Easy No-Bake Coconut Cream Pie: Keep Your Kitchen Cool

When it’s too hot to bake this no-bake coconut cream pie will brighten your Summer days. Filled with homemade not too sweet toasted coconut custard and topped with fluffy whipped cream, this no bake pie is the kind of light comfort dessert Summer screams for.

Taste	Texture
Coconut!	Airy, creamy

Active time	Total time	Yield	Difficulty
15 minutes	15 minutes plus chilling	8 large slices	Easy

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Coconut cream pie has always held a soft place in my heart. It was one of the first things that I ever learned how to make. My Gram perched me on a stool next to her stove, teaching me to patiently tend the custard filling because her old pots so easily scorched. Who knew that she was giving me a foundation that helped me understand so many things about baking at age 7ish? If you ask me what my favorite cream pie is, it’s a Sophie’s choice decision between coconut and Chocolate Pie.

Why You Should Make Coconut Cream Pie

1. No-Bake: Cream pies are the superhero of Summer because they only require a little bit of stirring over a stove to make. Keep your kitchen cooler by not turning on the oven!
2. For Coconut Fans: If you love coconut, this pie is for you. It’s a subtle flavor with the extra texture and crunch of toasted coconut. There is no fakey fake coconut extract to muddy the flavor; it’s just rich coconut vanilla custard topped with whipped cream. Sometimes simple is the best.
3. A great teaching recipe: Learning how to make the custard filling is so helpful to young bakers. It helps you learn to manage heat, pay attention to different stages of cooking, and it gives you a foundation of skills that help making homemade caramel sauce, vanilla pastry cream, chocolate pastry cream, or really any homemade jam. My Gram knew what she was about!
4. A Great Recipe for Leftover Coconut: Coconut is one of those ingredients I have a tough time using up. To my shame I find half-used bags far too often in my pantry. This is a recipe that works perfectly fine no matter what kind of coconut you have on hand. Want to mix sweetened coconut shreds with unsweetened flakes? You can do that!

How to Make Coconut Cream Pie

1. Make the Crust: Follow the directions for a Graham Cracker Crust. There’s no need to bake the crust here, though you can bake it if you want more toasty flavor. Really pack the crumbs into the pan with a measuring cup for the best results.
2. Toast the Coconut: Place the coconut in a skillet and stir it for a few minutes over medium low heat just until the edges of the coconut start to brown. Be careful here as coconut can go from white to burnt in a short period of time.
3. Temper the Egg Yolks: Warm the coconut milk in a heavy bottomed pot over medium low heat. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, starch, and salt together in a small bowl. Add the egg yolks in and whisk to combine everything. When you see bubbles around the edge of the pot, turn off the heat. Dribble a tiny amount of coconut milk into the egg mixture and whisk to incorporate it. Keep whisking as you continue to dribble in a little bit of hot milk at a time. This is called tempering the eggs.
4. Thicken the Custard: Once you’ve mixed in all of the milk into the bowl, pour the contents back into the pot. Turn the heat back on to medium and whisk continuously until the custard just barely starts to thicken. Stop whisking long enough to notice the top of the liquid. Once there are big bubbles that expand and pop, time 1 minute. In that minute, the pudding should thicken considerably. You want it to be thick enough that it will sit on a spoon and not just pour right off it.
5. Finish the Custard: Once the custard has thickened well, take it immediately off the heat and add the butter and vanilla.  Stir the coconut into the pudding, saving a little coconut for the top of the pie. Pour the filling into the pie crust. 
6. Chill the Coconut Cream: Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream. This will prevent a gross skin from forming on the top. Chill the pie in the fridge for a couple hours just to cool down the pudding.
7. Finish the pie: Just before serving, microwave the jumbo marshmallow in a small dish just until it inflates –about 15-20 seconds. Pour the heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and the marshmallow in a stand mixer or a bowl for a hand mixer. Whip the cream until it holds its shape easily. Take the plastic wrap off the pudding and top the pie with the whipped cream.  The cream is stable enough that you can pipe it into decorative swirls if you’d like.

Variations for Coconut Cream Pie

1. Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie: Add in a layer of Hot Fudge Sauce under the coconut cream filling.
2. Coconut Cream Pie with Meringue Topping: Swap the whipped cream topping for meringue. Use the meringue topping recipe from Lemon Meringue Bars.
3. Raspberry Coconut Cream Pie: Add in a layer of Raspberry Jam under the coconut cream filling.

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