Caramel Coconut Cream Pie

Our son wanted Aunt Dee's Caramel Coconut Cream Pie to take to his small group. Aunt Dee said the recipe was in our family cookbook. Well, sure 'nuf...right there it was. I'd never seen it in there OR made it, of course. I bought ingredients for four pies and in one hour had all of them chillin' out in the freezer! Two pies were for his small group and two for our guests who were coming in from out of town.

It's yummy! I won't tell anyone if you make one pie just to eat all by yourself. No I didn't do that, but yes it is that good.

Susan, who is the sweetest cashier in probably the whole world or something like that, wanted the recipe. She saw all these yummy ingredients beeping across the scanner and thought they added up to delectable goodness. Susan, I hope your hubby enjoys it as much as we do.

Caramel Coconut Pie

1/4 c. butter

1 pkg (7 oz) flaked coconut

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 container (16 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 jar (12 oz) caramel ice cream topping

2 baked 9" pastry shells

Garnish:

Melt butter in larger skillet. Add coconut and 1/4 c. pecans; cook until golden, stirring frequently. Set mixture aside and let cool slightly.

Cream Filling:

Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

Assembling Pie:

Layer 1/4 of cream cheese mixture in each pastry shell. Drizzle 1/4 of caramel topping over each pie. Sprinkle 1/4 coconut mixture evenly over each pie. Repeat layers with remaining cream cheese mixture, caramel topping, and coconut mixture. Cover and freeze pies at least 8 hours. Let frozen pies stand at room temperature 5 minutes before slicing.

Yield: two 9" pies.

The first two pies that were taken to small group only chilled for about 45 minutes. They still set up nicely and brought home rave reviews, thanks to a nice group of hungry and very complimentary young adults.

Rachel