Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut cream pie just screams summer to me. The velvety coconut taste reminds me of drinking straight out of a coconut shell on the beach in paradise, and the delicious heavy whipped cream takes me back to summers out on the farm, barefoot with the sun on my face. This recipe won't take too much time, but packs in the nostalgia for a southern girl like me. I cheated a bit and used a Pillsbury roll-out unbaked pie crust, but you can easily skip that step and get a pre-baked crust, or go full fledge and make your own from scratch! I got this recipe from the lovely Robyn at AddAPinch dot com.

Ingredients:

Baked or unbaked pie crust

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut - we’re going to toast this for the topping

cool whip topping

For Custard:

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 1/2 cups half & half

5 egg yolks

3/4 cups of sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut (not toasted)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For Whipped Topping:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare pie crust according to directions if you have an unbaked crust.

Spread coconut flakes for topping evenly on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake coconut until just beginning to brown 6-8 minutes. These guys are tricky so you’ll really want to pay attention to that timer and check the brown-ness. It sneaks up on you! Set aside to cool.

To prepare custard pour coconut milk and half & half into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add egg yolks and whisk them together with the milk mixture. Set aside.

Add sugar and cornstarch to a pot on the stove over medium heat. 

Re-whisk egg and milk mixture and slowly add to the pot, whisking constantly. 

Bring mixture to a boil, about 10 minutes, and then switch to a rubber or wooden spoon and continue to stir, letting boil for 1 minute.

Remove mixture from heat and add butter, raw coconut, vanilla, and salt. Pour into baked pie crust. Cover lightly and chill the refrigerator 1 hour or until set and cool. 

To prepare whipped topping add sugar and heavy whipping cream to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and whisk until combined. 

Spread whipped cream on top of coconut custard. Top with cool whip topping as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then top with toasted coconut.