Banana And/Or Coconut Cream Pie from Scratch

2Bleu's Note:

Cool whip and pudding mix are great for a speedy dessert, but when you want truly homemade, this is a great recipe! Be sure and use a deep dish pie pan. You can make a combo banana/coconut pie, or... If making just a coconut cream pie, omit the bananas, and substitute the banana extract for coconut extract. If making just a banana cream pie, just omit the coconut.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 1.0 pie

Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, well chilled and cut into small cubes
• 2 tablespoons Butter Flavor Crisco, chilled well and cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups 2% low-fat milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon banana extract or 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 3 bananas

Cream topping

• 2 cups heavy cream, cold
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon banana extract or 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 3 drops yellow food coloring

Other Ingredients

• 1/3 cup toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. PIE CRUST: Place flours, sugar, and salt in a bowl, cover and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes to get good and cold.
2. Add dry mix to a food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Pulse in the butter and shortening just until coarse crumbs form, about 10 seconds. Add water and lemon juice and pulse just until moist crumbs form, about 10 seconds.
3. Turn the dough onto a work surface and gently shape it into a disk about 5" in diameter. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day (or you can freeze them for up to 2 months).
4. Preheat oven to 400°F Roll out dough and place over a deep dish pie pan, crimping the edges. Prick with fork all over and bake for 12 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
5. FILLING: In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, salt, and milk. Using a whisk, mix well, stirring constantly over medium/med-high heat until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Continue whisking while boiling for 1 minute then remove from the heat (but keep burner on).
6. To the egg yolks, stir in about 1/4 cup of cream to temp the yolks. Slowly whisk the yolk mixture back into the saucepan and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly.
7. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, extracts, and optional coconut, mixing well. Allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
8. Place the bananas (if using) into the pie crust in a single layer, cutting in half to fit as needed, leaving a little space between. Pour filling over bananas into cooled crust and refrigerate.
9. CREAM TOPPING: Using an electric mixer and the whip attachment, whip cream to soft peaks. Add remaining ingredients and whip to firm peaks (moving the whisk around while whipping). Spread over filling, piling high. Sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired.
10. Refrigerate pie for at least 2 hrs before serving.

Reviews

[artpulse]

Didn't yield enough dough. Pie never firmed up.

[kittycatmom]

2Bleu, this recipe is a *TRUE BLUE RIBBON* winner! I am usally a grab a Pillsbury ready made crust gal, but decided to follow the instructions exactly and made everything from scratch. I was not disappointed! The filling is absolutely perfect! I made one banana and one coconut. Both were *OUTSTANDING*!!!! The directions are spot on perfect, easy to follow! To anyone in Zaar land, if you're like me and scared to death of making your own crust, this is the pie for you! You won't be disappointed! Don't change a thing! Make exactly as written! You will be happy you did! I did add fresh bananas on the banana pie and toasted coconut on the other. So beautiful! (PRMR Tag)

[Lainey6605]

This is a great and flavorful pie! I made the coconut-only option because that is my favorite. I added about 1 cup of coconut to the filling because I love a lot of coconut flavor. I did *try* to make the whipped cream topping, but something went wrong for me. The first time I whipped it, I did get soft peaks. However, after I added the extracts and sugar, the peaks collapsed it seems. I tried to salvage it, but I couldn't and I was out of heavy cream. So....I topped the pie with flaked coconut. I will try it again with the whipped cream - sometimes the temperature outside seems to thwart my efforts. But this is delicious regardless and the filling is what really matters! I can't wait to try the banana cream version. Thanks for sharing.