Coconut Cream Pie

This pie is one of my all-time favorites. It's probably my second favorite, just behind the cherry pie. The recipe is involved because it is 100% made from scratch, but one bite and you'll be glad you made it!

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:
1/4 cup corn starch
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 t vanilla
3/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top of meringue

Meringue:
3 egg whites
6 T sugar

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 t salt
2 T ice water

Directions:

To Make Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Begin making your crust by mixing flour and salt. Cut in Crisco with a fork and add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each. Rub flour on your hands so the dough won't stick together. Pat dough in a ball. Roll dough onto a pastry cloth or paper towel with flour, and place dough in a pie plate. Reference my Chicken Pot Pie recipe to see step by step pictures for making the crust. This pie doesn't have a top crust, so disregard any instructions in that tutorial regarding the top crust.
3. Cover dough in pie plate with foil and lightly press down so foil is touching dough. Don't press too hard or the dough will stick to the foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool while you make pie filling and meringue.
To Make Meringue:
4.  Beat egg whites until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks form when beater is raised. Set aside.
To Make Pie Filling:
5. Mix starch, sugar, and salt in a double boiler top. Stir in milk. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until thick enough to mound when dropped from a spoon.
6. Cover double boiler and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now, if you stir beaten egg yolks into hot mixture right off the bat, you're going to have scrambled eggs. Take a couple spoonfuls of the hot mixture and stir into egg mixture before adding eggs to the hot mixture. This is called tempering with the eggs. Once eggs are added to the hot mixture, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from boiling water.
7. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Cool to room temperature, and pour into baked pie shell.
8. Spread meringue on top of filling, sealing it to the edges of the filling. Sprinkle remaining coconut on top.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!