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This pie recipe takes banana cream pies and coconut cream pies and combines them to make this amazing Banana Coconut Cream Pie. For when you are feeling indecisive–make both!
Easy Coconut Banana Cream Pie
For starters, I used my amazing all butter pie crust as a base for this recipe. I then added the amazing pudding filling and a whipped topping, which is all homemade! No boxes or mixes! This easy pie uses real bananas and real coconut to get authentic flavors all around. All of these flavors pair so nicely together and will have you wanting more!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It is easy to make while being all completely homemade!
- Who doesn’t love a pudding pie? And this is the best of both worlds: combines coconut cream pie with banana cream pie!
Ingredients Needed
- All Butter Pie Crust: Store-bought or homemade! You are going to want to blind bake this crust. It is important to make sure the crust is cold when it goes into the oven.
- Cornstarch: This helps thicken the pudding.
- Whole Milk: You can use any fat content (whole, 2%, or skim) but whole is going to produce a richer, more indulgent pudding.
- Eggs: These will be lightly beaten. Eggs add body and richness to homemade pudding.
- Coconut Extract: Adds that amazing coconut flavor!
- Shredded Sweetened Coconut: This adds coconut flavor in the pudding, as well as for the topping.
- Bananas: Use ripe bananas that aren’t green but aren’t spotty. You don’t want them too over ripe or they’ll be mushy.
How to make Coconut Banana Cream Pie
- Place the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and milk in a medium saucepan.
- Cook over medium-high heat, whisking/stirring almost constantly, until thick and bubbly.
- Stir a small amount of hot milk mixture into the lightly beaten eggs. Make sure you’re whisking the entire time so you don’t scramble the eggs. Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the pan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes more.
- Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons coconut extract. Strain the pudding into a medium bowl to make sure no egg bits remain.
- Stir in 2 cups coconut. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
- To assemble the pie: place a thin layer of pudding on the bottom of the crust. Place sliced bananas in a single layer and then top with remaining pudding.
- Toast coconut in a heavy bottomed skilled over medium-low heat. Top pie with whipped cream and toasted coconut.
Expert Tips
- The crust needs to be cold when it goes into the oven. When it gets to warm it can slide down the pan and end up flat.
- Don’t leave pudding alone on the stove. Stir constantly until it thickens.
- I always strain my pudding with eggs because I want to remove any bits of egg that cooked and didn’t absorb into the pudding.
- Toast your own coconut! It can burn easily so check out the link on how to do it well!
- Use an 9-inch pie plate for this recipe, not a deep dish.
- Make sure the bananas are totally covered with pudding to keep them from browning.
FAQs
I don’t recommend freezing pudding pie.
The pie will last about 2 days before the whipped cream weeps and the bananas get too brown.
Coconut Banana Cream Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 all butter pie crust from a pack of two or a homemade crust
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (32g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (711ml) whole milk
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 teaspoons coconut extract divided
- 3 cups shredded sweetened coconut divided
- 2 medium bananas sliced
- 1 ½ cups (355g) cold heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons (21g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Bake crust according to package or recipe directions for one crust pudding pie. Let cool.
- Place the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking/stirring almost constantly, until thick and bubbly (about 7-8 minutes), then reduce the heat to low and cook 2 minutes more.
- Stir a small amount of hot milk mixture into the lightly beaten eggs. Make sure you’re whisking the entire time so you don’t scramble the eggs. Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the pan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes more. It will boil very quickly after you add it back to the pan.
- Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons coconut extract. Strain the pudding into a medium bowl to make sure no egg bits remain.
- Stir in 2 cups coconut. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
- To assemble the pie: place a thin layer of pudding on the bottom of the crust. Place sliced bananas in a single layer and then top with remaining pudding. Cover pie and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Toast the remaining one cup of coconut in a heavy bottomed skilled over medium-low heat. Stir continuously until the coconut browns. Remove from heat immediately. Coconut toasts fast and burns fast, don’t stop watching it while you’re cooking!
- Before serving, make the whipped cream. Beat the heavy whipping cream on high speed, adding 1 teaspoon of coconut extract and powdered sugar slowly during mixing. Beat until stiff peaks form. Top pie with whipped cream and toasted coconut. Serve within 2 days.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- The crust needs to be cold when it goes into the oven. When it gets to warm it can slide down the pan and end up flat.
- Don’t leave pudding alone on the stove. Stir constantly until it thickens.
- I always strain my pudding with eggs because I want to remove any bits of egg that cooked and didn’t absorb into the pudding.
- Toast your own coconut! It can burn easily so check out the link on how to do it well!
- Use an 9-inch pie plate for this recipe, not a deep dish.
- Make sure the bananas are totally covered with pudding to keep them from browning.
Haven’t ate this pie yet if it’s as good as it looks then it will be delicious! Thank you for this awesome Coconut banana cream pie! 😃
I just made this for Thanksgiving as I am a guest. It came out amazing! Its firm and delicious. I followed the exact directions. I printed it out and put in my files as a keeper.
HOW can a man NOT like pudding? HOW can ANYONE not like pudding? Did he grow up on instant cold, nasty, gritty pudding from a box? Sure, I can see perhaps the cold instant Jell-O pudding. That can be pretty nasty at times. I only keep it in the house because at times cake recipes call for it. If I’m feeling VERY lazy, which I often am at 10 pm on a cold winter evening I will quickly grab a box of COOK and serve pudding but I wouldn’t eat that cold instant stuff for anything. I grew up on homemade pudding, which by the way they called “cornstarch”. I guess because that’s the major ingredient in it other than the milk. Your husband is a RARE breed to be sure if he turns down ALL those desserts and treats. What happened to him during his childhood to traumatize him in such a drastic manner? Now I’m not a big chocolate lover, not like many people but that doesn’t mean I dislike all desserts. I’d rather have vanilla or lemon.
This recipe sounds amazing. I don’t like bananas so i plan to make it without them (or possibly only put them on half the pie since my husband likes bananas). Is there anything I could sub for the bananas? I was thinking pineapple, to give it a pina colada twist, but I’m not sure if the pineapple would work as well since it is not a soft, creamy fruit like bananas. I think I’ll use real vanilla bean (scraped) in place of the extract, because I love, love, love vanilla and I have some on hand that need to be used before they dry out.
You can definitely leave out the bananas. If you use pineapple just make sure it’s really drained well and blotted dry. Let me know how it works!
Could you possibly substitute coconut milk beverage for the whole milk?
I’m not sure if coconut milk will work to thicken, but you can try it and add more cornstarch if needed!
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