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This Homemade Coconut Cream Pie is filled with a silky coconut cream custard made completely from scratch, not a pudding mix. You can really taste the homemade difference! Every bite is creamy, dreamy, and full of real coconut flavor.
Why I Love This Coconut Cream Pie
This Coconut Cream Pie recipe is by far the best I have ever had. The coconut custard filling is made completely from scratch. Because it’s made with coconut milk and toasted coconut, you get a pure, natural flavor that pudding mixes just can’t replicate.
Homemade pie always tastes best – especially this one. Don’t be intimidated, though! Even if you’re new to pie making, this recipe is simple to follow and turns out beautifully every time. Watch it disappear at family gatherings, Thanksgiving or Easter dinner. Everyone loves it!
❤️ Erica
“This pie is by far the most delicious thing I have ever made!! The recipe is perfect!. Thanks for sharing, it’s now going to be my most requested dessert!” – Jennifer
Key Ingredients
- Baked Pie Crust: 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. You can also use a store bought crust.
- Half and Half: Do not substitute milk or cream. Half and half will give you the creamy pie you want without being too heavy or too runny.
- Coconut milk: Find canned coconut milk in the Asian foods aisle.
- Toasted shredded coconut: See how to toast coconut flakes below.
- Coconut extract – If you can’t find coconut extract, you can substitute vanilla extract in a pinch.
- Additional Ingredients: eggs, sugar, cornstarch, salt.
- Whipped Topping: heavy cream, powdered sugar, coconut extract.
How to Make Coconut Cream Pie
- Prepare toasted coconut. Spread coconut flakes on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake at 325°F for 5-10 minutes until coconut flakes turn a golden brown.
- Prepare pie filling. Combine half-and-half, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking constantly.
- Once it comes to a boil and thickens to the consistency of a thick pudding, remove from heat. This will take 15-20 minutes, so be patient. Remove from heat.
- Stir ¾ cup toasted coconut and coconut extract into the pie filling mixture.
- Pour coconut pie filling into the baked pie shell. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
- Mix whipping cream, sugar, and coconut extract together using a stand mixer or a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- After the pie is completely chilled, spread the whipped topping over the pie.
- Sprinkle the remaining toasted coconut over the pie.
Recipe Tips
You will love how quickly this creamy coconut pie comes together. It does have some time in the refrigerator to set up, 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 a stand mixer, to whip the cream, powdered sugar, and coconut extract until stiff peaks form.
- If using a homemade pie crust or an unbaked store bought crust, be sure to blind bake the crust before adding the filling. I like this blind bake crust without weights method.
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
If the filling doesn’t thicken after bringing it to a boil over medium heat, it is undercooked. Continue to cook it over medium heat. It takes up to 20 minutes to thicken.
No, it is too diluted. Use canned coconut milk for proper texture.
You can substitute vanilla extract. You will still get plenty of coconut flavor from the toasted coconut and coconut milk.
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, but the crust can get a little soggy when thawed. It’s best to freeze separately if you can.
You can prepare the baked crust up to 3 days ahead. The coconut pie filling can be made 1 day ahead. Assemble up to 1 day before serving. You will need to stabilize the whipped cream topping if you make it ahead.
Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 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 more of our favorite coconut recipes:
Did you make this Coconut Cream Pie? Tell us what you thought! Leave a comment and star rating below. We love hearing from you and seeing how our recipes turn out in your kitchen. 🥥💛
Coconut Cream Pie (From Scratch)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup toasted coconut, see recipe notes
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 1 9-inch baked pie shell
TOPPING:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 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
How to Toast Coconut
To get that perfect golden toasted coconut, just follow these simple steps:- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Spread an even layer of sweetened coconut on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for about 5-8 minutes, or until the color is golden brown. It can burn quickly, so keep a close eye on it. Stir 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 in an airtight container up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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 🙂