Coconut Cream Pie
This rich, coconut cream pie is one of my favorites. Flaky buttery crust, rich filling and whipped cream–what's not to like? Prep time includes making the crust, but crust can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to fill.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup cold shortening
- 12 tbsp butter, cold and sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4-1/2 cup ice water
Coconut Filling
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 14oz can coconut milk, full fat
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut, toasted
- 2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp coconut extract
Whipped Cream
- 11/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- additional toasted coconut for garnish
Instructions
- For the pie crust: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. With pastry cutter, cut in cold shortening and cold butter. Add water until dough is moistened.
- Using your hands, work the dough into a ball. Don't overwork–there should still be some visible marbling of the fats. Cut dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill dough 30 minutes. (Freeze one disc of dough for another time).
- Roll one disc of dough into a 12 inch circle, rolling from the center of the circle and turning a quarter turn with each roll. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie plate and flute edges. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Weight pie crust with pie weights or beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake for 10-15 minutes more until golden brown. Remove pie crust from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Cooled pie shell may be wrapped and refrigerated until ready to fill–no more than 3 days.
- For the filling:In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk the coconut milk, half-and-half, granulated sugar, and salt together. Whisking occasionally, bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then reduce temperature to medium-low heat.
- Once boiling, remove about 1/2 cup of the mixture and, in a slow and steady stream, whisk into the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture. In a slow and steady stream, whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan.
- Whisk and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in coconut, butter, vanilla and coconut extract.
- Pour warm filling into cooled crust and cover with plastic wrap lying directly on top of the filling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- For whipping cream:Beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Whipped cream can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple hours until ready to serve. Pipe the whipped cream onto the pie filling and sprinkle with additional toasted coconut.
- Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
- If you find pie crust intimidating, you can always use a pre-made crust. This crust recipe is not fussy and works well if you want to make the crust one day, chill and fill the next. Don’t worry if it’s not the prettiest crust–that flaky, buttery taste will make up for any visual defects.
- You can pipe the whipped cream onto the pie and hold it in the refrigerator for an hour or two, but I think it looks best if you wait to pipe cream right before serving.