Traditional Coconut Custard Pie

Friends, I am really excited to bring you this coconut custard pie recipe. It’s about as old-school as old-school pie recipes get.

Simple ingredients bake up into a wonderfully custardy and delicious pie with just a hint of lemon. And here’s a secret: this is really an egg custard pie that happens to have coconut in it, so if you leave out the coconut, you’ll have a whole new pie! If you like this traditional pie, you may also enjoy my chocolate chess pie and my sugar cream pie recipes.

Here are all of my old fashioned pie recipes. For ease of browsing, here are all of my pie and tart recipes. Let’s get to it, shall we?

Coconut Custard Pie, At a Glance

✅Skill Level: Beginner
✅Skills: Whisking, Making Pie Crust (if you’d like), Baking
✅Type: Pie
✅Number of Ingredients: 7
✅Prep Time: 5 minutes, excluding making pie crust
✅Cook Time: 45 minutes
✅Yield: 8 serving
Related Reading: How to Make Pate Brisee
Jump Straight to the Recipe

What’s So Great About This Coconut Pie?

This recipe has definitely stood the test of time. By that, I mean it originally was published in a cookbook, The Epicurean, written in 1893. It doesn’t get much more traditional than that!

Other things to love:

• The ingredient list is short
• The mixing method is straightforward
• The hint of lemon brings a bit of zing to an otherwise mellow pie (and yes, you can use lime if you’d rather

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this pie. It’s a short list, I promise!

If you’re comfortable with making pie, please feel free to jump straight to the recipe.

• single pie crust: homemade or store-bought. No need to blind bake unless you are going to try the chocolate variation under “serving suggestions.”
• dried coconut: I prefer unsweetened to sweetened because you can more tightly control the amount of sugar in the pie. Look for “desiccated coconut.”
• eggs: Provides the setting power and makes this a custard pie. Use large eggs.
• sugar: Provides the sweetness and helps the custard set into a creamy rather than rubbery texture. Granulated works best here, but if you want a richer flavor, try light brown sugar. Just be aware the color of the finished pie will be darker
• lemon zest: Adds a bit of a floral, sweet, lemony lift to the filling. You can leave it out and add vanilla or coconut extract if you prefer
• whole milk: For a richer pie, substitute half and half or light cream. For deeper coconut flavor, use a can of full-fat coconut milk for part of the dairy.
• salt: Not in the original recipe, a touch of salt always snaps the flavors into focus

Jenni's Pick

Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut, 12 Ounces

$10.62

For adding a lot of coconut flavor without any additional sugar, I prefer desiccated coconut to sweetened "angel flake" coconut.

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04/01/2025 07:17 am GMT

Equipment You May Need

Coconut custard–or any other filling really–will continue to cook once you remove it from the oven, so use an instant-read thermometer to pull it from the oven when the center reads 160F or when there is about a silver dollar-sized bit in the center that is still a little jiggly.

Accurate and Affordable

Lavatools PT12 Javelin Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer

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04/01/2025 10:12 am GMT

Storing

Any egg-based pie should be fine for a week, but my Serve Safe rules say to ditch any egg-based foods after 3 days to be on the safe side.

Some of the liquid caught up in the denatured egg proteins can start to leak out after 2-3 days, so you may end up with a bit of watery syrup in your pie pan, and that will make your crust soggy.

So, for aesthetic reasons as well as food safety reasons, you really should plan on finishing the pie off in just a couple of days.

I’m not going to write the foundation paste recipe up, because there is just too much variability in flour and humidity and whatnot.

This is the custard of my school childhood that the cafeteria ladies used to make and sprinkle with a bit of nutmeg. Smooth, creamy, not-too-sweet, a bit eggy, and so very comforting.

Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

This pie, with its simple, pure flavor, would make an excellent ending to a Thanksgiving meal.

Serve it with some softly whipped cream.

For a bit of a chocolatey edge, consider blind-baking the crust, letting it cool, and then painting it with some melted dark chocolate. Once that sets up, fill the crust with your coconut and custard, and bake with a guard over the edge of the crust so it doesn’t over-brown.

Or, since coconut and chocolate go so well together, serve it with some hot fudge sauce, quick fudge sauce, or chocolate syrup.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

Best for Home Use

Escali Primo Digital Food Scale

$26.95

Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.

Purchase Now How & Why to Use a Kitchen Scale

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04/01/2025 08:47 am GMT

Love This Coconut Custard Pie? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!

It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.

You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.

Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.

Thank you so much for taking the time!

Traditional Coconut Custard Pie

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Jennifer Field

This traditional coconut custard pie is equal parts creamy, smooth custard and chewy coconut. So comforting and delicious, it will remind you of your grandma’s pie, if your grandma was a great baker and made coconut custard pie!

4.43 from 108 votes

Tried this recipe?Please give it a star rating!

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Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Pies and Tarts

Cuisine French

Servings 8 slices

Calories 289 kcal

Equipment

• Escali Primo Kitchen Scale
• 9″ Pie Pan
• Tapered Wooden Rolling Pin
• Pastry Mat

Ingredients

• 1 single crust pie crust store bought or homemade
• 4 oz desiccated unsweetened coconut
• 4 large eggs
• 4 oz granulated sugar a generous 1/2 cup
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 pint milk or half and half (2 cups)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste (I use Morton’s)

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 350F and place a rack in the center.
• Line a standard pie pan with the pastry dough and crimp edges forming a high border that rises over the rim of your pan.
• Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest until nice and creamy. Whisk in the milk or half and half and salt.
• Add the coconut and whisk until evenly combined.
• Strain the custard into the pie pan. The coconut will float. Use a spatula to press it down just enough to make sure it is all coated with the custard.
• Bake until set, fairly firm, and lightly golden brown on top, about 40-50 minutes. If baking in a glass pan, decrease the heat to 325F for the last 10-15 minutes of baking. Your pie may take a few extra minutes to bake and brown nicely.
• Let cool on a rack until barely warm before serving. Or cool completely and then chill before slicing and serving. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or so for best texture and flavor.

Did You Make Any Changes?

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Notes

Pie will keep in the fridge, covered, for 2-3 days.

Nutritional information is calculated based on using 2 cups of whole milk as the dairy. Feel free to sub in half and half for half or all the whole milk for a richer custard, realizing that the swap will have a change on the calories and calories from fat.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 289kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 6gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 147mgFiber: 2gSugar: 17g

Keyword coconut custard pie, coconut pie

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