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Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts

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These Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts are the perfect balance of sweet and tart. They’re made with a buttery oatmeal cookie crust and homemade lemon pudding.

Easy No-Bake Lemon Pudding Tarts

I love pudding recipes. My Magnolia Bakery Pudding and Chocolate Pudding Pie are two of my favorites, but I love exploring other flavors!

Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts are sweet and tangy, made using a homemade lemon pudding recipe, and have a buttery and subtly sweet oatmeal cookie base. If you don’t have a tart pan, you could make these in little jars, and even layer more of the crust through the jars, because if I am being honest, the crust is an essential part of any dessert in my opinion.

This is a nice and light dessert. These lemon pudding tarts are perfect for brunch or for a small dinner party. They’re light, fresh, sweet, and delicious!

overhead of lemon pudding tart garnished with a blueberry

What are Meyer Lemons?

Although Meyer lemons are just a variety of lemon, there are a couple of things that set them apart from regular lemons:

  • Appearance: Meyer lemons are smaller and rounder in shape and their color has more orange than regular lemons.
  • Flavor: While regular lemons are known for their tartness, Meyer lemons have a sweeter, more complex flavor.
  • Availability: Regular lemons are available in grocery stores all year long. Meyer lemons, on the other hand, are seen in grocery stores only during late winter and early spring.

While Meyer lemons and regular lemons are different, if you don’t have access to Meyer lemons for this recipe, you can swap them out for regular lemons. The flavor will just be slightly different and tangier.

side view of homemade tart with lemon pudding

What You’ll Need

For the Lemon Pudding

  • Egg Yolks – using just the yolks results in a richer, more velvety pudding.
  • Milk – I recommend using as close to whole milk as you can.
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • Meyer Lemon Juice – regular lemon juice will work too. They will just be slightly more tart.
  • All-Purpose Flour– used to thicken the pudding
  • Granulated Sugar
  • Salt
  • Lemon Zest – you will need the zest from just 1 of the meyer lemons.

For the Crust

  • Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies – make sure the cookies you use are not iced.
  • Unsalted Butter

For the Topping

  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Berries – for garnish if desired

Let’s Make Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts

Don’t be intimidated by the homemade pudding in this recipe. It’s actually super easy to make!

For the Pudding

  • Prep the ingredients: Measure out all of the ingredients for the pudding before starting. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk lightly.
  • Combine and cook: In a saucepan, combine milk, sweetened condensed milk, and Meyer lemon juice. Heat until warm, then add the sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk until smooth. The goal is to dissolve the dry ingredients.
  • Temper the eggs: Just before the milk/sugar mixture starts to boil, remove 1/4 cup and pour into the eggs. Whisk quickly, then immediately pour that mixture back into the pan. Whisk constantly until the pudding starts to thicken and bubble.
  • Strain and chill: Remove the pudding from heat and strain through a sieve two times. Pour into a medium-sized bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and poke a few holes in the wrap with a toothpick. Cool on the counter for at least 1 hour.

For the Crust

  • Grind the cookies: Use a food processor to grind the cookies into a fine crumb.
  • Combine: Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and stir until fully coated.
  • Assemble the tarts: Divide the crust mixture evenly between 6 tart pans. Press the crust into the tart pans. Pour the cooled pudding into each tart pan, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.

For the Topping

  • Chill the bowl: Place a mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
  • Make the whip: Pour the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl and use a mixer to beat until soft peaks form. Add in the powdered sugar, little bits at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
  • Top your tarts: Use a large open star tip to pipe the whipped cream onto the chilled tarts, then serve or store in the fridge!

What Size Tart Pan is Best?

I use 4 1/2-inch tart pans to make 6 smaller tarts. I think this is the perfect size for single servings! However, if you want to make one big tart you can use a 9-inch tart pan instead.

side view of lemon pudding tart, more tarts in the background

Tips for Homemade Pudding

  • Prep first. When it comes to homemade pudding, you need to work relatively quickly. With that in mind, I recommend measuring all of your ingredients out before you start so they’re ready to go. This includes whisking the yolks so they’re ready to go.
  • Don’t walk away! You’ll want to stir frequently to prevent the lemon pudding mixture from burning. This part of the recipe is pretty hands-on.
  • Strain twice. I like to strain the pudding mixture two separate times through a fine mesh sieve to eliminate any clumps of dry ingredients that didn’t get dissolved.
  • Prevent the skin on top: Putting saran wrap directly on the surface of the pudding will prevent a layer of skin from forming. No body wants to bite through that!

Variations

  • Swap the cookies. Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies are a delicious base for the tarts, but you could also use golden Oreos, lemon Oreos, or a graham cracker crust.
  • Change the topping: This would pair well with a mascarpone whipped cream or even a strawberry whipped cream topping.
  • Save time with Cool Whip. I do love homemade whipped cream, but if you want to save a little time you can definitely use Cool Whip instead.
fork being used to take bites out of lemon pudding tart

How to Prepare Ahead of Time

You can prep the pudding up to 2 days in advance and store it in in a large bowl in the refrigerator, just remember to keep the surface of the pudding covered with plastic wrap.

To maintain the freshness, I don’t recommend assembling the tarts more than 24 hours in advance. If possible, add the whipped topping the day you plan to serve them. This can be whipped just a few minutes in advance.

How to Store

Assembled tarts are best enjoyed right away, but can be stored for up to 2 days in the fridge. I don’t recommend freezing them because the texture of the lemon pudding filling will be affected.

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closeup of a lemon pudding tart

Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts

  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Chill Time: 4 hours
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings

Description

These Meyer Lemon Pudding Tarts are the perfect balance of sweet and tart. They’re made with a buttery oatmeal cookie crust and homemade lemon pudding.

Ingredients

For the pudding:

  • 2 large eggs yolks, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup (236ml) milk 
  • ½ cup (118ml) sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tablespoons  (30ml) Meyer lemons juice (about 2 lemons)
  • 3 tablespoons (27g) all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1/3 cup (63g) granulated sugar
  • Dash of salt
  • Zest of 1 Meyer lemon

For the crust:

  • 1 pkg (12.5oz) Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies (not iced)
  • 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted

For the topping:

  • ¾ cups (177ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons (16g) powdered sugar
  • Berries for garnish

Instructions

For the pudding: 

  1. Prepare and measure out all of the ingredients for the pudding prior to starting. Place the egg yolks in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
  2. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the milk, sweetened condensed milk and Meyer lemon juice. Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture is warm, then add the granulated sugar, flour and salt. Whisk continually to dissolve the dry ingredients.
  3.  Temper the eggs. Just before the mixture starts to boil, pour about ¼ cup of the milk into the eggs and whisk vigorously then immediately pour the egg yolks back into the pan and whisk constantly until the pudding starts to thicken and lightly bubble.
  4. Remove the pudding from the heat and immediately strain the pudding through a fine sieve. Repeat one more time and pour the pudding into a medium-sized bowl.
  5. Immediately cover the top of the pudding with clear plastic wrap (directly on the surface of the pudding) and poke a few holes with a toothpick.
  6. Allow it to cool on the counter for at least 1 hour or until cooled to the touch.

For the crust:

  1. Grind the cookies into a fine crumb using a food processor or blender. Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and stir until the crumbs are well coated.
  2. Divide the cookie crumbs evenly between the 4 ½ inch tart pans. Press the crumbs into the tart pans.
  3. Pour the cooled pudding into each tart pan and cover the surface of the pudding with saran wrap. Refrigerate 3-4 hours until the pudding is set.

For the topping:

  1. Chill a mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes. Pour the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the heavy cream on medium-high speed until the cream thickens to soft peaks. Slowly add the powdered sugar and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form. Use a large open star tip to pipe the whipped cream onto each tart.

Equipment

Notes

This recipe makes 6 mini (4.5 inch) tarts or 1 large 9-inch tart. Prep time includes cooling time. Cook time is estimated for cooking the pudding.

Nutrition Information:
1 tart
697
49.2 g
466.2 mg
40.8 g
76.2 g
2 g
9.6 g
145.3 mg
  • Category: Pies
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

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4 Responses
  1. Easy Cake Baking

    Lovely recipie i love anything lemon how long do they keep for? can you freeze them? would definatley like to take a look at your book too thanks






  2. Shar

    Hi Julianne, How many servings does it make and could this be made in a large (9 or 10”) tart pan? Love your recipes.

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Shar- thanks for your question. It makes 6 mini tarts, I will add that to the recipe. Yes, this would also work in a 9inch tart pan!

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