Coconut Custard Mini Pies

Chef's challenge - make 24 mini muffin size pies to celebrate Brandi visiting.  I asked Brandi what her favorite pie was. she said Coconut Custard, and I had never made a coconut custard before.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust
(makes 48 single crust mini-muffin sized pies)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus a few tablespoons more for flouring counter)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

Coconut Custard
(makes 24 with no pie crust, 24 + 8 inch pie with crusts)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick, melted and cooled)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup milk (1 can evaporated milk + 2 ounces regular milk)
• 1 1/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Make pie crusts (Note: this recipe is enough for 48 mini pies, or 24 two crust pies)
3. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. 
4. Pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles fine sand. 
5. Pulse in  the ice water to the mixture, maybe a tablespoon at a time.
6. Run the processor just until the mixture rolls itself into a little ball. 
7. If the dough seems  a bit dry, add more ice water by the tablespoonful until it comes together. 
8. Gather the dough into a  ball, place on floured surface
9. Cut allevenly in half. Shape each half into a disk. 
10. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.
11. If making 24 pies, roll one dough disk out into a 11-inch round on a well-floured work surface.
    With a 2.25-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter (edge lightly dipped in flour) cut 24 rounds from the rolled out disk.
12. Grease one 24 well mini muffin pan - press in pie crust rounds.
    
13. In a stand mixed bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.
14. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract (mixture may look soupy – don’t worry).
15. Whisk in the flour mixture, followed by the milk and shredded coconut. Mix until batter is well combined and smooth.
16. Divide batter evenly into 24 prepared muffin cups using small cookie scoop.
    (I had leftover custard, and made an 8 inch pie with remaining coconut custard.) 
17. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool mini pies in pan. 
18. They will sink in the center  a bit as they cool.
19. When pies have cooled, place in an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Carole's Notes:

Recipe is lightly adapted from http://bakingbites.com/2014/03/impossible-coconut-custard-pie-cupcakes/ to a mini muffin sized version WITH a pie crust.
The pie crust is barely adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-thornton/mini-cherry-pies-recipe.html