Toasted Coconut Cream Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust
If coconut makes your heart sing, then today’s your lucky day because I think this Toasted Coconut Cream Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust might just possibly be the best coconut dessert I have ever made or eaten! And I have eaten and made a lot of coconutty desserts in my life, so excuse my bossiness when I kind of insist that you make this luscious pie asap!!! Welcome to Day 3 of Pie week!!!
No, coconut cream pie is not exactly a classic Thanksgiving day treat, but I guarantee that people will be oohing and aahing over this, if the sounds my taste testers made are any indication.
That’s because there’s just so much to love. Think Mounds bar, only better.
First off, there’s the chocolate wafer cookie crust which is not only delish but also comes together in a snap!
Then, there’s the luscious, creamy custard filling which is just loaded with crispy toasted coconut which makes for a great textural balance.
It’s so dreamy and I dare you not to sneak little bites before you scrape it into the baked cookie crust!
Finally, there’s the sweetened whipped cream which gets piled on top of everything and as we all know, makes everything taste better!
So…in every bite you get crunchy chocolate cookie, dreamy coconut custard and billowy whipped cream. Heaven!!
Make the pie, my friends. I promise you won’t regret it. Then cross your fingers and hope for leftovers!!
Toasted Coconut Cream Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust
Makes 8-10 servings
Prep Time for Crust: 15 minutes; Prep Time for filling: About 30 minutes, plus at least 4 hours chilling time plus time to make whipped cream and assemble.
Ingredients
For the crust
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ cups finely ground chocolate wafers (about 6 ½ ounces, I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers and whizzed them in the food processor)
For the filling
1 ½ cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons sweetened, shredded coconut, toasted and divided
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
For the whipped cream topping
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
The Recipe
1. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter and cookie crumbs. Press the mixture across the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
2. To make the filling: combine the milk and heavy cream in a medium heavyweight saucepan. Scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean and add the pod in as well. Heat the mixture over medium heat just to a simmer. Then remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and stir in 1 ½ cups of the toasted coconut, reserving the 2 tablespoons for garnish. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer and remove from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl to blend. Slowly whisk in the hot coconut mixture. Scrape the whole thing back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a heatproof spoon or rubber spatula. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir for about 30 seconds, until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the 4 tablespoons of butter until melted. Let the filling cool to lukewarm, stirring every so often to help it along. Then scrape into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24.
4. To make the whipped cream: In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip the heavy cream with the sugar until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pie with the cream and decorate the top with the reserved toasted coconut. Cut into wedges and serve.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine. I left out the coconut rum.
