I think I’ve up-ed the banana cream pie game a little here. By adding coconuts! Isn’t that genius?! No? Cause everyone is doing this? Oh! WHATEVER!!!

I made an extra mini pie crust last time when I was making this amazingly delicious mango lime cream tart. The crust had been sitting in the freezer for a few days until I decided to fill it with banana cream filling. Honestly I can’t pick which one I enjoy more, graham cracker crust or this toasted coconut crust. The pie filling goes equally well with both. I think it’s just the matter of how you like coconuts.

I used to dislike shredded coconut although I do love coconut. You know how in the old days people like to serve jelly cubes covered with shredded coconut in parties. Oh! The ultimate nightmare treat! Maybe I’ve never been a fan of jello. I simply don’t understand how they came up with this. And it’s probably one of the reasons why I didn’t like shredded coconut. Until I started to cook and bake a lot, and decided to explore around this hateful ingredient. And you know what I’ve done with it so far: coconut crepe cake, coconut macaroons, coconut cream pie, toasted coconut cake… Well, you know how we already remind our children to be forgiving. I guess it just applies to everything in life.

Ingredients (9-inch pie):
Coconut Crust
3/4 sweetened shredded coconut, slightly toasted
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Banana Cream Filling
1 cup whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 bananas, sliced
1/4 cup shredded coconut, slightly toasted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch pie dish with a removable bottom.
To prepare crust, mix coconut, flour, butter, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor until dough just becomes to form a ball.
Firmly press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie dish.
Freeze for 10 minutes.
Then bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare filling, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream until it holds firm peaks. Remove cream from bowl and keep cold in fridge.
In the same bowl, beat cream cheese until it’s soft and creamy.
Add sugar and vanilla, continue beating until combined.
Gently fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten the mixture, then add the remaining cream and continue folding until incorporated.
Cover the bottom of the crust with banana slices. Pour the cream mixture over top. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Refrigerate the pies until set, about 2 hours.
Before serving, arrange more banana slices on top of the pie with a sprinkle of toasted coconut.