Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie, Oh My!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large saucepan combine 2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Meanwhile combine remaining 1 cup of milk and cornstarch in a bowl. Mix together well and then add it to the hot milk mixture. Cook stirring occasionally until mixture thickens. Add coconut, butter and vanilla. Cook until the mixture thickens again. Pour into baked pie shell and top with meringue, swirling into soft peaks. Sprinkle additional coconut on top for garnish. Bake until meringue is light brown around the edges and the coconut is toasted and light brown in color.

Mile High Meringue

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cornstarch and cream of tarter at high speed with an electric mixer. Mix until soft peaks form. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Spoon meringue onto pie, swirling to make soft peaks. Brown meringue in oven. Watch carefully.

Meringue Powder can also be used in place of the mile high meringue recipe. Just follow the recipe on the container for meringue recipe for pies.

Note: I was a little hesitant about the recipe at first, because the pudding filling did not contain any eggs. Most homemade puddings have eggs, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. When I prepared the filling it set up perfectly and the taste was simply to die for. I was surprised since it did not contian eggs and then excited because it tasted so good. This coconut cream pie was a huge hit and turned out perfectly. If you have been looking for a great old fashioned coconut cream pie recipe I highly recommend this one.