I love these mini lemon meringue pie bites! They are sweet, sour, lemony, the crust is buttery and flaky and the top is a soft fluffy marshmallow meringue!
Whenever I am at a party or a dinner, I face one major dilemma, I have to choose one dessert when I want them all and that means commitment at first site or first bite! So to solve this problem I created these mini lemon meringue pie bites because then everyone can try one without full commitment and if they are a fan they can come back and eat the whole tray.
What you need to make these mini lemon meringue pie bites (printable recipe is below)
Makes 15 mini pie bites – using a mini cupcake tin.
For the crust recipe click HERE.
Use a cookie cutter that is about 1 inch larger than the mini cupcake tin holes. Roll the dough out to about a 1/4 of an inch thickness then cut out with cookie cutters. lay the cut outs over the cupcake tin holes then gently press down dough to fit the tins, you will have a few folds or ripples along the sides. Bake 13-15 minutes or until the dough looks firm and has a pale to lightly golden color to it. remove from cupcake tins and allow to cool.
Lemon curd Filling
- 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 3 Egg Yokes
- 1/4 teaspoon Lemon Oil – Optional
- 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter – cold
Instructions for lemon curd
- In a sauce pan over low to medium heat add the lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil.
- Whisk together egg yokes in a separate bowl, add 1 tablespoon of hot sugar and lemon juice mixture to egg yolks while whisking to temper the eggs add another until you have added 4 tablespoons.
- Add egg yolks to pot with the rest of the lemon and sugar mixture.
Add lemon oil. Stir continuously while eggs begin to thicken the mixture. When mixture can nicely coat the back of a spoon remove from heat and whisk in butter and cool. Mixture will thicken.
Meringue Topping
- 1 Tablespoon Water
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
- Sprinkle of Salt
- 2 Egg Whites
Instructions for meringue topping:
- In an electric stand mixer or a bowl with an electric whisk, whip the eggs whites until soft peaks form. In a sauce pan, combine water, sugar, corn syrup and salt and bring to a boil. Cook to the soft ball stage or when the mixture forms a soft ball when a small amount is dropped into a glass of ice water. (need help knowing about candy making stages CLICK HERE)
- Once the sugar mixture reaches the soft ball stage slowly pour the hot mixture into the side of the egg white bowl and begin mixing. The bowl will get hot and the egg whites will cook. The mixture will get a slight shine to it and firm peaks will form after about 4 minutes of beating on high.
- This mixture can then be placed into a piping bag or zip top bag with a corner snippet off.
Assembly
Fill the mini cupcake tins with lemon filling. Pipe the meringue on top. You can take toast the outsides of the meringue with a lighter or kitchen torch or if you want or serve non toasted it tastes great too. Enjoy!
Here are a few other recipes you may love:
- Grapefruit and Cranberry Meringue Tart RECIPE HERE
- Sugar Cookie Tart RECIPE HERE
- The Best Chocolate Cake RECIPE HERE
Mini Lemon Meringue Pie Bites
Ingredients
- Lemon Filling
- 1/3 cup Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Sugar
- 3 Egg Yokes
- 1/4 teaspoon Lemon Oil Optional
- 4 tablespoons salted butter cold
- Meringue Topping
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoon corn syrup
- Sprinkle of salt
- 2 Egg whites
Instructions
- For Pie Dough. Use a cookie cutter that is about 1 inch larger than the mini cupcake tin holes. Roll the dough out to about a 1/4 of an inch thickness then cut out with cookie cutters. lay the cut outs over the cupcake tin holes then gently press down dough to fit the tins, you will have a few folds or ripples along the sides. Bake 13-15 minutes or until the dough looks firm and has a pale to lightly golden color to it. remove from cupcake tins and allow to cool.
- In a sauce pan over low to medium heat add the lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil.Whisk together egg yokes in a separate bowl, add 1 tablespoon of hot sugar and lemon juice mixture to egg yolks while whisking to temper the eggs add another until you have added 4 tablespoons.Add egg yolks to pot with the rest of the lemon and sugar mixture. Add lemon oil. Stir continuously while eggs begin to thicken the mixture. When mixture can nicely coat the back of a spoon remove from heat and whisk in butter and cool. Mixture will thicken.
- For Meringue. In an electric stand mixer or a bowl with an electric whisk, whip the eggs whites until soft peaks form. In a sauce pan, combine water, sugar, corn syrup and salt and bring to a boil. Cook to the soft ball stage or when the mixture forms a soft ball when a small amount is dropped into a glass of ice water. (need help knowing about candy making stages CLICK HERE) Once the sugar mixture reaches the soft ball stage slowly pour the hot mixture into the side of the egg white bowl and begin mixing. The bowl will get hot and the egg whites will cook. The mixture will get a slight shine to it and firm peaks will form after about 4 minutes of beating on high. This mixture can then be placed into a piping bag or zip top bag with a corner snippet off.
- For Assembly. Fill the mini cupcake tins with lemon filling. Pipe the meringue on top. You can take toast the outsides of the meringue with a lighter or kitchen torch or if you want or serve non toasted it tastes great too.