Miraculous Coconut Meringue Pie

It is because of this pie that my father in law says he finally married my mother in law. My sister in law claims that it is because of this pie that she and her hubby were able to conceive. And everyone on my in laws side goes crazy for this pie. Its like the holy grail of pies.  Now its miraculous powers aside, it does taste pretty amazing too!

I would have taken a picture of the ingredients for you but, really it's mostly a lot of milk, flour, sugar, eggs, nothing too out of the ordinary.

Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
( This makes a double crust recipe which you will only need half, but I will show a sweet treat you can make with the left overs)

Coconut Pudding
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 slightly beaten egg yolks in a small mixing bowl
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut

Meringue
3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
6 tablespoons sugar

You are going to make the crust first and pre-cook it before you fill it and bake the pie.

• Using a pastry cutter: mix flour, shortening, and salt.
• Add milk and form into dough
• Roll out into a pie shape big enough to fit a 9" pie plate
• Place in your pie plate and take a fork and poke hole in the bottom and around the sides(this prevents shrinking)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown

As you can see my crust did shrink after baking but well that's what happens when you are trying to document every step and take pictures for an instructable.

• In a sauce pan: combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until it's bubbly. Continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes. Then remove from heat.
• Stir a small amount of mixture into the the yolks. Add that back to the remaining mixture and return to the heat stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add butter, vanilla, and coconut. Stir well and set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl:combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tarter. Beat until stiff peaks form. Now gradually add sugar.
• Pour the pudding mixture into the pie shell.
• Spread meringue over the top ( make sure you spread the meringue all the way to the edge of the pie shell as this keeps it from running over the sides)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the meringue has a golden brown look. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
• After all of this if you have any ambition left, you can take the rest of that pie crust you have left over and roll it out and use some cookie cutters and cut out some shapes. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350 until golden brown. You now have some yummy cookies to keep everyone satisfied until your pie cools down.

I hope you enjoy this family favorite, we certainly do!