lemon Meringue Pie are perfect individual bites for everyone to enjoy! If you love lemon desserts, there is no question you will love this.
Why Make These Bites?
I love a classic lemon meringue pie. However, I am the only one in my family who does. For this reason, I rarely make a full pie. While I love it, I don't love it enough to eat a whole thing! Instead, I do individual pies or mini bites like these.
There are so many things to love about these bite-sized desserts the best of course if the flavor. They are the perfect blend of flaky pie dough, tart lemon curd, and delicious toasted meringue. It is the dream trio!
While there are several steps to this recipe, it is actually pretty simple and almost everything can be done in advance. Even the pies themselves can be made the day before and still be really good. If you are working on scheduling for Thanksgiving, add these to the list. Make them the day before and be ready to impress your friends!
Ingredients
- Pie dough- I have 3 options below. If you don't have time or desire to make it on your own, buy it. I also write up a detailed post all about making the perfect pie dough. I love to make a partial wheat pie dough, but it can also be done with all white flour if you like.
- Lemon curd- I have a whole post about how to make awesome thick lemon curd. I am also including the recipe box with this recipe as well. It is a delicious lemon filling made with lemon zest and fresh lemon juice.
- Granulated Sugar- This is the best for making meringue.
- Egg whites- This is for our meringue, and they need to be at room temperature.
How to Make the Lemon Meringue Bites
Make your lemon curd filling. I like to have this done before starting to make the mini lemon meringue pies. I won't go into details about the step-by-step for the curd as the post outlines it.
Get your prepared pie dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface. If you are using a premade pie dough, take it out of the package and open it out.
Cut out circles to fit in a mini muffin tin. I used a 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter and that was a perfect size. A biscuit cutter is a cookie cutter, in case you are wondering what that is.
Press the pie dough circles into a mini muffin pan. Prick the bottom of your shells with a fork 1-2 times. This will keep the pie shells from puffing up too much. Place the pans in the fridge and chill the shells for 30 minutes. While it is chilling, preheat the oven.
Bake the dough for 8-10 minutes.
Remove the shells from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack.
To make the meringue, mix egg white with cream of tartar with a whisk or hand mixer for about a minute. I like to do this at medium speed. Then increase it to high speed and pour in the sugar while it is mixing. I did it with a hand mixer, but you can also use the whisk attachment on your stand mixer as well. Beat until stiff peaks form. I like to do the stiff peaks better than soft peaks as it holds better on top of the tarts with a little more stability.
Now, fill the mini pie crusts with homemade lemon curd. Then put your meringue into a piping bag. Top the filled pies with the meringue. I like to fill it to little peaks or swirls.
You can toast your meringue in 2 ways. The first is to place the mini pies on a baking sheet and move it under the broiler. Broil until they are golden brown. Make sure and keep an eye on them as they will burn quickly!
The second option is to torch them with a kitchen torch. This is what I did, and if you have a torch, I recommend it. Again, cooking until the meringue is golden brown.
That is it! They are pretty simple to make and so pretty!
Tips for Making The Perfect Meringue
- Meringues can be a tricky thing to make, so let me share some of my favorite tips. The meringue will not beat like it should and hold its shape if there is fat in it. To ensure you don't have unwanted fat in the meringue, I always start with a really clean bowl and beaters. Don't skip this step!
- When you are separating the egg white from the yolk, make sure not to get any yolk in there, remember the fat comment above. If you do happen to get some egg yolk in, dip a part of the eggshell next to it and it will head straight for the shell. If you have not tried it before, it is pretty cool.
- Add the whites and cream of tartar to your bowl and whisk for about 30 seconds on medium. Slowly add in the sugar while it is mixing.
- Continue to beat until it reaches stiff peaks. That means the meringue will stand solid on the beater, as shown below.
- While the meringue is not hard to do, there are a few things to note above.
How long will these bites hold?
As long as you put it in the fridge, the lemon meringue bites will hold for up to 24 hours. The meringue might "weep" a little bit, but it'll still be delicious.
Can I freeze the bites?
Yes, you can. Be sure to freeze in an airtight container and thaw in the same container to reduce moisture pooling.
More Bite-Sized Desserts
- Orange Madeleines
- Simple Pie Pops
- Raspberry Almond Shortbread Bites
- Strawberry Mini Donuts
- Cinnamon Brownies with Poached Spiced Pears
- Blueberry Hand Pies
Lemon Meringue Pie Bites
Equipment
- 24 cavity mini muffin pan
- wire whisk or hand/stand mixer for beating the meringue
- Biscuit cutter or cookie cutter
- Kitchen torch- if you don't have one, use your broiler. Both work.
Ingredients
- ½ recipe pie dough, chilled and ready to go. If you are using premade pie dough, you might need both circles to make the 18 minis.
- 1 recipe lemon curd recipe is in the post below this one. Prepare and chill.
Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Make sure and read the instructions all the way through before starting.
- Roll out your pie on a floured surface to ⅛-inch thick. Cut with a 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter.
- Press the circles into your mini muffin pans. Prick the bottom once or twice with a fork.
- Place in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes. At the tail end of this, preheat your oven to 385 degrees.
- Bake the shells for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and carefully remove them from the pan. Let them cool on a wire rack.
- Then fill each shell with lemon curd and place on a baking sheet.
- Now add your egg white and cream of tartar to a bowl and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Then, while you are mixing, pour in the sugar.
- Beat on high speed until the it forms stiff peaks. You can check this by lifting out your whisk or beaters and the egg white should hold their shape, in a firm peak.
- If you are using the broiler to toast the meringue, turn it on now.
- I like to pipe my meringue on, but you can also spoon it in if you prefer. Top each filled shell with meringue.
- Place under the broiler or torch with a kitchen torch until they are a beautiful golden brown.
- That is it! They are done and so good!!
- They will store well in the fridge for at least 2 days.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!