Haupia coconut pie is a dessert that is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and soy free. I based it on a favorite Hawaiian dessert haupia, made with coconut milk or cream. It has a pudding-like texture without using dairy or eggs.
For haupia coconut pie, you will need 1 8-inch pie pan, food processor or immersion blender with chopper cup, spatula or wooden spoon, whisk, saucepan, small mixing bowl.
Pie crust
Place walnuts, pitted dates, cinnamon, and sea salt in food chopper cup and pulse until very fine.
Pour into pie pan and press into a crust across the bottom and sides.
Filling haupia coconut pie
Open the can of coconut cream. Use a knife to gently push aside the cream and make a hole to the bottom. Pour ¼ cup of the milk from the bottom into a measuring cup.
Add ½ cup water. (Variation: Add ¼ cup water and ¼ cup juice, such as key lime or passion fruit.)
Add arrowroot to the liquid and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Add the remaining contents of the coconut cream pan to the saucepan. Add the sugar.
Stir together. Heat the saucepan on medium high, stirring regularly to keep it smooth.
When it starts to bubble, slowly add the arrowroot mixture to the pan while stirring.
Reduce the heat to medium low and continue stirring. The mixture should begin to thicken and stick to the spoon. It will take 5 to 10 minutes to get to a pudding-style consistency.
Pour the mixture into the piecrust. Refrigerate for 2 hours or longer. Garnish haupia coconut pie with toasted coconut, almonds, or lime zest.
Haupia coconut pie with walnut and date crust is a sweet treat with Hawaiian roots. Dairy free, gluten free, egg free, and soy free. You can flavor with fruit juice.
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 4 pitted soft dates
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1/16 tsp sea salt
- 1 can coconut cream (about 13 oz.), not shaken
- 4 tbsp arrowroot (or 6 tbsp cornstarch)
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water (or ¼ cup water and ¼ cup juice)
- (add ½ tsp vanilla extract if desired)
Instructions
- You will need 1 8-inch pie pan, food processor or immersion blender with chopper cup, spatula or wooden spoon, whisk, saucepan, small mixing bowl.
- Pie crust
- Place walnuts, pitted dates, cinnamon, and sea salt in food chopper cup and pulse until very fine.
- Pour into pie pan and press into a crust across the bottom and sides.
- Filling
- Open the can of coconut cream. Use a knife to gently push aside the cream and make a hole to the bottom. Pour ¼ cup of the milk from the bottom into a measuring cup.
- Add ½ cup water. (Variation: Add ¼ cup water and ¼ cup juice, such as key lime or passion fruit.).
- Add arrowroot to the liquid and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- Add the remaining contents of the coconut cream pan to the saucepan. Add the sugar.
- Stir together. Heat the saucepan on medium high, stirring regularly to keep it smooth.
- When it starts to bubble, slowly add the arrowroot mixture to the pan while stirring.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and continue stirring. The mixture should begin to thicken and stick to the spoon. It will take 5 to 10 minutes to get to a pudding-style consistency.
- Pour the mixture into the piecrust. Refrigerate for 2 hours or longer. Garnish with toasted coconut, almonds, or lime zest.
Notes
Tips: 1) I use Thai style coconut cream (from the international aisle at the grocery store). Let it sit in the pantry for a while to separate the cream from the milk, or chill in the refrigerator. 2) I find that pitting my dates then allowing them to sit in a little warm water while I'm prepping makes them a little stickier. 3) You may want to try pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon for the crust. 4) Arrowroot is a starch made from the arrowroot tuber and has less taste than cornstarch. It is gluten-free, grain-free, and is used in paleo diets.
What are your thoughts?