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Coconut Cream Pie is a classic American dessert made with silky homemade coconut pudding, freshly whipped cream, and sweet toasted coconut. A coconut lovers dream!
Cream Pies like our Lemon Cream Pie, Oreo Banana Cream Pie, and our Key Lime Pie make a great dessert all year round.
Coconut Cream Pie from Scratch
This creamy Old-fashioned Coconut Pie with pudding filling makes a perfect dessert to bring to a potluck or serve after dinner! It is so silky, delicious, and can be prepared in advance.
Depending on how much time you have you can either use a prebaked pie shell, refrigerated pie dough or make your own pie crust. The pudding filling needs to set for a few hours in the fridge so I always make this pie a day ahead and top it with freshly whipped cream just before serving!
How to Blind Bake Pie Crust
Coconut Cream Pie has a no-bake filling but the pie crust still needs to be baked before it can be filled. Start with rolling out the dough. I love using my OXO Pie Dough Rolling Bag for this. Rolling the dough out to a 12-14-inch diameter is ideal for 9-inch pie plates.
Place the pie crust into a 9×2-inch round pie dish, use your fingers to tuck it in, trim the overhang and flute the edges (Check out this video). Fluting the edges gives the pie a pretty look without much effort. I always put the pie crust in the fridge for about 30 minutes or place it in the freezer for 10 minutes if I’m short on time because it makes it flakier.
Steps for blind baking the crust:
- Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C) while the pie crust is chilling.
- Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper (TIP: Crunching it up before lining the crust with it makes it easier)
- Fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown. Carefully remove the pie from the oven and lift the dried beans/pie weights with the parchment paper out of the pie.
- Prick holes into the bottom crust with a fork then return the crust to the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes more until the bottom crust is golden brown.
- Take the crust out of the oven and let it cool completely before adding the filling.
How to make Coconut Cream Pie
- Blind bake the pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish. Let it cool.
- Toast the sweetened flaked coconut on a baking sheet in the oven until golden brown.
- Combine all the coconut pudding ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat while stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats a spoon (See image above for reference). The pudding will set more while it cools.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in 3/4 of the toasted coconut.
- Pour the filling into the cooled pie shell, smooth out with a spatula, and chill until firm.
- Top with whipped cream and sprinkle remaining coconut over the top.
How to make homemade whipped cream
To make whipped cream, you need 1 cup cold heavy cream and 2 tbsp powdered sugar. For this pie, I also like to add 1 tsp of coconut extract to the cream. To make it easier and more foolproof, place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Put the sugar into the mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Beat just until the cream reaches stiff peaks about 1-2 minutes. Don’t overwhip or you will end up with butter.
Tips for making the BEST Coconut Cream Pie
- If you’re using a homemade pie crust recipe prepare it according to the recipe.
- If you are using a refrigerated pie crust take it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes before unrolling it. This makes shaping it easier.
- Fluting the edges gives the pie a pretty look and lets you pile the cream higher.
- Make sure the crust has cooled completely before pouring in the filling this prevents it from getting soggy.
- The coconut burns easily! Every oven is different so keep an eye on it and take it out as soon as it is golden brown.
- Coconut Cream is thicker and richer than coconut milk. You can find it in a can near the coconut milk. The cream that rises to the top of a can of coconut milk is also considered coconut cream. You could also use coconut milk instead of coconut cream but the pudding while not be as rich and silky.
- Stirring constantly while cooking the pudding is very important! Make sure to use low heat and turn the temperature down if it bubbles too much.
- The pudding is cooked when it coats a spoon and has a creamy thick consistency. It will set while chilling in the fridge.
- Don’t put the whipped cream on top while the filling is still warm!
- Instead of homemade whipped cream, you could also use whipped topping.
- Add 1 tsp of coconut extract to the whipping cream for extra coconut flavor!
How to store Coconut Cream Pie
Because of the fresh cream, this pie should not sit out on the counter for longer than an hour. It tastes best cold and keeps covered with plastic wrap for 2-3 days. Cream pies don’t thaw well so I would not recommend freezing this recipe.
Tools and Ingredients used for Making this Recipe
OXO Pie Dough Rolling Bag: This silicone bag makes rolling out pie dough so easy. It’s also perfect for pizza.
Pie Plate: This pie plate is made from borosilicate glass so you can transfer it directly from the freezer to the oven without the risk of shattering.
Coconut Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch pie crust, baked
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cup coconut cream, 1 can
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp coconut extract, optional (or vanilla extract)
- 2 cups homemade whipped cream, (see instructions above)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Spread the coconut evenly out on a baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the half-and-half, coconut cream, eggs, sugar, corn starch, salt, and coconut extract.
- Whisk until smooth then bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 more minutes until mixture resembles pudding and coats a spoon. The mixture will thicken more while it cools.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in 3/4 of the toasted coconut (reserve remaining coconut to top the pie).
- Pour the filling into the pie shell, smooth out with a spatula, and let sit on a cooling rack until it has room temperature. The transfer to the fridge and chill until firm, about 4 hours.
- Top with whipped cream and sprinkle remaining coconut over the top.
