Coconut Cream Pie

I was recently talking to someone else originally from Spokane and we were reminiscing about the deliciousness of Cyrus O'leary's cream pies! YUM! Sadly they are locally owned in WA and don't distribute all the way down to the great Southwest. But the more I thought about Cyrus O'leary's and their delicious pies...I got thinking...maybe I could try and make one! My favorites are banana cream and coconut cream so I decided to give the coconut a whirl for Thanksgiving. I found this particular recipe on Allrecipes.com which is a great recipe finder website. I made a few changes to it (like it called for cool whip but I made my own whipped cream...etc) The whole pie was pretty easy to make, it looked great, and it tasted good...not O'leary good...but delicious all the same!

Coconut Cream Pie
3 cups half and half
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut (toasted)*
1 tsp. vanilla
1 9 in. pie shell, baked
2 cups whipped cream (I beat 2 cups whipping cream until fluffy and add sugar until it is the desired sweetness...which for this pie was SWEET!)


In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm. Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut. I put the whipped cream in a decorating bag with a large star decorating tip and topped the pie that way...just like my good friend Cyrus would do! Note: To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Don't be like me and try and buy it pre-toasted! :-)

* So I put a star by the coconut up top because flaked coconut is one of the things I choose to be a brand snob about! Especially in recipes where I'm going to be baking with the coconut I think it's important! I think that Baker's makes the best sweetened coconut. It is super moist (way more than the cheaper brands) and really made a huge difference in the way the pie and pudding held together! Anyway, that's just my opinion...sometimes you have to splurge!