Mini Coconut Cream Pies

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 4 (5 inch) nonstick pie tins
• 1 package Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Meringue:
• 5 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 450. Gently unroll your softened pie crusts on a lightly floured surface and cut to fit your pie tins. Pat the dough into the tins, crimp the edges, and poke all over with a fork. Place pie tins on a baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

While the crusts are cooling, melt the chocolate chips in your microwave, stirring every 15 seconds. Once they are completely melted, brush your pie crusts with the melted chocolate and place in the freezer to set. The chocolate not only helps prevent soggy crust-- it's also a yummy surprise!

Whisk the egg yolks and cream in a medium bowl. Combine the sugar and flour in a large saucepan. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan, whisking over medium heat until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly about 10 minutes, until it thickens.

Stir in the butter, coconut, and vanilla. Remove from heat.

Set a large, clean metal mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Pour in the egg whites and the sugar. Heat the egg whites and sugar while whisking constantly until the sugar melts and there are no visible grains in the meringue. Remove the metal bowl from over the simmering water and whip it with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on low speed for 5 minutes. Increase the speed to high and beat 5 minutes longer, until meringue is stiff and shiny.


Remove pie tins from the freezer and remove the crusts from the tins. Fill each pie crust about 3/4 full with coconut filling. Pile on meringue and style it with your fingers or the back of a spoon, plucking and teasing it into spikes. Sprinkle with coconut and lightly brown with a kitchen torch.

The torch I use is nothing fancy, it's just a little one my husband picked up for me at Lowes. It's not even a kitchen torch, but it works just fine. Another option is just to brown your meringue under your broiler. Just broil your pies for about a minute and keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't burn