Dorie's Rich and Easy Coconut Cream Pie

Dorie's Rich & Easy Coconut Cream Pie  

 Brrrr...It's cold outside. A chilly 20 degrees. 

So what do you do when it's that cold out? 

You dream of a tropical vacation

...an island in the Caribbean, the South Pacific, 

the Bahamas, or even the Florida Keys.

 Somewhere that has sunny beaches, fruity drinks, 

and... coconuts!

 Since we are not on one of those islands

 we have to improvise.

 Let's make a Coconut Cream Pie!

Dorie, a very, very, good friend, 

shared her recipe with us in 2011 

and it has been our go-to 

coconut cream pie recipe ever since. 

She IS the pie queen.

 This past Thanksgiving she made TEN different kinds of pies. Yes, 10!

 Count them: 1. Rich & Easy Coconut Cream pie, 2. Chocolate Chip pie, 3. Grasshopper pie, 4. our Pecan pie, 5. Pumpkin pie, 6. Banana Cream pie, 7. Lemon Meringue pie, 8. Apple pie, 9. Peanut Butter pie, and 10. S'Mores pie. 

Yep that's 10.

 Like we said PIE QUEEN.

What makes this recipe so quick and easy 

is that this topping isn't your usual meringue top. 

It is a whipped topping. 

You could make your own whipped cream, 

but we like to use Cool Whip...so much easier. 

 These simple ingredients make a rich and easy pie.

This time, instead of making our own pie crust, we used Pillsbury frozen pie crust 

and found that you can actually get 

two pies out of this recipe. 

Normally we use a bigger pie plate

 with our homemade crust and mound it up up up.

It worked out great to have two this time. 

 One for us (going to share with my dad 

since he LOVES this pie)

 and one for Dakota to take

 to work tomorrow for "food day."

Make sure you watch the coconut closely when toasting it.

While your pie crust is cooling, mix up the filling. 

Once it is cool, pour the filling into the pie crust,

top with the Cool Whip,

 and sprinkle with the remaining coconut

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving to let it set.

Dorie's Rich & Easy Coconut Cream Pie

Print recipe

2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut

3 (3.4oz each) pkgs instant coconut pudding

2 envelopes (1.3 oz each) whipped topping mix

4 cups 1/2 & 1/2 cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 single pie crust, baked and cooled.

1- 8 oz container Cool Whip

Lightly toast 1 cup coconut; cool.

Combine pudding mix, whipped topping mix, and half & half cream; mix at medium speed until thick and fluffy.  Stir in vanilla, 1 cup remaining coconut, and 1/2 cup toasted coconut. Spoon into baked pie crust. Top with Cool Whip and sprinkle with remaining toasted coconut. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!