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This Coconut Cream Pie has luscious coconut flavor in every bite! Flaky crust filled with homemade coconut cream filling and coconut whipped cream, it’s a coconut lover’s dream!
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This Coconut Cream Pie recipe is by far the best I have ever had. The coconut custard filling is made from scratch (no pudding mixes here!) and it makes all the difference. The rich and creamy texture is full of coconut flavor. This pie is so much better than anything you can get at a store!
Homemade pie always tastes best, and that couldn’t be more true with this recipe. But that doesn’t mean it’s hard to make. Even a pie making novice can put this pie together and everyone will think you put more time into it than you actually did. This pie is perfect for a family gathering or Easter dinner.
Ingredients in Coconut Cream Pie
Perfect pies start with perfect crusts. For this recipe you can either use a regular pie dough crust or a graham cracker crust. Try our homemade Perfect Pie Crust or our Perfect Graham Cracker Crust recipes. Or, give yourself a break and buy a crust at the store. Here’s what you need for the rest of the pie:
- Half and half – You can find this in the milk section of the grocery store. This is one recipe where you should not substitute whole milk or any other milk. Half and half will give you the creamy pie you want.
- Coconut milk – A little less than one can is needed for this recipe. Find canned coconut milk in the Asian foods aisle at the store.
- Eggs – These eggs will bind the pie filling together and create a custard filling.
- Sugar – Added for sweetness!
- Cornstarch – This is known to be a thickener. At first it creates a crumbly texture but them makes a smooth and thick pudding like substance.
- Salt – Just a pinch!
- Toasted shredded coconut – You can use unsweetened coconut flakes for the pie filling and maybe sweetened coconut for the topping.
- Coconut extract – If you can’t find coconut extract, you can always substitute vanilla extract.
Topping it Off!
The topping is what makes this cream pie so delicious! It is light and tasty in every bite. This coconut pie is not complete without this creamy topping!
- Whipping cream – The kind you have to whip yourself, not the pre-made frozen stuff! Find the heavy whipping cream where you get the half and half, in the milk aisle.
- Powdered sugar – Between a quarter to a half cup, to taste. This will help sweeten and thicken the topping.
- Coconut extract – Add in a hint of flavor that will take this pie to the next level!
Recipe Tips
You will love how quickly this creamy coconut pie comes together. It does have some time in the refrigerator to setup, become thicker, and have a little jiggle to it. These tips will make your coconut pie sing!
- This Coconut Cream Pie takes a little time to put together, as well as at least two hours of refrigeration time for the pie to set. So make sure to plan accordingly. It’s worth every single minute of prep time, I promise!
- When making the whipped topping, place heavy cream in a medium bowl and use an electric mixer or hand mixer to whisk the cream, powdered sugar, and coconut extract until stiff peaks form.
Change up the Topping
A delicious variation on this recipe is to top the coconut cream layer with meringue instead of whipped topping. For a quick and easy meringue recipe, see our Lemon Meringue Pie. If you prefer meringue to whipped topping, this works beautifully on the Coconut Cream Pie.
Coconut Cream Pie with Less Sugar Option
One of our dear readers, Karen, adapted this Coconut Cream Pie recipe to make it more diabetic-friendly. These are her substitute suggestions:
“This is a great recipe but I wanted to make it with less fat and sugar; I am Diabetic. I substituted milk with 1 – 12 oz. can of Fat Free Evaporated Milk; used 1 – 13.5 oz can of Lite Coconut Milk; exchanged sugar for ½ cup Splenda, and poured it all into a homemade graham cracker crust made with Splenda. It came out fabulous. My husband loved it, said it was the best pie ever.”
-Karen
Frequently Asked Questions about Coconut Cream Pie
If the milk mixture doesn’t thicken after bringing it to a low boil on medium heat, the custard may be undercooked. Mix together a little more cornstarch and water and add to the custard mixture. Bring back up to a boil until it thickens.
If you want to freeze this pie, it’s best to keep the crust and filling separate until you’re ready to thaw and serve it. Leftover pie CAN be frozen, as long as it’s tightly wrapped in foil and placed in a freezer bag.
Store leftover pie in the fridge for up to four days, covered in plastic wrap. Any longer than a few days and the crust can get too soggy.
Read More: The BEST Traditional Easter Dinner Ideas
More Recipes for Coconut Lovers
If you’re a fan of our Coconut Cream Pie recipe, try some of our other favorite coconut recipes:
Coconut Cream Pie
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk a little less than 1 can
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flaked coconut toasted
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract or vanilla extract
- 9 inch pie shell baked (see above for our pie crust recipes)
TOPPING:
- 1 pint whipping cream the kind you have to whip yourself, not the pre-made, frozen stuff!
- 1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar to taste
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Bring to a boil over LOW heat (using a double-boiler works best), whisking constantly.
- When it starts to boil a little bit and thickens up to about the consistency of a thick pudding (this takes about 15-20 minutes so BE PATIENT), remove from heat.
- Stir in ¾ cup of the toasted coconut and the coconut (or vanilla) extract. Pour into pie shell and chill for 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
- While pie is cooling, whip together topping ingredients with electric beaters.
- When pie is completely cooled, top with whipped topping and sprinkle on remaining toasted coconut.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
This pie is SO good! I made it as a trial for Easter. We all loved it and will be making it for Easter!
True story…. my husband hates coconut, but one time we were at a pie social and he had himself a lovely lemon cream pie…only to find out it was the best tasting coconut he’d ever had! Ha ha!!! Love this pie. So easy, so creamy, so incredibly delicious! The toasted coconut garnish on top really takes it to the next level!
I made this for my mom today! It’s her 65th birthday and she loves coconut cream pies! She’s sadly in the hospital right now but once she’s home she’ll have this pie waiting for her! I used a graham cracker crust and it came out excellent!
I just bought coconut milk it’s not a can it was by the milk can I use that?
The refrigerated coconut milk is diluted with water, so you can’t use it as a substitute. Sorry about that!
I had saved this recipe to make for a friend who’s crazy about coconut cream pie. I was short on time so I used a shortbread premade crust. Followed the recipe exactly for filling and whipped topping. It was amazing, and my friend asked to take the rest home! It’s a keeper.
Thank you for sharing!
This pie is so fluffy and dreamy smooth! This is a beautiful end to any meal!
Yum! My favorite kind of pie! Can’t wait to try this out for Thanksgiving 🙂
Hello there. I was just wondering if the nutrition facts you posted were per serving or for the whole pie? Thanks in advance!
It is for the whole pie!
Delicious Dessert and lovely coconut flavors. Perfect dessert for a party too. Looks yummy.
This is my absolute favorite pie! I will have to try your recipe soon. 🙂
This is totally addictive!! Everyone can’t stop eating these!
This looks so delicious and yummy! My daughter and husband are going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to make this!
Such an easy recipe and coconut cream pie just happens to be one of my favorite desserts! YUM!
Hi there,
Thank you for the recipe. The favour was amazing; I made it twice this past weekend.
I used an 9 inch pie pan. I had so much filling and decided the second time not to put all the filling in but I was upset that the pie didn’t set right. It did not hold its shape even the second time I left it overnight before putting on the delicious whipping cream on. What do you think I did wrong? Thank you for your help.
Hmmm…its hard to say with the information you provided what might have gone wrong. Did you make any changes the second time besides using less filling? Did you store the filling? I’d love to help, but I just need a little more info!
I won my boyfriend’s heart with this pie!!
It is a very powerful pie! Thanks for the 5-star rating!!