Coconut Cream Pie

By chelyc13

Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen

Ingredients

• FOR CRUST:
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut in pieces, cold
• 3 to 5 tablespoons cream of coconut, cold, as needed
• FOR FILLING:
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 (5.1oz) box French Vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 (15oz) can cream of coconut
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

Preparation

Step 1

Make the crust:

Pulse the sweetened shredded coconut in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the flour and salt and pulse again to mix. Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the butter pieces are pea-sized. One tablespoon at a time, pulse in the coconut cream as needed, until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375.

Roll the dough on a floured work surface until it is 1 inch larger than your pie pan. Gently press it into a 9 inch pie pan and crimp the edges with a form or a pastry crimper. Set a large piece of foil over the pie pan and gently press it into the crust. Fill the crust with ceramic pie weights or dried beans and bake the crust for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weight and bake until the bottom is cooked through, an additional 10 minutes. Let cool completely before filling.

Meanwhile, reduce the oven temperature to 350.

Start the filling:

Spread the unsweetened shredded coconut onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring once, until just golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Combine the pudding mix, cream of coconut, and milk in a large glass jar or bowl. Cover the jar tightly and shake for 1 to 2 minutes , or mix with a whisk until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and sugar until fluffy, then cover and refrigerate.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat the pudding mixture into the cream cheese, scraping the bowl regularly to eliminate clumps. Fold in half of the whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Carefully mix until smooth and then scoop into the cooled crust. Top with the remaining whipped cream and sprinkle generously with the toasted coconut. Refrigerate overnight before serving.