Coconut Pie

Different from my Coconut Cream Tarlets, this baked pie has a more traditional pie crust and a gooey center, simply topped with toasted coconut. I tried to get as much coconut flavor as possible into each bite and I think I nailed it on the head.

Rich and gooey coconut cream filling baked in a flaky, sweet crust, simply garnished with toasted coconut.

Coconut Pie
makes 1-8" pie or 3-3" mini pies

Crust
1 cup plus 1 tbl ap flour, plus more for rolling
2 tbl organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup chilled vegetable shortening, cubed
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/4 +/- cup cold water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the shortening and extract and cut until the shortening is in small crumbs. Slowly add in 1 tbl of water at a time until the dough comes together. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Flour your counter surface and turn the dough out. Roll out thinly to 1/8-1/4" thick and place in your pie shell making sure at least 1/2" of excess dough hangs off the sides. Fold the excess dough under to create a thick outer edge. Crimp and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Pour the cream filling in the pie shell and bake for 40-50 minutes until the outer edge is firm and the filling looks puffed up. The center will still be a bit jiggly but will firm up when it's chilled. Chill for at least an hour and top with toasted coconut shreds.

Coconut Pie Filling
6 oz firm silken tofu
1 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbl ap flour
1 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut shreds, divided

Combine the tofu, sugar, coconut milk and extracts in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the flour and coconut oil and pulse one minute until creamy. By hand, stir in 1 1/2 cup coconut shreds. Let the filling sit and firm up slightly at room temperature while you prepare/chill the dough. Toast the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut and garnish on top when ready to serve.

Coconut Cream Tartlets

Coconut cream pie was my favorite flavor of pie before I was vegan. So you would think that I would have make a vegan version at one point, but I never did! It's been 11 years and I haven't had one bite. This borderline blasphemous reality check made me run right to the store for ingredients.

Creamy coconut cream filling folded with loads of shredded coconut over a vanilla cookie crust and topped with dollops of coconut whipped cream.

Coconut Cream Tartlets
Crust:
14 vanilla sandwich cookies
2 tbl maple sugar crystals or maple syrup
2 tbl soy free earth balance vegan butter, melted

Filling:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1-13.5oz can coconut milk, divided
3 tbl cornstarch
4 oz silken firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 1/2 cup raw unweetened shredded coconut
1 tbl soy free earth balance vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1-15oz can coconut cream, chilled
2 cups organic powdered sugar
1/2 tsp maple extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbl toasted unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 325.
Grind the cookies and sugar crystals(if using) in a food processor, add the butter and stir to combine. If using maple syrup, grind the cookies into a fine powder first, then add the maple syrup and melted butter.
Press into 4 greased mini pie pans or a 9" spring form pan. Bake for 8 minutes until toasted and let cool.

To prepare the filling:
Add the maple syrup to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup coconut milk and bring back to a boil.
Combine the remaining coconut milk, cornstarch and tofu in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Add the slurry to the coconut milk/maple syrup mixture and boil for 2-3 minutes, whisking until thick and smooth. Remove from heat and add the coconut, butter and vanilla. Pour into the cooled tart shells and chill for at least 2 hours up to overnight.

Whip the cold coconut cream, powdered sugar, maple extract and vanilla for 5 minutes until thick. Top over the chilled pie filling and garnish with toasted coconut flakes.