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?
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Very easy to make. So good I’ve made it twice in the last week. I did add a bit of nutmeg.
Reader Linda
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
For adding a lot of coconut flavor without any additional sugar, I prefer desiccated coconut to sweetened "angel flake" coconut.
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.
This LavaTools instant-read is a great choice. It reaches temperature in a matter of seconds, is easy to read, and more important, it's accurate. An excellent thermometer for most home uses, from deep frying to candy making to checking doneness in meat, bread, and other baked goods.
Storing
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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.
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.
Love This Coconut Custard Pie? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Traditional Coconut Custard Pie
Video
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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?
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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So easy and so delicious! My favorite pie when young was egg custard with the nutmeg. This custard was delicious and had the bonus of coconut. I used lemon zest and the light lemon flavor was perfect. Perfect level of sweetness too.
Thanks!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it! So simple and so comforting.
Made as instructed, using 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup half & half. Added both lemon zest and vanilla extract, with big pinch of salt. Perfectly delicious results. Between two adults, this winning pie lasted a mere day and a half—so good. A keeper!
I have been meaning to remake this pie for new photographs. You have given me good incentive, Trish! So glad y’all love it!
Ready to make the pie and realized my coconut is sweetened! Any way to use this without issue?
Hey, Roseann. It should be fine. Start with maybe 1 T less sugar, taste, and then go from there. Enjoy!
Very easy to make. So good I’ve made it twice in the last week. I did add a bit of nutmeg.
I am so happy you enjoyed it. I approve of the addition of nutmeg, too. Kind of like an eggnog/coconut pie. 🙂
Interesting lack of baking powder, baking soda or flour? Will try your recipe!
I am not sure why any leavening would be needed in a custard pie, Goldie. But I hope you tried it and enjoyed it. Thanks!