Recipe: How to Make Hawaiʻi-Style Pumpkin-Haupia Pie
This simple recipe will bring Island flavors to any holiday meal.
The holidays are in full swing—and you’re thinking about a way to bring Hawaiʻi to your home.
We got you.
While there’s always the classic pumpkin crunch dessert—get the recipe here—we came up with another seasonal treat that brings together traditional holiday flavors—think cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin—with a local staple: haupia.
Haupia is a sweet, gelatinlike dessert made with coconut milk. You’ll find it served with any Hawaiian plate lunch or at any lūʻau in the Islands.
While the most popular haupia pie combination is chocolate—Ted’s Bakery on Oʻahu’s North Shore boasts one of the most popular chocolate-haupia pies around—we tried it wtih pumpkin. And it’s crazy-good.
We used a store-bought pie crust to save time, though I highly recommend you make your own. (The store-bought crust was a bit too salty and not buttery or flaky enough.) We also used two different brands of haupia mixes—NOH’s Hawaiian Coconut Pudding Haupia and Hawaiʻi’s Best Hawaiian Haupia—and both worked fine. If you’re ambitious, you can always make it from scratch.
Hope this recipe makes your holidays a little sweeter!
Pumpkin-Haupia Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. pumpkin spice (sub. with 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 ground cloves)
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 9-inch unbaked pie shell
- 1 package haupia pudding mix
- Whipped cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin and eggs. Add sugar, salt and spices. Then stir in milk and 1 cup of the shredded coconut. The batter will be lumpy because of the coconut. Pour into the pie shell, filling almost to the top. If you have leftover filling, consider making a second pie. (We made two out of this recipe.) Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and make for another 40 to 45 minutes until filling is set and crust is golden brown. Cool. Prepare haupia according to the package directions. Make sure the haupia is smooth. Cool slightly, then pour over the pumpkin pie. Chill until haupia is firm. Just before serving, spread whipped cream (we used Cool Whip) over the pie. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and serve.
