If you’re looking for a refreshing summer treat, I’ve got just the thing.
These sweet and tart Key Lime Tartlets are incredibly easy to prepare and taste decadent, without the dairy, eggs or refined sugar found in the traditional versions.
Similar to lemons, limes are bursting with vitamin C and are surprising alkaline inside the human body, despite their acidic nature. Fresh limes can also aid in digestion and weight loss, and contain calcium and folate, which are both essential for reproductive health. Paired with coconut oil, which is known to boost metabolism, and heart-healthy walnuts and cashews, these treats can be considered a healthy indulgence.
As an added bonus, they’re easily portioned for a quick summer treat!
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Raw Key Lime Tartlets
serves 6
Adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
For the Filling:
1 cup raw cashews, or 1/2 cup raw cashew butter
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons raw honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (key limes or regular)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
Directions:
Line a standard muffin tin with 6 parchment baking cups, and set aside.
To prepare the crust, pulse the walnuts or pecans in a mini food processor or blender, until a fine powder is formed. (Be careful not to over-process, as you don’t want it to become a nut butter.) Add in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt, and pulse again until a uniform dough is created.
Scoop the dough by a heaping tablespoon, and drop it into the bottom of each of the 6 baking cup liners. Use your fingers to press the crusts down firmly, and place the pan in the freezer to set.
To prepare the filling, place the dry cashews in a blender and blend until a it’s nearly the texture of a creamy cashew butter. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients, and blend until a silky smooth batter is formed. Adjust flavors to taste, keeping in mind that the final chilled desserts will taste slightly less-sweet than the room-temperature batter.
*Note: If you’re using prepared cashew butter instead of the whole cashews, you can skip the blender all together and mix all of the filling ingredients well in a medium bowl.
Remove the pan of crusts from the freezer, and divide the filling batter evenly among the six cups. Return to the freezer to set for at least 3 hours before serving, or until they are completely firm.
Serve directly from the fridge or freezer for best texture, and keep any leftovers well chilled.
Raw Key Lime Tartlets
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil , melted
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt
For the Filling:
- 1 cup raw cashews , or 1/2 cup raw cashew butter
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil , melted
- 3 tablespoons raw honey
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (key limes or regular)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Line a standard muffin tin with 6 parchment baking cups, and set aside.
To prepare the crust:
- Pulse the walnuts or pecans in a mini food processor or blender, until a fine powder is formed. (Be careful not to over-process, as you don't want it to become a nut butter.) Add in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt, and pulse again until a uniform dough is created.
- Scoop the dough by a heaping tablespoon, and drop it into the bottom of each of the 6 baking cup liners. Use your fingers to press the crusts down firmly, and place the pan in the freezer to set.
To prepare the filling:
- Place the dry cashews in a blender and blend until a it's nearly the texture of a creamy cashew butter. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients, and blend until a silky smooth batter is formed. Adjust flavors to taste, keeping in mind that the final chilled desserts will taste slightly less-sweet than the room-temperature batter.
- *Note: If you're using prepared cashew butter instead of the whole cashews, you can skip the blender all together and mix all of the filling ingredients well in a medium bowl.
- Remove the pan of crusts from the freezer, and divide the filling batter evenly among the six cups. Return to the freezer to set for at least 3 hours before serving, or until they are completely firm.
- Serve directly from the fridge or freezer for best texture, and keep any leftovers well chilled.
Nutrition
Calories per tartlet: 372, Fat: 31g, Carbohydrates: 20g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 6g
Enjoy!
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Reader Feedback: What are your favorite summertime desserts?
An old favorite of mine! I am inspired to make more raw/frozen style treats this summer to add a little variety and spark. These are now top of my list…
My favorite summertime treat is Strawberry Shortcake! I can make it clean with coconut flour for the cakes and cashew cream for the cream on top. What would you do??
I’m going to try today’s recipe with lemon juice for a lemon tarlet. Sounds yummy!!
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it. I’ll have to wait until my cashew allergic child leaves for college again in September but I’m super excited about making it. Lemon and lime tarts are my second love after chocolate.
Is there something besides cashews (or almonds) that I could use here? I am not supposed to have cashews for a few months but these look so delish!!
If you can have other nuts, Brazil or macadamia nuts might work, as they both have a mild flavor. Please let us know if you have any success!
Hi! I am new to your blog, but super excited to try your recipes!!! I was wondering if you soak your raw cashews to “wake them up” before using. I had heard from someone who eats raw to do this.
These are so stinking cute! Vegan cheesecake is my fave 🙂
Adorable! I will be making some these tonight 🙂
I just tried these and they’re delicious! I love the portions, so I don’t end up eating them all at once, too. 🙂
Made these this afternoon….so easy. Had one for dessert…amazing! Thank you for the recipe. Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts and I am so happy that I can have it now.
Made these today and are they fabulous or what?! Used raw organic cashew butter purchased and regular limes. Added a little zest in the filling as well as on top. Used pecans for the crust. Mine also turned our more brown but who cares?! Amazingly delicious!
For dinner tonight Cauliflower crust pizza and the Key Lime tarts. Both were amazing!! I love your blog. Thanks so much.
Made these on the weekend and they lasted until today 🙂 My husband loves lemon and lime tarts and he really enjoyed this one. Will definitely be making this again!
I just made these and I am bummed I have to wait to eat them to set! I was sampling the batters and holy cow! So good! I only had about a half a cup of raw cashews, so for the other half I used macadamia nuts. Still delicious! I can taste the macadamia nuts but it isn’t over powering. Excited for dessert tonight!
These look fabulous!!! I will add this to my collection of other AMAZING recipes I have made of yours! Thanks!
These look soooo perfect for summer! Key Lime Pie is an old favorite of mine. Genius, as usual!
I want to make a large version of this with the coconut milk whipped cream for my anniversary. Would I double the recipe and put it in a springform? Can’t wait to eat it!
I think that would work! Sounds delicious. 😉
These look delicious! Do you think they would work without the coconut oil in them? Unfortunately i’m allergic.
It would be more of a pudding without the coconut oil– that’s what solidifies the tarts! You could try using organic butter instead of coconut oil, for a similar effect.
OH MY LAWDDD i just made these and am trying not to finish the whole batch… :l they are the most perfect, delicious mix of tart, sweet, creamy and crunchy…you are my new favorite person..cannot wait to try more recipes!!!v xxx
I just made these for my husband’s Father’s Day treat…not sure how I am going to make them last until then. Just sampling the crust and the filling, these are AMAZING!! Thank you for a fun and easy key lime dessert recipe!!
Isn’t that the recipe from Kimberly Snyder??
Nope, I always make sure to post a link to my recipe inspiration, since we are all inspired from somewhere! I did just look up Kim’s recipe, and it looks like both of our recipes are similar to all of the other raw recipes out there– but hers calls for different ratios and also uses stevia, which mine does not.
Amazing and so simple to make! So happy I stumbled upon your website
Thanks for this recipe. I made them in a mini quiche tray which made 12 instead of six as they are a bit smaller. The recipe is really easy. They taste great and are sweet enough that you only need one. Also love that they are kept in the freezer so I will be able to eat them as an occasional sweet treat. Love your blog and can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks 🙂
Is there another type of oil I can use instead of coconut oil? If I eat too much coconut products I break out into hives.
Butter is the only other option I know of that will provide similar results.
I am so excited to try this recipe!!! I am totally in love with the Hail Merry Raw tarts but they are so darn expensive and hard to find. Yay!
I just made this recipe and it fit perfectly in a small springform pan (4 or 5 inch) instead of individual tartlets. I also used extra lime juice because the batter wasn’t quite as “Limey” as I was imagining, had to add about one more tb honey, and the batter is amazing, can’t wait to try the finished product. Awesome, thanks!
These are exquisite.
I had to use maple syrup instead of honey in the cashew mixture, bc I can’t have honey right now. No prob at all with this substitution! I also only had 3/4 cup cashews, so I decided to add in 1/4 cup goat’s milk yogurt… It worked perfectly! In fact, I wonder what it would be like to use yogurt for the whole creamy part, if you don’t want cashews.
Next time, I may try to make these in a mini muffin pan. That way, I can serve them to more people. What a great party food!
I bet you could also concoct some sort of pumpkin mixture for the top part and it’d be a neat fall season treat…
Dear Megan,
Thank you for posting this recipe! The filling was so quick to make and deliciously healthy. A perfect way to use a free bucket of limes!
Fabulous! Creamy, refreshing and delicious. The perfect sized treat. Thank you for the recipe!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I am IN LOVE with your site Megan. It is fabulous. I have been stuck in a rut with ‘what to eat’& ‘what to feed my family’ due to food intolerances & different dietary wants/needs. A fellow IIN classmate pointed me in your direction, which I am grateful & excited about. I have been eagerly printing out recipes to try out. I do have a question with regards to using Coconut Oil & Vanilla in your dessert recipes like the one above. I need to avoid both ingredients & also avoid dairy & palm sugar (as suggested in your substitutes) is there another option? Macadamia Oil maybe? And is there any substitute for Vanilla? Or should I just leave it out? THANK YOU 🙂
I think you could omit the vanilla just fine, but you’ll need to use a saturated fat for the filling to become firm– so real butter or palm oil would work in place of coconut oil, but other oils will not. Hope you enjoy it!
I made these today and they were so amazing! Wow!
I just realized I’ve never rated this DELICIOUS recipe. Love it…back to make it (again) today. I make these often for those that need grain & dairy free. Lemons are more common than limes here, so I usually sub lemon for lime and add a bit of zest. They always turn out perfectly. Thanks so much for sharing this. =)
These look beyond amazing – I am so excited to try these as Key Lime is my favorite dessert and I find it nearly impossible to find outside of key lime pie itself. I’m going to make mine in mini cupcake form as I’d love to make more than 6 to share with our guests! Thanks so much for this recipe.
Made these a while ago and am going to double it and make it for the gang at work. I love this recipe. It’s simple and it is absolutely divine! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Just made these exactly according to the recipe and they are DELICIOUS! Thanks, Megan, for another AWESOME recipe.
Do you think almond butter would be a viable substitute for the cashew butter in the filling?
Can I use almond butter instead of cashew butter?
would it work to add zucchini to this reciepe or the no bake pumpkin bites, like you did for the chocolate no bake cheese cake??
Instead of cashews or cashew butter I mixed Greek yogurt 0% fat with some almond flour and did everything else the same. Turned out delicious and a little bit lighter than when I’d first done it with cashew butter. Yay Megan!
Omg these are AMAZING!!!! Seriously delicious! Thank you!!!
I couldn’t wait to try these, but I was a little hesitant about how they would come out. They were awesome! And, every part of this recipe is delicious. The filling and the crust is amazing.
Totally making these on a regular basis.
HOLY WOW. I made this two nights ago for a dinner guest and it was phenomenal. It was my first time at raw vegan dessert and I am SO IMPRESSED. I doubled the recipe to fit it into a long tart pan and it fit perfectly. I subbed agave for the maple syrup in the crust as well as the honey in the filling just because I didn’t have either maple syrup nor honey. I also soaked my cashews overnight before making the filling. I ended up using about 5-6 juicy limes as well as a half tablespoon of lime zest to really get that lime flavor popping. I added in probably another tablespoon of agave into the filling just to make sure it wasn’t too tart. Froze it for about 4 hours before serving it and then let it sit for about 10 mins on the counter before digging in. The guest (a picky carnivore) was in love with it! I have never been more impressed with a dessert recipe!! Thank you so much for sharing. I can’t wait to make this again!!
Just made these in a mini-muffin pan, made 16pcs. I used pecans for the crust, added maple syrup instead of honey to the filling and used about 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp of lime juice. It’s in the freezer now and I can’t wait to top it with some fresh coconut whipped cream, lemon zet, and some edible flowers!!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe <3
I just took these out of the freezer and ate one. Very yummy and refreshing on this 90 degree humid San Diego summer day! Thank you, Megan!
I tried this with cranberry juice instead of lime juice and it was delicious! I used the very tart pure cranberry juice. It was less tart than the lime ones but still really good.
Wow!! Just made these for Easter Sunday and honestly I can’t stop eating them. Lol. I might need to make more as key lime pie is my husbands favorite dessert. Can’t believe how ridiculous these taste!! Made them in mini pan. Doubled the recipe! You have been my go to for all desserts and I am so happy I found you. Thank you for creating so many amazing recipes!
Have made these a couple times and LOVE them! Make sure to use a serious blender to break down the cashews, soak them first if needed. I added juice from an extra lime because I like this kind of dessert to be extra tart. Refreshing and delicious!