Frozen Caramel Pie with a Secret Ingredient!
My Mother’s Recipe
This is the best recipe for a frozen caramel pie with toasted coconut and pecans and a secret ingredient! It was my mother’s recipe from many years ago. She passed away over 20 years and was making this pie probably ten years before that.
I’m sure it’s not an original recipe but I have no idea of who to attribute it to…..so I’m giving her the credit.
She was a great cook. My mother and her sisters were always sharing recipes and tweaking them So this recipe could have come from their brainstorming or it could have come from a magazine, cookbook, or newspaper clipping. Who knows. But I’m glad she wrote it down! I want to try my Aunt Mildred’s plain pound cake too one of these days))
I made this pie for Christmas and we finished off the last piece a few nights ago. Carrie loves dessert so I prepared it with her in mind and served it at our Christmas dinner.
Ingredients – Recipe makes 2 Pies
2 Graham Cracker Crusts
1/4 c Butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 c Chopped Pecans
7 oz Flaked Coconut
8 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 c Sweet Potatoes, Cooked and Mashed
12 oz Caramel Topping
2 8 oz Containers of Cool Whip
Making the Pie
This frozen caramel pie recipe makes two pies. I used prepared graham cracker crusts, but you could use homemade too. Just be sure to let them cool completely.
The first step is to toast the chopped pecans and flaked coconut with 1/4 c butter in a skillet. Start it off with low to medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until golden brown.
The coconut and pecan mixture is your “topping.” Set it aside and let it cool completely.
The next step is to create the filling by blending the softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk with a mixer. Now comes your SECRET INGREDIENT!
Sweet Potatoes
The sweet potatoes add texture to the filling without a sweet potato taste, but not to my family anyway. The main taste you come away with is a caramel pie with coconut and pecans.
I used canned sweet potatoes. Drain off the liquid and beat until smooth and creamy.
You could also boil sweet potatoes, remove the skins and beat. Just be sure to let them cool completely before assembling the pie. Add the sweet potatoes to the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk mixture.
The last step to the filling is to fold in the two 8 oz containers of Cool Whip. Thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator – never in a microwave. Fold in gently. I have never made this recipe with anything but Cool Whip so I can’t say how homemade whipped cream would work. Certainly don’t try whipped cream in a can!
Putting it together.
Spoon some of the filling into each pie crust. I did not measure the amount of filling to add, so use your best judgment. In hindsight, I could have used more filling in my first layer. You could actually measure the filling and divide it out, but it sure seemed like a lot of trouble. So I didn’t.
Sprinkle some of the toasted coconut and pecan mixture over the top of the filling. Drizzle caramel topping on top of the coconut and pecans. I used Hershey’s Caramel Topping. It was a 14 oz jar so I used about 3/4 of it.
Make another layer with filling, toasted coconut, and pecans, and drizzle with caramel topping.
You’re all done and ready for the freezer!
Cover pies tightly with tinfoil and place in the freezer. Usually, when I use a prepared graham cracker crust, I just wash and place the plastic covering back over the pie, but this frozen caramel pie recipe results in pies being too large for that, so use tinfoil instead.
Serve
Serve this pie frozen. It’s fine to leave it out for a few minutes, but I usually cut the pieces and return the pie to the freezer immediately. It keeps well in the freezer for a couple of weeks…..if it lasts that long!
Now I need to get back into that notebook of recipes and find Aunt Mildred’s recipe for pound cake! It was absolutely the best. The kind of pound that you could slice off and eat right out of your hand.
You didn’t even need fresh strawberries or canned peaches. But it was good that way too! It was a simple recipe that she baked frequently. Most anytime you stopped by her house…..there was pound cake))))
So stay tuned!
Frozen Caramel Pie with a Secret Ingredient
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Prepared Graham Cracker Pie Crusts Or homemade
- ¼ Cup Butter 1/2 stick softened
- ½ Cup Chopped Pecans
- 7 oz Sweetened Flaked Coconut
- 1 8 oz Cream Cheese softened
- 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk 14 oz.
- 12 oz Caramel Topping Hershey brand or similar, may be listed as ice cream topping (no nuts). My jar had 14 oz, so I used about 3/4 of it.
- 2 8 oz Containers of Frozen Whipped Topping thawed in refrigerator
- 1 ½ Cup Cooked Sweet Potatoes This is the secret ingredient! To use canned potatoes, drain liquid and cream until smooth. You can also boil sweet potatoes, remove skins and cream. Be sure to cool completely before blending into mixture.
Instructions
Topping
- Add butter, coconut, and pecans to skillet and cook over low to medium heat until nicely browned.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool. Must be cool before adding to pie.
Filling
- Combine softened cream cheese, cooled or room temperature sweet potatoes, and sweetened condensed milk. Beat until smooth.
- Fold in whipped topping gently, just enough to blend.
Assemble the Pies
- Spoon some of the filling into each pie crust.
- Sprinkle toasted coconut and pecans over the filling.
- Drizzle caramel topping over coconut and pecans.
- Repeat with another layer of filling, coconut and pecans and caramel topping.
- Cover tightly with tin foil and place in freezer.
To Serve
- Serve frozen and return to freezer.
Video
Nutrition
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