Coconut Cream Pie Trifle

When we decided to do BBQ Pulled Pork for the troops dinner delivery, I actually forgot to put in a dessert option all together. So I wracked my brain and tried to come up with something that I thought would go well with the meal as a whole and coconut cream pie hit me like a well…a pie in the face.

The struggle with our menus is that no matter what we choose we must be able to make up to 60 individual portions of whatever we are making. So after looking up several recipes, I was really frustrated. I didn’t want to have to make pie crust for 60 individual pies. Or make that much pastry cream. Really, I just wanted something that was easy to make, easy to mass produce and had great coconut cream pie taste!

I figured this couldn’t be too difficult! I grabbed some coconut, some pudding, some extract and went home and went to work. I dived into my pantry and searched for something to make a “crust”. I found a box of Serenatas cookies. These seemed perfect as the base of a crust. Buttery, a slight graham flavor.

The idea to turn these into a trifle was dictated by the container in which we would transport these. We have plastic dessert containers with lids, so I couldn’t bake the crust IN the container.

I am so, so happy I figured this recipe out! It is SO good! I am not even ashamed to say, I’ve eaten these every day this week!

Ingredients

Serenatas Cookies

These cookies are the unfilled version. There are a version of Serenatas cookies that have a thick caramel filling. These are not the cookies we want. These cookies are a thin wafer reminiscent cookie that has a faint graham flavor. The texture makes them the perfect base for a crust and I prefer these over graham crackers. We only need one sleeve which is about 220 grams.

Butter

Butter is required for our crust to add moisture and fat so when it is baked it will hold together. You can use other fats I suppose, but honestly the flavor of the butter is amazing and it can’t be replaced. The buttery crumbles taste amazing!

Sugar

For this crumb crust we are using half brown sugar and half granulated sugar to give a deeper flavor profile. The molasses in the brown sugar adds more flavor and a beautiful color to our crust. The granulated sugar adds the sweetness without weighing the flavor down in too much molasses flavor.

Kosher Salt

I did not use a fine grain salt for this recipe as I use Kosher salt for all my recipes. Because of the shape and texture of the salt itself, when you are eating this trifle, you can taste small granules of salt. Personally, I like this and I chose to keep the salt a little coarser. If you do not like the granular salt then you can add the salt to the food processor with the cookies and the salt should grind down smaller.

Vanilla Pudding

Be sure to get instant pudding mix. I looked for coconut cream pudding mix and my commissary doesn’t carry it. So I improvised and got vanilla pudding and added extract to make it coconut flavored. If you would prefer to use coconut cream pudding mix, skip the coconut extract.

Milk

I use whole cold milk in this recipe. The milk fat in whole milk gives a much better mouth feel than a lower milk fat content. However, any milk should work in this recipe. I have NOT tested this recipe with milk alternatives so I can not speak to whether or not they will work with instant pudding mix.

Coconut Extract

Since we had to start with vanilla pudding I had to flavor the pudding to make it coconut flavored. I started with just 1/2 tsp because I didn’t want it to be overpowering. You can start with 1/4 tsp if you are worried it will be overwhelming on the coconut flavor.

Coconut Flakes

Sweetened coconut flakes are used in the pudding mixture to add texture and flavor. The remainder of the coconut is toasted in the oven to add a richness of flavor and some more texture between our layers.

Process

You can make the three different layer components in any order you would like. However, the crumbs and the coconut do need to bake so I recommend starting with the coconut, using the same cast iron pan to make the crumbs and while those are cooling, make the pudding mixture. This is different than the order I rearranged the video.

Coconut:

Reserve 1/4 cup coconut to add to the pudding mixture. Arrange the rest of the coconut in a medium sized cast iron pan or a small baking sheet. Toast in a 350º oven stirring every 3-5 minutes until the desired level of toasted.

Place the toasted coconut in a bowl and set aside.

Crumb Crust

In the bowl of a food processor, place one sleeve of cookies. Pulse the cookies until the texture is very fine.

Add the sugars and the salt.

Pulse the cookie crumbs with the salt and the sugars. If you prefer the salt to be a finer grain, you may add the salt at the beginning with the cookies.

Once the sugars are evenly mixed into the cookies, run the food processor on low and add the butter while it is running.

Once the mixture is combined, the texture should be like moist beach sand. Press the mixture into the same cast iron skillet that was used for the coconut flakes. Bake at 350º for about 10 minutes. Allow it to cool, then crumble with your hands and put in a bowl. Set aside.

Pudding Mixture

Start with 2 3/4 cups of milk.

Add 2 packages of vanilla pudding.

Add 1/2 tsp coconut extract.

Whisk until all the dry mix is incorporated. Allow the mixture to sit for up to five minutes to thicken.

Add 1/4 cup coconut flakes and 1/2 of the Cool Whip.

Fold this mixture together until fully blended. Put mixture in a pastry bag with the tip cut off and prepare to assemble the layers.

Assemble

In a water goblet or any other cup or container you prefer, layer the trifle. Start with crumbs, then layer in this order: pudding mixture, crumbs, toasted coconut. Layer this 2 or 3 times depending on the diameter of your container. After the last layer of toasted coconut, smooth Cool Whip over the top. Garnish with toasted coconut and baked crumbs.

Chill 1 hour before eating.

ENJOY!