A creamy, dreamy, classic – Coconut Cream Pie, made from scratch & allergy-friendly.
Coconut Cream Pie
A buttery graham cracker crust, filled with rich & creamy coconut cream & layered with LOTS of whipped cream and topped with toasted coconut. Now, who wouldn’t love that? At first, it may look like a lot of work is involved, but trust me, the effort pays off when everyone takes their first bite.
They begin with, “Oh my gosh, this is coconut cream pie is amazing.” And then they ask, “Did you make this? Is this Vegan? Can I have your recipe?”
I love it when that happens!
The most difficult part of this entire recipe is getting the meat out of the young Thai coconut. I battled mine for a while last night when I was remaking this recipe and although I thought I may lose, I finally won! Using a real coconut, you WILL make a mess, you WILL use lots of arm muscles but you WILL be proud of yourself when it’s all over. If you can’t find any or if you aren’t certain about trying this, you can also use pre-sliced coconut meat usually found in the frozen fruit section.
Simply by blending the coconut meat along with a few other ingredients, you’ll get this creamy filling. Don’t worry if it it looks a little funky….the coconut oil mixed with the lime juice will do that. As long as its nice and smooth, then you’ve done it right.
BUT, before you add your creamy filling, the secret ingredient in this dessert is a layer of sliced bananas. Not only does it add another level of flavor, but it also adds some extra sweetness so you don’t have to add lots of sugar to sweeten this up. DON’T skip this step.
Coconut Cream Pie recipe
Coconut Cream Pie {vegan, nut-free}
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 3hrs
- Yield: 1- 12" pie 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
Creamy, dreamy, classic Coconut Cream Pie made from fresh coconut, crunchy allergy-free cookies & topped with dairy-free whip! A Summer’s delight.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/2 C. graham crackers- crushed (Kinnikinnick is GF & Vegan)
- 3 TB pure cane sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 C. earth balance coconut spread, melted
Filling:
- 2 C. young coconut meat (1 Thai Coconut)
- 2–4 TB agave – to taste Juice from 1 Lime
- 2 TB pure vanilla extract (affiliate link)
- 1/2 C. virgin coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 C. coconut milk (from a carton) coconut water- if needed to thin 2 bananas, sliced
Optional Topping:
- 1 C. shredded coconut
- Whipped Topping (Coco Whip, MimiCreme or Whipped Coconut)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix together the crumbs, sugar, salt and melted coconut spread. Spread into a pie plate and press down to make crust, going a little up the sides.
- Bake 15 minutes. Take out and let cool.
- Blend pie ingredients (EXCEPT bananas) together in a blender or processor until smooth. Add a little coconut water if it it not swirling well.
- Place sliced bananas on top of crust. Pour filling on top of bananas. Cover with saran wrap and place in fridge at least 3 hours to set (I let mine sit overnight).
- Before you serve, place shredded coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet (affiliate link) and bake on 350, approx 10 minutes, to lightly brown. Just watch it so it does not burn.
- Take out the MimiCreme and follow instructions. (Its really just using your blender and beating it until whipped and fluffy.)
- Take pie out of fridge, Top with the whipped MimiCreme, then cover with toasted coconut!
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: top 8 free
Keywords: coconut cream, pie, vegan pie, homemade, dessert, nut-free
Chrystal @ Gluten-Free Palate says
May 31, 2017 at 3:31 pmSuch a yummy pie! I love how easy it is to make.
Alisa Fleming says
May 31, 2017 at 9:54 pmI actually just fell in love with coconut cream pie! I make it like yours, with lots of real coconut, not just pudding like so many recipes. I love that you use “young coconut meat”, too – I’ve never worked with that!
nicoleanndawson says
June 1, 2017 at 3:50 pmReal coconut is so much better than the pudding for sure. The hardest part was breaking through the coconut shell 🙂 , that was a site to be seen.
Kortney says
June 1, 2017 at 3:19 amI’m allergic to bananas. Do you think it is ok to make without or do you suggest adding another fruit for sweetness?
nicoleanndawson says
June 1, 2017 at 3:47 pmYou can totally omit the bananas if you are allergic. The whip makes it a little sweeter anyways so you’d be fine.
Michelle Palin says
June 1, 2017 at 9:52 amI’ve never seen a coconut cream pie made with fresh coconut meat! Genius! I bet the flavor is so much better!
nicoleanndawson says
June 1, 2017 at 1:41 pmYou’re right, the real coconut does bring out an awesome flavor. It was so much more fun to use.
Megan Ancheta says
June 1, 2017 at 11:20 amThis looks so decadent and delicious! A perfect treat for a hot summer’s day. I can’t wait to try the recipe!
★★★★★
nicoleanndawson says
June 1, 2017 at 1:37 pmI hope you do Megan. It’s decadent without being heavy.
nicoleanndawson says
June 1, 2017 at 1:39 pmI hope you do! It’s decadent without being heavy.
Sharon says
June 2, 2017 at 10:26 amCoconut Cream Pie has always been one of my favorites – this one looks great!
nicoleanndawson says
June 4, 2017 at 6:26 pmThanks Sharon! I’m so glad that I can still have it, just by changing some ingredients and making at home. So worth it.
Jessica says
August 16, 2018 at 8:50 pmHoney isn’t vegan. It’s in your crust
Nicole Dawson says
August 16, 2018 at 9:07 pmThanks Jessica for pointing that out. I edited the recipe once we went vegan and forgot to make that change on the recipe itself.