These Mini Lemon Meringue Pies combine a pie crust shell, a creamy lemon curd filling, and a toasted meringue top! Make them for your next birthday party, Easter, or whenever!
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray a 24-cavity mini muffin tin with baking spray.
Cut out 24 circles with a 2.25" or 2.5" round cookie cutter from pie crusts. Place them over the top of each muffin cavity. Then using a shot glass, press down over the center of each pie crust circle and press down to create the mini pie shells. Prick the bottom of each pie shell 1-2 times with a fork.
2 Refrigerated Store-Bought Pie Crusts
Place mini muffin liners or small squares of aluminum foil over the top of each pie crust and fill with pie weights (dry beans work well too). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Baked pie shells can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Lemon Curd Filling
In a medium-sized saucepan, mix together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, and unsalted butter, whisking continually over low-medium heat until the lemon curd has thickened (about 5-6 minutes).
4 large Egg Yolks, ½ cup Granulated Sugar, 3 tablespoon Cornstarch, 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest, 4 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice, 3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
Remove the lemon curd from heat and, using a spatula, press the lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a mixing bowl. Add a layer of plastic wrap directly over top of the lemon curd (to avoid getting a film over the top) and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour, or overnight. Kept in a tightly sealed container, lemon curd will last up to a week in the refrigerator.
Meringue Topping
Using your hand mixer and a medium-size mixing bowl or your stand mixer and the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
2 large Egg Whites, ¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Add in the granulated sugar, then mix for another 8-10 min until stiff peaks form.
¼ cup Granulated Sugar
Assembling the Mini Lemon Meringue Pies
Using a small or medium-size piping bag or spoon, fill each baked mini pie shell with the lemon curd filling. I recommend filling them only half full.
Fill a medium-size piping bag with the meringue and pipe the tops of each mini lemon pie. Lightly brown the tops of each meringue with a kitchen blow torch.
Notes
If you would like to fill your pie shells with even more lemon curd filling, I recommend making 2 batches of this lemon curd filling.Leftover pie crust can be re-rolled to create more mini lemon meringue pies or can be stored in the freezer to use for a later date. I recommend double wrapping the leftover pie crust in plastic wrap, then placing it in a freezer bag for storage. Place in the refrigerator the night before to bring to room temperature before using.You can also use store-bought lemon curd filling in place of this homemade lemon curd filling.