Foolproof Coconut Cream Pie Recipes

BEST COCONUT CREAM PIE

Steps:

• Prepare the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out pate brisee into a 12-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick, on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge to 1 inch, fold under, and pinch to seal. Crimp as desired. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Line with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edge is golden and set, about 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment. Bake until bottom is golden and dry, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
• Make the filling: Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in coconut milk and whole milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, about 7 minutes. Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl. Add milk mixture to yolks in a slow, steady stream, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Strain custard through a fine sieve into a bowl, and stir in vanilla and shredded coconut. Pour into piecrust, and smooth top. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until filling is completely set, about 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
• Make the topping: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread large-flake coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes, tossing occasionally. Let cool. Beat together cream and confectioners' sugar with a mixer until soft peaks form. Top pie with cream, and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Serve immediately.

OLD FASHIONED COCONUT CREAM PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake it, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt and mix well. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the toasted coconut and the vanilla extract. Reserve the remaining coconut to top the pie.
• Pour the filling into the pie shell and chill until firm, about 4 hours.
• Top with whipped topping and with the reserved coconut.

FOOLPROOF COCONUT CREAM PIE

Steps:

• 1. Set up a double boiler. To the double boiler, add the first three ingredients, cream of coconut, marshmallows, and milk. Melt together. The mixture may be foamy.
• 2. Add 2 cups of the coconut to the now melted mixture.
• 3. Place mixture in the fridge until cool.
• 4. While the mixture is cooling, toast the remaining coconut on a cookie sheet in the oven preheated to 375 degrees.
• 5. Watch closely, once it starts to turn golden, take out. It will burn very quickly.
• 6. Take the cooled mixture out of the fridge and stir. Fold in the 2 cups of whipped heavy cream (stiff) until completely incorporated.
• 7. Put the completed mixture into the pie shell. (There may be some leftover.)
• 8. Top with toasted coconut.
• 9. Chill at least 6 hours.

COCONUT CREAM PIE

Steps:

• Pulse salt, sugar, and 1¼ cups flour in a food processor until well combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining, about 10 seconds. With the motor running, add ¼ cup ice water and process until dough just holds together, about 30 seconds. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers; if it's very crumbly, add more ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time (2 Tbsp. maximum), and process to combine (do not overprocess).
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a rough ball. Knead a few times, then roll into a ball. Flatten ball to a disc with smooth edges (no cracks), cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Position rack in bottom of oven; preheat to 350°F. Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 13" round. Wrap dough loosely around floured rolling pin, then release into pie pan. Lift up edges and allow dough to slump down into dish. Trim edges to leave a 1" overhang and crimp as desired. Freeze dough at least 15 minutes or chill, covered, up to 24 hours.
• Line crust with parchment or foil and fill with baking beans or weights. Bake crust, rotating halfway through, 20 minutes. Remove weights, pierce bottom of crust all over with a fork, and continue to bake until very light brown and dry, about 10 minutes more. Let cool.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut flakes on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, stirring once or twice, until golden brown and fragrant, 8-10 minutes. Let cool.
• Heat 1¾ cups milk in a small saucepan until almost boiling. Add 1½ cups toasted coconut, stir, and cover. Let steep 1 hour. (Now would be a great time to roll out and bake the pie crust.)
• Strain toasted-coconut milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a large saucepan; discard solids (you should have about 1½ cups milk; add more milk if necessary). Add canned coconut milk and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.
• Pour remaining ¾ cup cold milk into a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over. Let sit 10 minutes. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Add gelatin mixture and whisk until smooth.
• Whisking constantly, slowly pour half of the coconut milk mixture in a thin stream into egg mixture. (A wet towel under bowl with egg mixture will help stabilize it.) Pour everything back into saucepan and heat over medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and starts to bubble, then continue to cook about 1 minute more so it doesn't taste starchy.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean large bowl. Add butter and vanilla and stir to combine. Press plastic wrap against surface of mixture and chill until cool, 2½-3 hours. (You can speed up the process by stirring from time to time or placing bowl with filling in a large bowl of ice water.)
• Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whip cream to medium peaks in a medium bowl. Working in 3 batches, gently fold cream into pie filling until just incorporated. Sprinkle half of the remaining toasted coconut into bottom of prepared pie shell. Carefully spoon filling over coconut, mounding it in the middle and making decorative swirls with the back of a spoon. Chill at least 2 more hours to set.
• When ready to serve, garnish pie with remaining toasted coconut. Do Ahead: Pie can be made 2 days ahead; cover and chill. Editor's note: This recipe was originally published in July 2016. For more of our favorite pie recipes, head this way →