Lawry’s Coconut Banana Pie

Heads up coconut lovers, this pie is amazing, totally decadent, and the coconut crust is absolutely awesome.  The crust takes it from ordinary to sublime.

COCONUT PIE SHELL

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, plus more for pie plate

3 cups sweetened flake coconut

Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate and set aside.

Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat and brown the coconut flakes, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. They should be golden brown. *Press the coconut evenly into the pan to form a shell. Chill the crust 30 minutes before filling.

PIE FILLING

4 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar, divided

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flour

3 cups half-and-half, divided

Yellow food coloring

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 bananas

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Combine the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch, salt and flour in a small bowl. Gradually add 1 cup of the half-and-half.

Combine the remaining 2 cups half-and-half and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a 3-quart saucepan and bring just to boil over medium heat. Add the egg mixture and cook and stir until the mixture returns to a boil and thickens, about 1 minute.

Remove from the heat. Stir in 2 drops of food coloring and the vanilla. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool.

Slice the bananas into the pie shell. Pour the filling into the shell.

Whip the cream with the powdered sugar until stiff. Spoon in dollops or pipe with a pastry bag around the edge of the pie. Chill 2 hours before slicing.

*I've received a few emails from people saying it was hard to cut through the crust, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps you are pressing the coconut into the pie pan, too firmly. (note from poster)

Caramel Banana Cream Pie

This pie is the best banana cream pie you will ever eat. It was a winner in the 1992 Pillsbury Bake-Off. I like to serve it with my Coconut Cashew Pie Crust (recipe is on blog), but any crust will work well.

1  9"  pie crust, baked and cooled

6  oz  cream cheese, softened

1/2  cup  butterscotch caramel fudge ice cream topping

3  cups  sliced bananas

2  (1.4-oz)  Heath candy bars, chopped

1-1/3  cups whipping cream

2  Tbs  brown sugar

1  tsp  vanilla

Combine cream cheese and caramel topping in small bowl and beat until smooth. Spread into cooled crust. Place banana slices over the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle chopped candy bars over the bananas.

Beat whipping cream, brown sugar and vanilla together in small bowl until stiff peaks form. Spread over candy bars. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with more chopped candy bars to garnish, if you like.

Alternately, you could use a meringue topping instead of whipped cream.

Banana Cream Pie

This is Grandma Leu's filling recipe, and I have yet to find a better one. I like to use a novelty crust, below, rather than a plain crust. The whole thing is just plain yummy!

1-1/4  cup  flour
1/2  cup  chopped pecans or coconut
1/4  cup  brown sugar
1/2  cup  butter or margarine

Mix together until everything is moist. Form into a ball and pat into a pie pan. Prick with a fork and bake @400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool before filling.

Filling:
3  cups WHOLE milk, scalded
1-1/8  cups  sugar
3/4  cup  (scant)  flour
4  eggs, separated
3  Tbs  butter
1-1/4  tsp  vanilla
1/4  tsp  salt
2 - 3  bananas, sliced

Mix flour, sugar, and salt; add scalded milk to make a paste. Put paste into pan of milk. Cook until it starts to thicken, stirring constantly.

With a fork, beat egg yolks (reserve whites). Add 1/2 cup thickened pudding to yolks and stir quickly. Pour this back into pan of hot pudding. Stir quickly. Continue stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla. Stir and cool slightly.

Before it is completely cool, pour into baked and cooled pie crust. Add sliced bananas and cover with pudding.

Meringue:
4  egg whites, room temperature
1/4  tsp  cream of tartar, optional
3/4  cup  sugar

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, until stiff and peaks form. Slowly beat in sugar. Spread over pie, sealing up to the edges of the crust. Sprinkle with a little sugar.  Bake @350 degrees until lightly golden, about  8-12 minutes.

Guy Pie ~ Banana-Coconut-Chocolate

I got this recipe on Good Morning America. Emeril was having a pie contest and this was one of the recipes that made the final cut.  Real rich, but oh-so-good.

1  (9 inch)  baked pie shell
1-1/4  cups  sugar
1/3  cup   cornstarch
1/2  tsp   salt
3  cups   whole milk
4  egg yolks, whisked
2  Tbs  butter
1  tsp  almond flavoring
2  oz  melted unsweetened chocolate (2 squares)
1  cup  flaked coconut
2  large  bananas, sliced

Melt the chocolate over boiling water on top of double boiler. Set aside.

Slice bananas and place along bottom of your pie crust.

Stir together in a saucepan, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Blend milk and egg yolks together. Gradually stir into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Continue to cook and stir for one minute. Remove from heat. 
Stir in coconut.

Blend in the butter, chocolate, coconut, and almond flavoring. Immediately pour over the sliced bananas in pie shell. Cool pie for at least 2 hours.

After it’s chilled, cover top with whipped cream and sprinkle with grated sweet chocolate.