Lemon Meringue Pie Bites

Lemon meringue pie bites have a crunchy meringue 'nest' filled with lemon curd. The perfect treat for a baby shower or birthday! Gluten-free & just 4 ingredients required!

Sigh. August is almost over.

I'm finally coming to grips with this fact, and am finally starting to look forward to autumn. I am going back to work near the end of September, and although life is going to get CA-RAY-ZY then, I think it will be good for me to spend some time with other adults. And it will be good for Kai to be around other kids.

Things I'm looking forward to in autumn: Kai's 1st birthday party, apples, soups, wearing leggings, butternut squash, changing leaves, warm drinks, not having to water my garden, and anything sage...so much to look forward to!

One thing has been bothering me, though, just this one thing and then I can finally move on from summer: there has been a serious lack of lemon meringue pie in my life this summer. I played around with key lime...um...LOTS, but no lemon meringue pie. It's just not right. Lemon meringue pie bites to the rescue!

Of course I couldn't just be normal and make a lemon meringue pie...for one thing, I would probably have to consume the entire thing myself {Ben doesn't like sweets---whaaat!? I know!!}

So I decided to get a little bit creative and make meringue nests, and fill them with lemon curd.

And these lemon meringue pie bites taste just like lemon meringue pie...without the crust, and in miniature form. Perfect!

So here's the deal: I preferred these in miniature, because the lemon curd: meringue ratio was perfect, and they were much easier to eat. I used a Wilton 21 tip to pipe the meringue nests. However, you can also make these larger {and prettier} using a 1M Wilton tip to pipe the meringues.

Also: the lemon curd. I couldn't find it in the store, anywhere...in fact I've never seen it in the store in Canada. So I used Ina Garten's recipe which worked beautifully {see below for my tips on this recipe}. If you can find store-bought lemon curd you are saving yourself about 40 minutes of work, although the homemade version is absolutely divine.

So these lemon meringue pie bites are my last summer recipe for awhile. Autumn isn't officially until September 21, but Mother Nature doesn't seem to know that. It is really starting to feel chilly and brisk. And I'm finally OK with that!

What are you looking forward to this autumn?

Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped these lemon meringue pie bites. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel, or on Facebook.

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

Lemon Meringue Pie Bites

4.85 from 38 votes

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 2 hours hrs

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Lemon meringue pie bites have a crunchy meringue 'nest' filled with lemon curd. The perfect treat for a baby shower or birthday! Gluten-free & just 4 ingredients required!

45 pie bites

Ingredients

Meringue Nests

• ▢ 4 egg whites (from large eggs; at room temperature)
• ▢ ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar

Lemon Meringue Pie Bites

• ▢ 2 cups of lemon curd (see below for recipe recommendation)

Instructions 

Meringue Nests

• Pre-heat oven to 300°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats, set aside.
• In a clean, dry stand mixer bowl, beat eggs on high until they become frothy and form soft peaks {that slowly sink back into the bowl; takes around one minute}.
• Add the cream of tartar, then begin adding the sugar by the tablespoon, while continuing to beat on high. Go slowly; this part may take 5-10 minutes of continuous beating/adding sugar. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all sugar.
• When mixture has formed stiff peaks {see photo of stand whisk above if you are wondering what a stiff peak looks like}, fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton number 21 tip.
• Going slowly, pipe a 3-5 cm circle on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Without lifting the tip, do the second and third layers around the outside of the circle, forming a mini nest.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 300°F, then reduce heat to 250°F and bake for 10-20 more, until meringues are hard and *slightly* golden. Turn oven off, open oven door slightly, and allow to cool for one hour in the oven.

Lemon Meringue Pie Bites

• Spoon lemon curd into the 'nest' and serve immediately.
• Nests and lemon curd can be stored separately for several days.

Tips:

If you can't find lemon curd in the grocery store, I recommend Ina's Lemon Curd Recipe

Here are some tips for it:

• don't freak out when your curd looks...um...curdled. Keep heating/stirring it and it will become smooth
• Ina recommends to heat the curd over low, but mine never got to 170°F on the low setting; I eventually raised the heat to medium and finally got my curd to temperature/thickened.

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1pie bite, Calories: 52kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Sodium: 34mg, Potassium: 9mg, Sugar: 10g

Author: Denise Bustard

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

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