Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie
This from-scratch silky, creamy, decadent old-fashioned coconut cream pie is an absolute coconut cream pie knock-out!
Classic coconut cream pie. Really, there may not be a better pie-for-all-occasions. Unless you are a coconut hater. In that case, you might want to look away.
I happen to love the stuff. And this silky, creamy, decadent pie is just about all that my coconut pie dreams are made of.
I’ve been making this pie for a few years now and we enjoy it with either a graham cracker crust or a traditional pie crust.
One thing I’ve changed as I’ve made it over and over is that I prefer not adding the toasted coconut to the custard filling.
I like the smooth richness of the custard without the texture of the coconut and instead smother the top of the pie with the delicious toasted coconut.
Follow your instincts and do what you like best. Either way, this pie is an absolute coconut knock-out!
Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie
Ingredients
Coconut Cream Pie:
- 1 can coconut milk, can be found in the Asian foods section
- Half-and-half or heavy cream, enough to add to the coconut milk to make 3 cups
- 3 egg yolks
- ¾ cup (159 g) white sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (85 g) flaked coconut, toasted (see note)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 recipe graham cracker crust (below), or traditional pie crust
- Fresh Whipped Cream, lightly sweetened
Graham Cracker Crust:
- 12 whole rectangular graham crackers
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- For the pie: In a medium saucepan, combine half and half, coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt.
- Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat, and stir in coconut extract and the vanilla extract (at this point you can also stir in 3/4 cup of the toasted coconut, although, I prefer to use it all to garnish the top of the pie).
- Pour the custard into the baked and cooled pie shell and chill 2-4 hours or until firm. Top with whipped cream and the toasted coconut.
- For the crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely crush graham crackers in a food processor or in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Pour crumbs into a bowl and add sugar, stirring to combine. Drizzle butter over the top and mix with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
- Press the crumbs evenly in the bottom and up the sides of a 9- or 10-inch pie plate.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes until the crust is just barely beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.
Notes
Recommended Products
Pie Recipe Source: Aunt Marilyn
Crust Recipe Source: adapted from ATK’s Family Baking Handbook
Oh my this looks so yummy. Is it better to use the fatty coconut milk or can I get away with the light?
Bri – I’ve used both the light and regular coconut milk and both work fine, although the regular coconut milk does lend a certain richness to the dessert. But really, either would work great.
This pie was the first pie I have ever attempted to make…my glass Pyrex pie dish has been sitting in a cabinet since receiving it for a wedding present over 4 years ago! No more, this pie opened doors for me….it was one of the best desserts I have ever tasted. Thanks for the recipe, Melanie. You never steer me wrong, everything I’ve tried of yours is always delicious!!
This is my first successful pie! I’ve made it three times, so good!
Kristen T – well, that is a sign of success if you were asked for more pie! Glad it was such a hit!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this yesterday for a family labor day party and had 3 people ask me if I made two because they wanted another piece ;). It will always be my go to from now on!
jessica – so glad this recipe was a hit. Go ahead and post it on your blog. I would be flattered – and thanks for including a link back here!
I made this and everyone LOVED it! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I would love to post it on my blog, with a link to your blog, if that’s ok.
Leslie – thanks for letting me know you liked this pie! I’m so glad it turned out well…
Oh my goodness! I LOVE this pie! I had the same problem with the oil look, but once chilled it turned out EXCELLENT. I shared it with family and they all want me to “make some more”! Thanks for sharing . . . this is a keeper.
Anonymous – I was so worried that it wouldn’t turn out at all so I’m glad that it was at least edible. Thanks for commenting back to give me an update!
Melanie, thanks for responding, and thanks for taking the time to google the problem! Yesterday it had a bit of an oily aftertaste, but luckily I didn’t give up on it, because today it tasted much better. Half the pie is gone now, so it must not suck too much. 🙂 I might give it another go someday and just stop once it looks thickened and heated through. I guess my downfall was waiting for the boil.
Anonymous – oh, I’m sorry you had issues with this pie. Did it turn out ok after chilling?? I’m not sure why your custard separated. I tried googling the issue and didn’t come up with any results. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the custard overheated and separated. Let me know how it tasted!
You have trouble with pie crusts; I have trouble with cooking in general. I just tried to make this pie and while I was stirring it on the stovetop it suddenly separated and formed a layer of oil. It almost looked like I poured melted butter into the pot. Any idea what went wrong? I went ahead and finished it and it’s chilling in the fridge now, but I have the feeling it’s not going to turn out so well. 🙁
My husband LOVES coconut cream pie. I knew I had to make this when I saw it. He loved it! I actually made a regular pie crust and it was great! I brought it out for a family party the next night and everyone ate it and wanted the recipe. They said it was the best pie they’d ever had. Thanks for the recipe!
Halfords – that is the best when you make a recipe your husband loves (but you’ve never replicated at home before) and it works out and he raves about it! I’m so relieved and happy for you. Thanks for letting me know!
Kate – well, my honest opinion is that yes, the pie would be lacking without the whipped cream; however, if you don’t like whipped cream than you may like the result without it! If you decide to make it sans whipped cream, I would probably double the coconut custard filling and then top it with the toasted coconut – it would be more like a coconut custard pie. Yum! Let me know if you try it.
Hi, sorry for coming late to the party. Was wondering if you thought it would detract too much from the recipe if I left off the whipped cream and just topped it with the rest of the toasted coconut? I just can’t get myself excited about whipped cream – I know, I’m crazy!
Coconut Cream pie is one of my favorites! I will have to try this!
Fabulous! I have been making a very similar recipe for a while now and everyone loves it. It too uses the graham cracker crust (delicious!) and whipped cream instead of meringue (yuck!) Thanks for sharing this version~
Looks delicous! And I don’t want to join the quest of MAKING a pie each week; however, I really wish that we lived closer so that when you get sick of eating the pies we could be the guinea pigs that got to try them out instead. Oh wait – that would never happen anyway – who gets sick of eating pies?? I’m guessing not you or the kids!! ;o)
Thanks, Melanie for a great website! I am loving trying out all of the great recipes you have. I had the same struggle with pie crust that you mentioned until my friend Lori passed on a great tip. She uses rolls her crust out between two pieces of wax paper, plastic wrap or parchment. It prevents adding too much flour and overworking the dough. Just make sure to unstick the plastic wrap between every few rolls. HTH!– Melanie S.–another Melanie in the world
You must’ve been reading my mind, I’ve been craving coconut pie…this looks great!
I have a pie crust that mixes graham crackers with vanilla wafer crumbs for the best cracker crust. I bet it would be perfect with this pie!
i really need to learn how to make a pie crust as well. I just made a biscuit pie crust for a tomato pie and it was pathetic. It tasted good, but it looked awful and I had to patch up some holes in it. maybe i will join you on your pie making quest. my husband would love it 🙂
I happen to love a graham cracker crust with cream pies; this cocnut pie looks so creamy and addicting! I am better at pie crust than I used to be. It just takes lots of practice!
mmm Coconut cream pie is my all time favorite pie. I will have to give this one a try. Thank you Aunt Marilyn!
outstanding. this is a favorite pie for me. incidentally, my favorite ice cream creation at the cold stone creamery is the coconut cream pie–vanilla ice cream, toasted coconut, whipped cream, and graham cracker crumbs. and now i want some. 🙂
oh yes, its my hubbys big 3-0 tomorrow and hes a pie man….perfect!
ooooo we LOVE Aunt Marilyn !!!!!
This pie looks yummy !! 🙂
p.s.
I’m ‘in’…I’ll make my first pie crust ever, and let you know how it worked out…I’VE NEVER EVER MADE A PIE CRUST…..EEEEEKKKS !!!!
I love coconut everything. Excited to try this one out! (And, no, I haven’t been obsessively reading through your archives on company time today. Why do you ask?)
I have been CRAVING coconut cream pie! I’m going to have to make this now…
well if you say it’s the best pie you’ve ever had, then i better give it a try! it looks absolutely gorgeous!
Graham cracker crust. Genious.
I love how easy it is. My old favorite takes a lot more work because you boil, add yolks to some, boil again. Etc. I love that you throw it all in at once.
I love adding the coconut milk.
This recipe is a keeper.
I like my coconut cream pie with graham cracker crust too, it is so much yummier! I can’t wait to try your aunt’s version with the coconut milk, it sounds delicious!
I would love to make a pie a week with you, pie crust scares the snot out of me. If you share the no fail pie crust recipe I am up for the challenge!
Smart idea, making pie crusts until you get the hang of it. I always thought about just standing making them over and over and OVER and OVER. Probably why I never learned how. LOL
And I want Aunt Marilyn for my Aunt Marilyn. Seriously.
Melanie – thanks for the tip! I’m definitely going to perfect pie crust if it is the last thing I do!
Tami – glad you liked this. I was wondering all day how it turned out. Thank Aunt Marilyn for the great recipe.
Queen B. – good luck, my friend! You can’t mess up pie crust as badly as I do, I guarantee it!
Karalee – if you check back here, give me your email address and I’ll send you the pie crust recipe and maybe we can work together on my pie challenge!
My coconut cream pie recipe is almost identical, but I use a can of cream of coconut instead of coconut milk. So good!
We had this pie yesterday. It was by far the best coconut cream pie I have ever had. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m in!! I am so scared of pie crusts. Ever so often my hubby will ask me when I will be old enough to bake pies. I smile and tell him 10 more years! Well I really don’t know if I have 10 years!! So I’m up for a pie a week challenge. I will e-mail my findings to you, maybe we can work together. And coconut cream is my favorite.
Jill – thanks for the review of this pie. I’ve been excited for someone to try it. I’m glad you loved it!
I was all set to make this the other day – even had the crust baking in the oven, and then I realized I was out of coconut extract. Grrr! 🙂 It looks yummy, and I’ll be making it as soon as I can get to the store! 🙂
Since you share so many tasty recipes, I have a no fail pie crust recipe I’ll gladly pass along. I learned this recipe in my youth and I’ve shared it with all those who curse when making a pie crust. I swear it’s the flakiest crust around, and it’s easy too. You can’t go wrong with this recipe.
1 cup and 2 T flour
1/2 t salt
Mix flour and salt with fork
Add 1/3 cup corn oil (you’ll want the corn oil to almost overflow from the measuring cup) along with 2 T really cold water
Mix everything together with a fork.
As mentioned in a previous comment, form dough into a round ball and press between two sheets of saran wrap or wax paper (wipe counter top with a wet rag to keep bottom sheet of wax paper or saran wrap in place). Roll dough and remove top layer of paper. For the bottom crust, place pie tin upside down on the rolled crust and flip. For the top crust, shimmy your handy under the wax paper or saran wrap and flip the rolled crust onto the pie tin. Please note this recipe makes one crust. To make both a bottom and top crust you’ll need to double the recipe. Because it tends to dry out quickly, I usually make one crust at a time since it’s so easy. Hopefully this all makes sense. Good luck! And thanks for the great recipes. Please keep ’em comin’. 🙂
Rolling it out on plastic wrap is the key! Then gently picking it up, turning it over and laying it in the plate. Peel off plastic wrap. My mom is a superb pie crust maker, I watched her for years make delicious crusts. She once made 21 pies for a large dinner! Amazing. If you’re interested I’ll pass on the recipe.
Cindy – ok! Email me and we’ll get something together for our pie challenge. Maybe by the end we’ll finally be “old enough” to make pie crust perfectly!
Candace – I’m always up for a new pie crust recipe to try so pass yours along, if you don’t mind. I’d love to try it. And seriously, 21 pies? That’s just plain miraculous.
Hi A – what an interesting recipe to use oil in a pie crust. Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate you taking the time to do that! I need all the pie crust recipes I can get with my new challenge. Thanks!
Made this for my sister’s bday yesterday. It was SO easy and SO delicious and creamy. I love that there is coconut milk in it. Heavenly. And I also love that the crust is nice and thick.
You know some good recipes, girl!
Hi Stacie – I love to see when you’ve tried a recipe. I’m glad you liked this. I thought it was heavenly, too, and I’m all about a nice, thick graham cracker crust. Thanks!