Coconut Cream Pie

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

14 Comments

5 from 5 votes
12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Refrigerate 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 25 minutes
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Coconut Cream Pie is a classic American pie made with a vanilla coconut pudding, fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut topping. 

Banana Cream Pie has long been a favorite pie in America, but what about coconut cream pie? If you’ve never had it, you’ve absolutely been missing out! The coconut flavor is rich and sweet, and it is a great summer dessert to try out on extra hot days.

Slice of Coconut Cream PieCOCONUT CREAM PIE

If you want something creamy, delicious and sweet to eat at your next potluck, then my coconut cream pie recipe is the one for you. The coconut is naturally sweet and rich, and when it’s served up chilled in a pie crust, words don’t do it justice.

The nice thing about this recipe is that it’s easy to dress up for any occasion, and nothing looks more inviting on a pie plate than a homemade coconut pie.

Did you like this recipe and are looking for more summer desserts to try? Next time you should make Easy Ice Cream Cake, Southern Pecan Pie Muffins or Strawberry Shortcake.

HOW TO MAKE COCONUT CREAM PIE

  • Start off by putting your 9-inch pie crust in a pie pan.
  • Mix the sugar, flour and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat and gradually stir in the milk.
  • Once the mixture is thick and bubbly, lower the heat to low and cook for 2 more minutes then move the pan off of the heat.
  • Beat the eggs together in a large bowl and then gradually whisk in the hot custard you just made.
  • Pour the whole egg mixture back into the saucepan and bring it to a boil.
  • Stir the mixture for 2 minutes then take the pan off of the heat.
  • Stir in the unsalted butter, vanilla extract and coconut. Once it’s well mixed, pour the pie filling into the crust.
  • Let the pie cool to room temperature and then put it in the fridge to cool for about 4 hours before you serve it.
  • Once the pie has firmed up and you’re ready to eat it, top it with whipped cream and serve it up.

SERVE WITH

  • Homemade Whipped Cream: serve up your pie topped with homemade whipped cream to impress your guests. If you want to stick with the theme, you can also make this topping out of coconut milk instead of heavy or whipping cream.
  • Homemade Ice Cream: nothing goes better with pie than a scoop of homemade ice cream. This recipe is quick and easy and will be the perfect side for a summer party.
  • Easy Chocolate Ganache: whip up some chocolate ganache and drizzle it over the whipped cream topping. It will make the pie look extra fancy and tastes delicious too.
  • Coconut shavings: take any extra coconut shavings and layer them over the top of the finished pie as a beautiful garnish that gives the pie a pleasant crunch.

You can also try making a homemade Graham Cracker Crust from my pie crust recipe.

Origins of Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut used to be incredibly expensive. People loved tropical delicacies in the continental United States but coconuts were notoriously hard to ship because they would go bad and it was difficult to keep them ripe. Eventually, a French company started shredding coconuts and selling the dried shavings around the world. ‘

Shredded coconut hit the US hard when, as the story goes, a miller was given a shipment of dried coconut as payment. He figured out how to produce them and started selling them. Coconut desserts became very popular and around the turn of the century there were dozens of cook books full of coconut themed recipes. One of those recipes was of the cream pie variety after Banana Cream Pie’s popularity took off.

Dessert pies had been around in the US for decades at that point and were very popular because of how easy and decadent they were. The first coconut cream pie was a mixture of custard under a crust topped with coconut shavings.

CLOWNING AROUND

A super popular game was invented just a few years ago called Pie Face (I have kids, I didn’t get to escape this), so I know all about the joy people seem to get out of pie and whipped cream hitting others in the face.

It’s human nature: someone invents a delicious dessert and someone else figures out how to throw it at someone.

Throwing pies has also become a crime! People began throwing pies at people they didn’t like or people they thought were corrupt, so it is now considered battery and is a prosecutable offense in the US, so save your pies for friends who have a sense of humor.

How to Store Coconut Cream Pie:

  • Serve: because of the dairy in the recipe, you shouldn’t leave your coconut cream pie out for longer than 2 hours.
  • Store: you can keep your homemade pie in the fridge in plastic wrap for up to 4 days before it starts to get weird.
  • Freeze: the best coconut cream pie is a fresh one, since cream based pies don’t defrost well. The layers tend to thaw out into a watery mess, so it’s best to enjoy your leftovers out of the fridge instead.

Looking for more delicious Coconut Recipes?

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Dinner, then Dessert

Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie is a classic American pie made with coconut pudding, fresh whipped cream, and toasted coconut – ready in under an hour!
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
slice of Coconut Cream Pie on a plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pie crust
  • 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 5 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut milk

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pie crust into 9" pie plate or use pre-made deep dish pie crust in pie plate and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
  • In a large skillet, toast the coconut until golden brown, shaking the pan, stirring constantly until the coconut starts to change color all over (this should take about 4-5 minutes).
  • Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar to your stand mixer on low speed for a few seconds until combined then raise to high speed for 1 minute until whipped and stiff peaks form.
  • In a second bowl mix together the vanilla pudding mix and the coconut milk well until well combined, then pour it into the cooled pie crust.
  • Top with whipped cream and toasted coconut and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Nutrition

Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 583IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg

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Coconut Cream Pie

 

 

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I’m sorry if it’s staring me right in my face but is the coconut used sweetened, like the grocery store one in the blue plastic bag? (lol! I don’t remember the brand name.)

    Reply

    1. Oh my gosh!! It was a test to see who reads my posts and you pass, haha! Thank you for letting me know. I have no idea how that got in there.

      Reply

  4. I usually don’t like coconut but I tried a slice after making it for my family, and I was hooked! It’s go good!

    Reply