Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Cookies

If you love key lime pie and bakery-style cookies, this chilled Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Cookie recipe is a must try!

The tart Key Lime Buttercream pairs perfectly with the soft and chewy graham cracker cookies, and adds the perfect amount of sweetness and tang to this decadent homemade dessert!

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Key Lime Pie Cookies

Growing up in Florida, I was lucky enough to enjoy key lime desserts regularly. From pie, to cookie bars, to cheesecake, those tart and tangy key limes were a staple. So I wanted to create a vegan-friendly cookie recipe that showcased the delicious combo of bright citrus with buttery graham crackers, and thus, these chilled Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Cookies came to be.

Let me tell you, this recipe is a knock out!

While boyfriend Nicholas likes a lot of my vegan cookie recipes, like these Nordic-Style Cardamom Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Jam and my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, he said this citrusy version is his all time favorite.

And I can see why! The zesty cream cheese buttercream layered on top of a buttery, chewy graham cracker cookies is pretty irresistible, and it really checks all of the flavor boxes.

These cookies are special, and I truly cannot wait or you to try them!

The chilled element was born out of necessity, as the cream cheese buttercream is best when it’s a little cold, but it was also inspired by Crumbl, a bakery that serves a variety of chilled cookies. The swirl on top was also inspired by their iconic designs and so in some ways, you can think of these cookies as a vegan Crumbl cookie copycat recipe that you make at home!

Ingredients for Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Cookies

The full recipe for Key Lime Cheesecake Cookies is on the recipe card below, but here’s some information that you might find helpful about each ingredient!

Flour – all purpose flour works best. Fluff up the flour and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Level it off with a butter knife for an accurate measurement. You can also find metric unit measurements in the recipe notes below.

Baking Powder and Baking Soda – this combo adds lift and chewiness to these soft, brown sugar cookies.

Cornstarch – acts as an egg replacement when combined with the leaveners, helping to bind the ingredients the way a chicken’s egg would in a traditional cookie recipe.

Salt – a touch of sea salt compliments the sweetness and helps balance the flavor. I also like that it brings out the savory, buttery flavor.

Graham Cracker Crumbs – I use these original Nabisco graham crackers, because they’re vegan-friendly, and then finely ground them into crumbs by placing the crackers in a food processor. I love this mini Ninja Chopper for tasks like these, buy you can also place the crackers in a bag and give them a good wack with the back of spatula to create tiny pieces.

Granulated Cane Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar – this combo creates a tender, chewy cookie with just the right amount of sweetness. Dark brown sugar contains a little more molasses than light brown sugar, so it offers a richer flavor to these cookies.

Vegan Butter – I highly recommend Earth Balance sticks rather than the tub. To learn more about which vegan butter is the best for baking, check out this fun video where I made the same cookie recipe with 5 different kinds of vegan butters to see which one was the best!

Soy Milk – unsweetened soy milk also acts an egg placer in this recipe, providing a protein and water ratio that is similar to an egg. This helps give the cookie structure and a nice texture.

Vanilla Extract – a touch a vanilla adds a bit of depth to the flavor and ties everything together!

For the Icing:

Vegan Cream Cheese – rich and tangy cream cheese frosting is good on everything, but this Key Lime version is next is next level delicious. It’s important that the cream cheese is softened for this recipe, or else you’ll have little white balls of cold cream cheese all throughout the frosting and they’ll never quite mix in properly. I recommend using Kite Kill unsweetened original cream cheese and allowing it to come to room temperature on the counter. This usually takes about an hour.

Vegan Butter – this should also be softened for the frosting to have that quintessentially smooth and creamy texture.

Limes – We’ll be using both the juice and the zest to make this icing taste like a tropical vacation! Key Limes are wonderful, but they can be hard to find in most places, so this recipe calls for regular limes. We end up using a little more lime juice and lime zest to mimic the tart, punchy flavors of Key Limes in this recipe.

Powdered Sugar – adds sweetness and body to the citrusy icing. The key to perfect icing is to whip it for several minutes using a hand mixer. Note: it might look like it won’t mix properly at first – like the mixture needs more liquid – but as powered sugar hydrates, it liquifies and blends down into a nice and smooth consistency. Once the frosting ingredients are combined, keep mixing for a little longer until the frosting is thick and smooth. About 2-3 minutes total.

Equipment You’ll Need

• 2 mixing bowls
• measuring cups and spoons
• electric hand mixer
• 2 cookie sheets with nonstick liner (optional)
• 1 medium sized ice cream scoop (optional)

How to Make Key Lime Cheesecake Cookies:

1. Prep – Set the vegan butter and cream cheese out on the counter to warm up at room temperature for about an hour. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients – Place the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. You can also do this by placing the crackers in a bag and wacking it with the back of a wooden spoon to create crumbs. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a mixing bowl with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Mix the wet ingredients – Place the softened vegan butter in a bowl along with the cane sugar and dark brown sugar. Cream together for 1-2 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Then add the soy milk and vanilla and mix well.
4. Combine – add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Then add the remaining half and mix until combined. Do not over mix or the cookies will get tough.
5. Bake – divide the dough into 16 jumbo sized cookies and place 8 on each cookie sheet. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to harden (important step) and then bake for 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool complete.
6. Decorate – make the icing by combing the softened vegan cream cheese, butter, lime juice, lime zest, and powdered sugar in bowl. Mix for 3-4 minutes on high speed until smooth and fluffy. Then use an offset spatula or spoon to ice each cookie with a generous layer of icing. To create the swirl effect on top, transfer the icing to a pastry bag and place the nozzle in the center of the cookie. Apply even pressure to the bag while creating a spiral pattern. Garnish with extra graham cracker crumbs and lime zest if desired and enjoy!

More vegan cookie recipes to try:

• Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
• Pretzel S’mores Cookies
• Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Iced Cranberry Orange Cookies