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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 pie recipes start with perfect crusts. For this recipe you can either bake a regular pie dough crust or a graham crackers crust. Try our homemade Perfect Pie Crust or our Perfect Graham Cracker Crust recipes. Use a food processor to get the cracker crumbs to the perfect consistency. Or, give yourself a break and buy either a frozen or ready made crust at the store. Here’s what you need for the rest of the pies:
- 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 – Using large egg yolks will bind the pie filling together and create a creamy coconut 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. Coconut extract is found in the baking aisle next to the other extracts and is what gives coconut cream pies that unforgettable flavor.
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 Cool Whip, although you can totally use this in a pinch. Find the heavy whipping cream where you get the half and half, in the milk aisle. Whip it using a stand mixer or hand mixer until soft peaks form.
- 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! You’ll get flavoring from the creamy coconut filling as well as the topping.
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 with the whisk attachment or hand mixer to whisk the cream, powdered sugar, and coconut extract until stiff peaks form.
Coconut Meringue 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.
How to Toast Coconut
To get that perfect golden toasted coconut, just follow these simple steps:
- First, preheat your oven to about 325 degrees.
- Next, spread an even layer of sweetened coconut on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for about 5-10 minutes, or until the color is golden brown. It can burn quickly, so keep a close eye on it. Give the pan a shake every couple of minutes to ensure even baking.
- Let the coconut cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. It’ll continue to crisp up as it sits.
- Store leftovers in the fridge or at room temperature for up to a week.
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 leftovers 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:
How to Make Coconut Cream Pie
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 medium 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.
- Sprinkle on remaining toasted coconut.
Notes
- Nutrition information is for the whole pie filling, but not the crust.
- 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.
I made this gluten free for my daughter and she loved it. She said it was one of the best desserts she has ever had.
What did you do to make it Gluten Free?
Best Coconut Cream Pie Ever! I will make this pie forever and ever, thanks!
Thanks Carissa!
One question, do you use sweetened coconut flakes?
Yes, thanks for asking!
Could I double or triple the recipe and freeze it. If so what would be the direction and life in the freezer?
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I would say no longer than a month or two, and make sure that it is covered in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn.
I made this with only one adjustment. When I whipped the cream for the topping I added cut up mini marshmallows, this helps the whipped cream to last longer and set better. The recipe is amazing, thank you so much.
This pie is much better with meringue instead of whip cream!
Great recipe and site!
What is half n half….????
It’s usually sold by cream. It is half cream and half milk.
It is called ‘half cream’ in the UK, with fat content between 10 and 12 percent.
Hi I am from Australia can someone please tell me what half and half is . Thanks
It’s usually sold by cream. It is half cream and half milk.
Hi. This post is making me drool. Just wanted know if deccicated coconut would work for this recipe.
we have never used deccicated coconut before in this recipe but it would probably be ok. IF you do it, let us know how it turns out!
Thanks for posting this recipe. First time I’ve seen one where the eggs are added in before cooking, no tempering required. Also like the natural custard, not the chemical instant pudding.
I live in a town where coconut milk is not available. Any sugesstions on how I can modify this recipe, but still have the awesome flavor that coconut milk adds to it? Thanks!
hmmm the coconut cream is kind of the ticket to this recipe. I don’t know of any substitutions that would work as well! :S Sorry I’m not much of a help on this one! 🙁 I know you can order it online if it isn’t available in stores near you.
Think you would pretty much have to replace the coconut milk with an equal amount of half and half and just use coconut flavoring. Sorry!!
My other coconut cream pie recipe does not call for coconut milk and it still tastes great!!
I’ve never made a coconut cream pie before, but this was super easy, and SO, SO good!! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi I know this May sound silly but what is half and half?
It is in the dairy section near the whipping cream. It is like whipping cream, just much lighter!
It’s a Canadian term for the cream used for coffee, being equal parts of milk and heavy cream. I just checked the carton in the fridge, and regular half-and-half contains 10% milk fat. (There is also light half-and-half. It has 5% milk fat.)
It’s half milk and half cream. Much less calories than heavy cream.
So I made this for a special weekend desert. After some tribulations due to operator error, it was wounderful. We all loved it! 1.) I did not get sweetened coconut milk, was unsweetened. It was fine. 2.) Be sure to cook it on the stove until it gets pudding thick. I had cooked it for 20 min, not hot enough, and it was runny. I assembled and refrigerated over night. I had to pour it back into a pan and heat to thicken. In the end it turned out great. I topped it with the whipping cream and perfection. I will be making this again and bringing it to family events. Thanks.
Did you use sweetened coconut milk?
Yes. I think so. I usually just get what is standard on the shelf. I have used “lite” and that tastes fine too!
Always loved these pies,now I am making one.BTW I made the perfect pie crust and it doesnt say how long to bake it,so I did 350 and watched it till done.My 1st time never turns out right.We shall see!!!
Never made a coconut pie in my life….yet it’s my husbands favourite pie….I think it’s time I make him some. Our 13th anniversary is this month, perfect time to make this for him. :). Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
This is my dad’s favorite pie. Pinning so I can make this for him!
Awesome! Thanks! This is my husband’s favorite kind of pit, can’t wait to try it without the instant pudding. 🙂
PLEASE What on earth is half and half? never heard of it!
half and half is a mixture of milk and heavy cream. In the U.S. you are able to find it as-is at the grocery store. If you are unable to find it, you can use low-fat whipping cream or regular whipping cream.
How much of the whipping cream?
You could probably get away with just 1c. of whipping cream if you went that route 🙂