coconut cookie pie crust

Happy Pi day!  Honestly, is there ever a better reason to bake a pie than today?  I forgot all about pi day last year until it was too late to make one and I was soo sad.  Seriously.  I'm really the only one in our house who likes pie, so I figured today was a great time to branch out and try a fun one!

I'm a bit obsessed with recipes from Tate's Bakery right now.  They are all amazing.  I really wanted to try their key lime pie recipe, but I thought I'd add a fun addition.  I made a coconut cookie crust to go with it.  Who doesn't love coconut lime?  No joke, I just drooled a little bit writing that.  I might also have to adapt this crust into cookies sometime because the kitchen smelled wonderful when the crust was baking, and Jeff was so bummed because he had thought I was making sugar cookies.

This crust really is just like a big cookie.  It is really easy to work with for crust because it is easy to mold and squish without being sticky.  Even if the crust dumps out into your pie pan as a huge mess, just push it around with your fingers until you have it molded right where you want it.

There could not possibly be an easier pie crust recipe (from scratch at least!).

 Add the coconut, eggs, flour, sugar, melted coconut oil, and vanilla into a food processor and pulse until a ball forms.

The ball can be soft, but push down softly with one finger to see if its is sticky.  If it is, add flour 1/4 cup at a time until it holds together and isn't sticky.

Place the crust between two large pieces of plastic wrap on the counter.  This will make rolling it out and cleaning up after soo much easier.  As much as I love baking rolling things out is the bane of my existence, but this crust is so soft it rolls out easily.

You really don't have to make this look perfect, just roll the crust out to a general circular shape the general size to fit the base and sides of your pie pan.

This part is a little more awkward, but easily cleaned up.  Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap.  Lift up the crust and bottom layer of wrap and flip it over the pie pan.  Peel off the remaining plastic and push the crust around until it lays evenly in the pan.

Bake the crust at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden.  Cool before filling.

I used the Tate's Bakery Key Lime Pie filling with my coconut cookie crust.  I'm going to think up some other fillings soon.  Ooh?  Raspberry?  Chocolate caramel?  Dang it.  Now I need to go bake some more pies...

Coconut Cookie Pie Crust

ingredients:

• 2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 C + 1 tbsp AP flour
• 1/4 C coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. All all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a soft ball forms.  Check to make sure crust holds together and is not sticky.  Slowly add more flour if sticky.
3. Roll out dough between two layers of plastic wrap into a circular form the general size of the pie pan.
4. Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap.  Gently flip the crust and lower layer of plastic wrap over the greased pie pan.  Remove the remaining plastic wrap and gently push the crust into place.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden.  Remove the crust and allow to cool before filling.