Let’s make a Copycat “Key Lime Pie Cookie”

Cookie lovers: meet a new cookie on the scene, the “Key Lime Pie Cookie.” With a graham cracker cookie and lime-infused cream cheese icing, this cookie tastes remarkably like a real Key Lime Pie. My recipe is a variation of the cookie found at crumbl cookies. If you are a cookie connoisseur, then perhaps you have heard of the new gourmet cookie company, crumbl. This franchise cookie company has spread rapidly across the country due largely to social media publicity. Their “claim to fame” is a gigantic, soft sugar cookie topped with an endless variety of icings. The cookie offerings rotate from week to week; there’s always a new cookie to choose. It is a gold mine for a creative cooks and copycat bloggers. I’ve jumped into the arena; here’s my take on this recipe.

About crumbl

Cumbl is a gourmet cookie company which was founded in 2017 in Utah by two cousins. The cousins were determined to develop the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie. Well, they met that goal and just kept going. After opening a local store, they continued with franchises across the country and now claim about 1000 stores (as of 2024). Social media picked up on the concept which fueled the cookies’ popularity. Very little resources have been spent on advertising, according to the founders.

The gourmet cookie stores all include several features. First, the kitchen uses an “open” design concept. The customer can watch the cookies being mixed up and baked. Second, the cookies always come packaged in a lavish pink box. (The cookies won’t become crushed!)

Third, the flavor and variety of the cookies varies weekly. Six types of cookies are featured each week. With several hundred types of cookies in their recipe inventory, it can be quite a while before a specific cookie comes around again. This can be a plus or negative feature. There is always something new in the store. However, if you really like a cookie — I loved the raspberry lemonade cookie — you may not see it for awhile.

In addition to flavor; the owners resolved to make the most photogenic cookies for sale. I think that they succeeded in this goal!

Fourth, the company’s basic cookie is a huge, soft sugar cookie. (They are not a “crumbly.”) An endless assortment of toppings — mainly cream cheese type icings — are added. The cookies, shown above, were all 4″ in diameter. And they all weighted approximately 5 oz. This also means that the cookies were high in calories and very rich. The pink raspberry cookie cupcake, shown above, was over 800 calories!! Wow! (We divided each cookie into six pieces.) Plus, watch your pocketbook; as the cookies are pricey — all things considered — about $6.00 each. Guess these cookies will be a luxury for me!

Because the cookies are so large; it appears that it is difficult to get them baked correctly. One recurring comment on social media forums is that the cookies often tasted like cookie dough. Hum, I’m not sure this is really a good thing and vowed to bake mine correctly!

“Key Lime Pie Cookie” Recipe

As you can guess, in addition to social media publicity; internet bloggers have jumped in with countless copycat crumbl recipes. I love cookies; this is a chance to be creative. The recipes all looked so tempting; it was a hard choice to decide which cookie to experiment with and bake. A “Key Lime Pie Cookie” looked interesting. Plus, I have two boxes of graham crackers in my kitchen cabinets. Good time to make the cookie. My recipe is a compilation those of recipes which I found on internet sites.

My cookies have two main differences with crumbl cookies. They are not quite as large. And my cookies don’t have as much icing. (I prefer to feature the cookie, not the icing.) Otherwise, I used a basic sugar cookie recipe for the cookie and added in graham crackers. The icing was cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and lime zest and juice. I took special attention to forming and baking the cookies.

Here are the ingredients for my cookies.

To help achieve a light and fluffy cookie, I used my electric mixer to mix the dough. This means creaming softened butter and the sugars together. Then add in the egg, vanilla extract and beat until everything is creamy.

Then I mixed in the flour (with baking powder, baked soda and salt) and very fine graham cracker crumbs.

These cookies add crushed graham crackers to the dough to create a “graham cracker crust” flavor. Different brands of graham crackers vary in size and packaging; one “sleeve” usually has either 8 or 9 sheets of crackers and is the approximate amount needed. It doesn’t matter that brands differ, some of the cookies are used in the dough and the rest are used to coat the cookies.

To crush the crackers into a fine texture; the easiest method is to place the crackers inside a zip lock bag and use a rolling pin to crush the crackers. You just can’t get all the crackers crushed into a very fine and even texture using a food processor or food chopper.

Simple is better, and the rolling pin method works — just use a little elbow grease!

After the cookie dough is mixed up, I used an ice cream scoop to form the cookies into balls about the size of a golf ball. The dough is soft and sticky; I rolled the cookies into balls using the palms of my hands. Make the cookies all about the same size so that they will bake evenly. (My cookies are smaller than those sold at crumb stores.) This recipe yielded 10 cookies, plus a small “lagniappe” cookie.

Coat the cookie dough balls in graham crackers by rolling them in the remaining graham cracker crumbs.

Space the cookies apart on a large parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Use the back of a tablespoon measuring spoon to make an indentation into each cookie.

Partially bake the cookies. The cookies will spread out as they bake.

Next, use the bottom of a small cup to make another indentation into each cookie. This gives a place to spread on the icing.

Bake for a minute longer. Don’t over-bake these cookies. These cookies quickly go from soft to crunchy. I would say our cookies turned out perfectly.

Cool the cookies to room temperature on a wire rack.

The icing is simple; yet unique. The ingredients are cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and lime zest with a tiny bit of lime juice. For my recipe, I used the zest and juice of two limes. Make sure to let the cream cheese soften at room temperature first. Beat together the cream cheese with the sweetened condensed milk until creamy and smooth. Add in lime zest and lime juice. The mixture can curdle — don’t add too much lime juice. (If it curdles, press through a strainer.)

Limes or Key Limes? A Key Lime is a variety of lime with intense flavor and zest. I didn’t have these available; ordinary limes worked well.

Spread the icing on the cookies in the indented area — leave a border around the edges. Chill the cookies for several hours or overnight so the icing will firm up. Chilling also helps the cookies soften. (Since the icing is a cream cheese base, I recommend that the cookies be stored in the refrigerator.)

For decoration, I added bits of sliced lime to some of the cookies; and I sprinkled green decorating sugar onto the cookies of my second batch. (Yes, I have alot of graham crackers.) The franchise often adds whipped topping to their cookies and other pastries.

The crumbl franchise has so many cookie varieties — so many temptations — and endless possibilities. I am glad that I picked this particular variety. It makes a great summer cookie!

Enjoy!