Young Coconut Questbar Pie

                                                                                                                                                   Outfit photos by Mark Jaremko
                                      Dress: Forever 21 | Blazer: Madewell (similar here) | Boots: Steve Madden (similar here) | Scarf: similar here

With my cutie cousin, Justine. 

            It’s likely that you’ve tried a young coconut before, but have you actually ever tried opening one? Could be disastrous. I’ve risked my extremities to get into those babies, but now with The Coco Jack, I’m all set when it comes to cracking open a young coconut.

            In college, my roommate and I were obsessed with young coconuts. Our only problem was that we didn’t quite know how to open it. We’d crowd around the coconut on the kitchen counter in our apartment and hack at it with a really really large knife. We’d dodge shards from the knife that would chip off. We once got so frustrated that we threw the whole thing off our balcony just to crack it open. I guess that worked, but all the coconut water was splattered all over the sidewalk. We were determined because we loved them so much. With my track record for injuring myself, I’m quite surprised I didn’t stab or cut myself in the process! If I had The Coco Jack back then, I would have avoided some dangerous evenings in the kitchen with that really really large knife. Get your own at www.coco-jack.com, enter in "stirandstyle" at checkout and receive a discount!

My little man, Duke, showing off The Coco Jack bundle 

            Using the meat and the coconut water from the young coconut, I made a coconut cream pie using a Coconut Cashew Questbar for the crust. Questbars are my favorite protein bar because not only are they tasty and chewy, they’re low carb, low sugar, low calorie, high fiber, and gluten free. The recipe for a sweet, healthy, and protein packed mini pie has just 4 ingredients:

1 young coconut

½ teaspoon coconut oil

1 coconut cashew Questbar

shredded coconut for garnish

            Shape the Questbar into two shallow cups to make the pie crust. Put the crusts into the oven at 300 degrees to bake for 7 or 8 minutes until they’re a golden brown. While they’re in the oven, scoop out the meat of the coconut (using The Coco Scoop) and blend with ¼ cup of the fresh coconut water. Once the crusts are cooled off, pour in the filling, and top with some shredded coconut.

            I matched this coconut cream pie with a fitted white tank dress, blazer (similar here), scarf, and camel boots (similar here). The blazer and camel boots channel the Questbar crust while the white dress underneath is meant to mirror the young coconut filling and the scarf’s fringe matches the shredded coconut. The weather is getting chilly, but if the sun is still out, there’s no reason why you can’t wear a dress. Never underestimate how boots and a scarf can transform an outfit. They can warm up a look to fit the season. It’s pretty cozy too. So don’t be afraid to show those legs even when the weather gets cooler.

            As always, please feel free to contact me or email me with techniques for opening up young coconuts, any horror/success stories related to young coconuts, or any other recipes using young coconuts. Thanks for reading!