THE BEST Coconut Cream Pie ever!!!

It's time for another recipe. Yesterday was pickle making day (more on that later) and today was pie day! Each August I do one fresh blueberry pie for hubby before the rest of the blueberries go into the freezer, so I figured if I was going to do one pie I may as well do two. I had promised a Coconut Cream Pie to a friend a while back and after tasting it tonight, they gave it the seal of approval.
So I thought I'd share the recipe with you as it is slightly different than the "usual" Coconut Cream Pie. Instead of pastry it is made with an oatmeal crust and the usual meringue is replaced with whipped cream. So if you don't feel like doing pastry or you can't get the hang of meringue, this is the pie for you! This recipe came from my Aunt Gwenn years ago.

Scotch Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:
1 cup regular rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
Mix together above ingredients until mixture becomes crumbly. Pack firmly into bottom and up sides of a lightly greased 9" pie plate. Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool.

Filling:
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut
Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk and eggs in a double boiler. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. (It thickens and goes lumpy very quickly if you don't stir constantly). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and coconut. Let cool, then pour into cooled crust. Refrigerate while you prepare the topping.

Topping:
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
coconut, toasted

Toast coconut under broiler, watching constantly (see tip below). Set aside to cool. Whip the cream, then stir in sugar and vanilla. Spread over cooled pie filling and top with toasted coconut. Refrigerate until serving time.

Now - a couple of tips for you. The first one relates directly to the pie above. When toasting coconut, watch it very carefully so it does not burn. Burned coconut smells exactly like skunk!! I learned this lesson the first time I made this pie many years ago... It's NOT a smell you want filling your house!!

The second tip is for making regular pie pastry. I always use a decent amount of flour on my counter where I roll out the pastry, to prevent it from sticking to the counter or the rolling pin. But you don't want that excess flour to stay on your pastry. So as I roll it up on the rolling pin, I brush off the excess flour with my mushroom brush! Then I just unroll the pastry onto the pieplate or onto the top of the pie. Works like a charm!

Peace,
Linda

Enjoy life - it has an expiration date!