Follow our complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to learn how to make this easy Coconut Pie. It’s an old fashioned, Southern favorite. Printable recipe included.
Old Fashioned Coconut Pie Recipe. Made with sweetened coconut flakes.
Mama made a lot of Coconut Pies for us when I was growing up. They showed up on the table for dessert very often and all the family loved them. She put a lot of love in all of her cooking, and sometimes a lot of work as well.
When I posted the recipe for Mama’s Coconut Cake here on Taste of Southern, I made it just like she did. I cracked a fresh coconut and grated the meat to make it. It takes a bit of effort to crack and grate a coconut, but that’s the way she did it most of her years. Then, like everyone else, she started using the sweetened coconut flakes from a can.
Her cakes and pies were still good, and she continued to make a lot of them for as long as she could. Gotta love a Mom like that. Right?
This particular pie is like Mama made during her later years. She still enjoyed making homemade pie crusts. You’ll find my recipe for those here: Basic Pie Crust Recipe – You can easily use a ready-made crust if you prefer.
Coconut Pies have a way of showing up at most any family get together, church social, or other events. This one is really quick and easy to put together. The hard part is letting it cool and continue to firm up once it comes out of the oven. I do hope you’ll decide to try it.
Ready to do just that? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!
Coconut Pie Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients. You’ll also need a pie crust. Make your own with our Basic Pie Crust recipe, or use a ready-made crust.
Place the milk in a large mixing bowl.
Add the sugar.
Add the sweetened coconut.
NOTE: I’m using sweetened coconut flakes in this recipe. Sometimes you’ll find some rather long flakes of coconut once the pie has been cooked. If that bothers you, run the coconut through a food processor to chop it up more. Just a thought. Smile.
Break the eggs into a smaller cup, then whisk them a bit with a fork. Add them to the mixture.
Add the flour.
Add the melted butter. If it’s still hot, don’t pour it directly on top of the eggs. It might start cooking them.
Add the vanilla flavoring.
Stir everything together until fully combined.
I must apologize, but I totally failed to take a photo of this once I had stirred it up. I just used a large spoon and stirred it until it was well mixed and fairly smooth.
Prepare your pie crust as needed. You can use a ready made crust, or make your own.
I like to sprinkle the inside bottom with a bit of sugar and flour before adding a really moist filling like this one. And, don’t “dock” the crust. Some recipes call for poking a fork around to create some vent holes in the crust bottom. You’ll not need to do that with this pie.
Add the filling to the crust.
Place the pie in a oven pre-heated to 350°F. Let the pie bake for 50-60 minutes, or until done. The pie is done when a knife or toothpick inserted in the center pulls out clean. It will probably still jiggle a bit in the center.
I placed a pie crust shield on mine to protect the edges of the crust while baking. It will bake for a long time, so without some type of protection, the crust edges will probably burn. You could just make some strips from aluminum foil to protect the edges. Remove them during the last five minutes of the baking time so the edge can brown slightly.
When it’s done, remove the pie from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. The pie should cool at least one or two hours before serving. If you’ll notice, there is a light yellow ring around the outer edge of the pie filling. This is where my pie shield was covering some of the filling along with the edges of the pie. But, the pie crust isn’t burned. That’s a good thing. Smile.
Enjoy!
