When it comes to planning my Thanksgiving menu I always struggle with getting the right balance between traditional foods and new recipes. New recipes that are variations of traditional foods can be a nice way to strike that balance. I recently came across a new recipe (well, actually a hundred-year-old recipe – but it was new to me) for Coconut Pumpkin Pie, and decided to give it a try.
The coconut gave the pie a lovely milky sweetness that blended nicely with the pumpkin. The recipe called for two spices – nutmeg and cinnamon. My standard pumpkin pie recipe does not use nutmeg, so the flavor was noticeably different from many typical pumpkin pies, but it was lovely. The verdict – this recipe is a keeper and I may make it again for the big day.
Here’s the original recipe:
What is the correct way to spell “coconut:”? The old recipe spells it “cocoanut” though I usually see it spelled “coconut,” so I went with the latter spelling when I updated the recipe.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Coconut Pumpkin Pie
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup shredded coconut
1 9-inch pie shell
Preheat oven to 425° F. Put the eggs in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth and lemon colored. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg: beat until combined. Stir in the coconut, and pour into the pie shell. Put into oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and continue baking until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
A Hundred Years Ago 
OH YUM!
It’s tasty.
That seems like an unusual combination. It is nice that it turned out so well.
The pie is rapidly disapearing so it clearly was a hit.
Sweetened or unsweetened coconut? This does sound good though I wonder if the traditionalist in the family would approve. Of course I can do a trial one first, nobody would complain about that. ;^)
Since the recipe doesn’t call for very much sugar I used sweetened coconut. The pie looks a lot like the standard pumpkin pie, so it’s important to let people know what it is and that it contains coconut and different spices than the standard pie so there are no surprises. It’s very tasty – just different from the standard pie.
Thanks! I know DH won’t mind a pie no matter what it is but it might not quite qualify for Thanksgiving I suspect if only because he will want both!
Sparky’s family would be gaga over this pie! They adore coconut anything!!
It he likes coconut, pumpkin, and nutmeg he will like this pie.
I don’t think I would have thought of this!
Like you, I never would have thought of this combination is I hadn’t seen it in an old cookbook, but it really is quite nice.