EASY LO

EASY LO-CARB BLENDER COCONUT CREAM PIE
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup Angel Coconut, double batch
1 teaspoon vanilla or pineapple extract, optional *

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a buttered 10-inch pie plate. Bake at 350?for 45-60 minutes (see my comments below). Bake less time for a more custardy pie and longer for a more cake-like pie.

Makes 8 servings
Can be frozen (see note below)

* I used 1/2 teaspoon of each.

NOTE: You can freeze the pie, but it will come out much softer and more fragile after thawing. It will go from being very dense and cheesecake-like to a little more creamy.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 389 Calories; 38g Fat; 5g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 377 Calories; 38g Fat; 5g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

After 45 minutes and the top was getting very brown, and it tested done with a knife, so I removed it from the oven. It's more like a coconut custard pie than a cream pie, but perhaps it would come out more firm after baking for an hour. I was afraid that the top would burn if I baked it longer though. I might try lowering the oven temperature after 45 minutes next time and see what happens.

The flavor is very nice and reminds me a little of pineapple upside down cake, especially the brown crusty parts. I highly recommend using some pineapple extract in it if you like that flavor. Rather than use dry unsweetened coconut, I decided to use Angel Coconut because it's more moist. I'm not sure what the baking powder does in this recipe because it's basically a custard and custards don't usually have baking powder in them. I liked this pie and I think it's good enough to make again and try for a more cake-like texture by baking it longer.

UPDATE: After chilling for several hours, the pie firmed up quite a bit and is no longer like custard. I'd say it's kind-of-sort-of-almost the texture of a cheesecake with chewy bits of coconut in it. I don't think I'll bake it any longer than 45 minutes the next time I make it because I see now that it's a little crumbly. I think that if it baked longer, and became dryer, it might fall apart too much.

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