Lemon Impossible Pie! Incredibly easy to make and the flavor is amazing! It's an incredibly easy recipe and the combination of lemon and coconut is a pure delight!
For those who have never tried an Impossible Pie before, you simply must!
In a nutshell, it's an egg custard type mixture with a few additions.
When it bakes, it forms its own bottom crust (which has the texture of pastry) and also forms a crisp top crust. During baking, the coconut rises to the surface and that is what forms the crisp top layer.
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For this recipe, I've added a burst of lemon in there, hence the name, Lemon Impossible Pie. It is not so overwhelming that it will make you screw your eyes up from the sharpness. More of a gentle lemon flavor to marry up nicely with the coconut and take away some of the sweetness of the pie.
So all in all, it is a nice gentle balance of flavors.
Once you've baked this Lemon Impossible Pie, it is a good idea to have it chill overnight so it has time to set ready for slicing and also the flavors come together better.
If you try to slice this when it is still hot, you will end up with messy spoonfuls of pie, so make sure you do let it set!
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. It would make a perfect choice for a party or potlucks, Thanksgiving and holidays. Please enjoy!
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes approx
Yield
6 - 8 Slices
Ingredients
2 cups or 470 ml milk
1 cup or 110 g Flaked coconut
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup or 60 g flour
8 Tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup or 150 g sugar
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a spoon or hand whisk.
2. Pour into a greased and floured pie plate (about 8 - 9 inches size) and bake 350 F or 180 C or Gas 4 oven for 45 minutes. I place my pie in a baking tray in case of spills.
3. When done, the pie will be slightly wobbly in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight if possible.
Serve on its own or with a blob of vanilla ice cream!
Notes: One of our Lovefoodies friends, Nanci Askew has made this recipe but WITHOUT adding coconut. Nanci advises to follow the recipe but HALVE the butter amount in the recipe and it will turn out perfect! Good to know if you have a non-coconut fan in the house! Thanks, Nanci for your suggestion!
I took a close up photo of the top crust so you can see! It is so yummy!
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our Lemon Impossible Pie recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
We've also made a lovely collection of Mini Impossible Pies. They're great for parties or if you simply want a variety. There are 3 flavors, chocolate, orange and plain. They only use 1 batch of batter! Click on the photo to go straight to the recipe!
If you love lemon desserts, our friend over at Life Currents has an amazing recipe you need to make! It's a Lemon Souffle Magic Cake. So delicious!
Recipe Card
Lemon Impossible Pie
Lemon Impossible Pie! Incredibly easy to make and the flavor is amazing!
Ingredients
- 2 cups or 470 ml milk
- 1 cup or 110 g Flaked coconut
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup or 60 g flour
- 8 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup or 150 g sugar
- Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a spoon or hand whisk.
- Pour into a greased and floured pie plate (about 8 - 9 inches size) and bake 350 F or 180 C or Gas 4 oven for 45 minutes. I place my pie in a baking tray in case of spills.
- When done, the pie will be slightly wobbly in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight if possible.
- Serve on its own or with a blob of vanilla ice cream!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 350Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 216mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 28gProtein: 7g
Delicious Cake Recipes Using Lemons
Here's a great selection of cake recipes using lemons so pucker up and enjoy!
Easy Sticky Lemon Cake. An easy classic homemade cake recipe bursting with lemon. Soft, moist sponge with a sticky sweet glaze makes this a perfect cake for any occasion
Easy Lemon French Yogurt Cake. Delicious tangy lemon, soft and moist, incredibly easy made from scratch cake recipe, great as a tea time snack
Easy Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake.
Deliciously soft & moist cake packed with blueberries and a hint of lemon. Topped with a crumble topping. Easiest simple cake recipe ever!
Lemon Spoon Cake. A wonderful soft and moist lemon cake made in the slow cooker. It's a very easy recipe and great tasting!
Lemon Drizzle Raspberry Ripple Cake. An easy, soft, moist and great tasting cake, perfect with a cup of tea!
Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf! This is truly a delightful cake. The flavours are gentle, the cake is soft and moist and of course looks so pretty with the addition of poppy seeds sprinkled throughout the cake.
a wonderful soft and delicious cake using freshly squeezed juice and zest. Bake in a loaf or bundt pan. You choose!
Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake is a lovely baked dessert and so light and airy. Perfect for Easter, Mother's Day or any time of the year! It's out of this world delicious!
Crockpot Lemon Cheesecake. Delicious! Easy recipe, instructions for slow cooker and oven
Blueberry and Lemon Cheesecake, A delicious VERY EASY No Bake dessert with a lovely flavor combination.
Lemon Steamed Cake or pudding is a lovely soft and fluffy cake steamed on the stove top, steamer or multicooker.
jipzy8
says:Can you use almond milk (or any non-dairy “milk”) instead?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi there, we haven’t had any reports of non dairy milk being used, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work! Obviously the taste will be different, but if you are used to using different milk I imagine you won’t notice the difference in taste. Please do pop back and let us know if you do change the milk so it may help others in the future.
Wishing you a lovely weekend and a Merry Christmas!
Laura
says:I have made this with soy milk before and it worked perfectly! I assume other milks would be similar.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Laura, That is very helpful! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know. Much appreciated.
Have a lovely Christmas!
Robyn
says:This sounds great, as I live in Australia the flour is it plain or self raising and also the weight of the butter please?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Robyn, for the flour, ALL Purpose or simply where it states ‘flour’ (often you see this in US recipes), it means Plain Flour. For the butter, 8 Tablespoons is roughly 110 grams.
Hope that helps!
Patsy
says:Hi there! I read somebody made the pie without coconut and reduced the butter, right?. You don´t need to replace the coconut, do you?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Patsy, as far as I’m aware, Nanci didn’t replace the coconut with anything else. The only difference without (apart from the taste of course) is that it won’t form a crispy top crust like you see in the photos here, but will be more like an egg custard tart, which has a smooth crust. Hope that helps and please do give us an update so we can share with others if you decide to change the recipe!
Thanks for writing in and wishing you a lovely day!
Susanne
says:Hello from Germany!
Found your recipe just now and i had to trie this today… it´s 11 p.m. and the pie is in the oven. Can´t wait till tomorrow morning to try the first slice… yummiiii :-)
Lovefoodies
says:Hello Susanne from Holland!! Only 15 minutes and it will be cooked! I made another one yesterday afternoon and couldn’t wait for it to cool normally so I ended up putting it in the garden, covered of course!! in the cold so by the time it was dessert it was nice and chilled! Please enjoy and yes, by tomorrow morning it will be most lekker!!
Suzie
says:Really just have to tell you that Germany is not Holland… We are neighbours, but don’t even speak the same language… Btw my pie is in the fridge :-)
Lovefoodies
says:Sounds great Suzie! Please enjoy and Happy New Year to you!
raerae
says:omg…easy and oh so good
Janice Cadman
says:Did you know the readers…me anyway….. can’t actually read the recipe because of the social media bar sliding down the left side of the page?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Janice, Thanks so much for your feedback and Apologies for this problem. Are you using a mobile phone, tablet or computer? We just updated the whole website to make it mobile ‘friendly’ and obviously it must need tweaking if there are still some snags! Please let us know what device you are using and we will get our tech people to get this fixed as soon as possible.
We appreciate you letting us know so we can deal with these snags as and when they arise!
Thanks!
Angela
says:What kind of milk did you use (whole, skim, etc.) or does it not matter?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Angela, I don’t think it will really matter apart from if you use whole fat milk, the pie will taste a little creamier than if you used skimmed, but not that noticeable. I used semi skimmed because that is what I have at home all the time, so use whatever works for you. It will still turn out perfect :) Have a super Sunday!
Jean Burnett
says:I intend to add a whole lemon too when I make this. It seemed as if the recipe was more coconut custard than lemon impossible, although I dearly love both.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jean, yes! Please do add more lemon if you prefer a sharper taste of lemon. As you know, with lemons and limes it is ‘impossible’ to please everyone (sorry for the joke!) but I am sure you know what I mean as far as preferences go. I’m glad you like the recipe. I made an orange one this afternoon and that was really nice too. So many variations with what you can do.
Thanks for writing in and have a super weekend!
Maggie Clarke
says:I just made this. I assumed the butter was melted and then measured into the ingredients,right?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Maggie, yes indeed. I should have put that in the recipe as it isn’t obvious. I have added the ‘melted’ part now. Thanks so much for querying, I appreciate it!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I am making another one tomorrow for some friends who are coming over for dinner. It’s certainly very popular so please do enjoy!
Thanks once again for writing in.
Sharee @ Savory Spicerack
says:This sounds really good! I will be trying this
The Free From Fairy
says:This is great! I wonder if I could make it dairy free and gluten free! Might have to have a go! Thanks for the recipe.
Patricia Lacey
says:Hello, have made this yesterday with gluten free flour and almond milk and it turned out perfect, a delicious dessert, think I’ll make some raspberry sauce to serve with it next time just to add to it, great fecipe thank you.
Patricia
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Patricia, that is great feedback. Thank you very much! As you see we do have some asking about the GF side of things, so this is going to be so helpful for others! I think your idea of the raspberry sauce will be a perfect pairing for the taste and the color will be magnificent!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write in, and wishing you a lovely rest of your week!
Larissa
says:Would be easy to swap the dairy and gluten for a non-dairy milk like soy, almond or even coconut, and use a gluten free flour. I’d recommend coconut oil in place of butter as it will set like butter does when cool.
jywharff
says:Here’s a trick I learned years ago making custard pies……( &, making a royal Mess…lol)…place your pie plate on the on oven rack…Then, pour the custard in the plate & carefully slide the rack carefully back into the oven. It has really saved me countless messes ! I hope this helps some of you.
Lovefoodies
says:That’s a great idea! I always pop in a tray too in case of any overspill, but I know EXACTLY what you mean about making a mess with the custard on it’s way to the oven!
Jan
says:I’m just curious as to what size pie plate you used for your recipe. I poured the filling into an 8-3/4 inch pie plate and couldn’t get all the filling into it. I also had to use a small 8 oz. casserole to put the rest of the filling into. I also used the zest and juice from one lemon. Now I’m waiting to try them!
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jan, the dish you see in the photos is a 9 inch quiche dish. When I filled it , it did come right to the top, so I had to be careful transferring to the oven. If they’re baking now, do keep an eye on the smaller one, as you know the cook time will be less. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. The hardest part was waiting for it to chill!!
kathleenknights
says:I used one lemon, juice and zest and unsweetened coconut. It was sharper and delicious.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Kathleen, That’s good to know! I made it using half a lemon as you know for just the gentle taste but of course some like sharper and some not! (I’m a sharper fan!). I’m going to try one using limes next time. I think that with the coconut will also taste delicious!
Thanks very much for your feedback. I know it will help others who may be want a sharper taste.
Have a wonderful weekend ahead!
purrcatlady
says:Can I possibly use shredded unsweetened coconut in place of the flaked sweet coconut? thank you,
Lovefoodies
says:Hi there! Yes indeed! The pie is quite sweet anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem at all!
I’ve just finished the last slice of this pie and it was so delicious, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we have!
Sharon M.
says:This is a great recipe but definately needs more lemon flavor. I doubled the amount and it’s still not enough. I will have to experiment. Thanks for the recipe.