A no-fuss Hawaiian-inspired pie with a tangy passion fruit filling that sets like silk — the kind of recipe that becomes a family secret. Best made small.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine 2 cups graham cracker crumbs and ⅓ cup brown sugar in a bowl. Toss them together thoroughly with a fork before you touch any butter.
Add 4 Tbsp softened butter and mix until the crumbs hold together when you squeeze a fistful. It should clump without crumbling apart — like wet sand at the beach.
Pack the sides first, then the bottom. This is the make-or-break moment. Divide the crumb mixture evenly among your six 5″ pie tins. Use the flat bottom of a small measuring cup to press each base, and your fingertips to build the walls. Consistent thickness means even browning.
Don't rush the sides — a thin wall crumbles when you slice.Bake the empty crusts at 350°F for 12–15 minutes. You're watching for the edges to turn just a shade deeper — lightly golden, fragrant, not dark. Remove and let them cool on the counter while you make the filling. Do not refrigerate the crusts.
You'll pour the filling into warm crusts — not cold, not hot. A warm crust allows the filling to bond with the crumb base as it bakes, creating a seamless layer instead of a filling that slides off the bottom when you slice. Think of it like a weld: both surfaces need to be receptive.
Start with 1 can sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl. Add 1 cup Greek yogurt and whisk steadily for 2–3 minutes until completely smooth and uniform. No lumps, no streaks.
Add ¾ cup lilikoi juice and whisk for another 2–3 minutes. The acid in the lilikoi will begin to thicken the mixture — you'll feel the resistance in your wrist increase. This is chemistry doing half the work for you.
Give it one final whisk — a good 30 seconds — then divide the filling evenly among the six warm crusts. Smooth the tops gently with the back of a spoon.
The crusts must be warm, not cold — don't skip this.One ingredient at a time, whisked fully before the next. This isn't about speed — it's about building an emulsion. Each addition gets incorporated completely so the filling sets evenly. Rushed fillings crack; patient ones are silk.
The citric acid in passion fruit reacts with the casein proteins in both the condensed milk and the yogurt, causing them to denature and link together. This acid-set reaction is the same principle behind a traditional key lime pie — the oven time just finishes and stabilizes what the acid already started. That's why whisking time matters: you're giving those proteins time to find each other.
Bake the filled pies at 350°F for 15 minutes. The filling will still have a gentle jiggle in the center — that's exactly right. It should not be firm or puffed. Pull them.
Let the pies cool on the counter at room temperature until about 95°F — the small pies will cool faster than a large one, roughly 25–35 minutes. Don't rush this with the fridge; a rapid chill can crack the surface.
Transfer to the fridge and chill for a minimum of 3 hours. Overnight is better — the filling continues to firm and the flavors deepen. Tomorrow's pie is always the best pie.
Patience is the final ingredient. At three hours it's good. At eight hours it's great. At twenty-four hours the lilikoi has bloomed into something that'll make people ask you for the recipe — and you get to decide whether to share it.
This pie is beautiful naked. But if you're plating it for someone — or for yourself on a day that matters — these three moves tell the whole story.
Toasted coconut flakes along the crust rim — lightly toasted in a dry pan until barely golden. Bridges the Hawaiian origin story and adds a second crunch. Lemon thyme is better than mint here if you want green — it actually complements the citrus instead of fighting it. Skip powdered sugar (fights the tartness), skip the torch (it's not that kind of custard), and skip fruit slices around the edge (clutters the simplicity).