My soft-set Haupia recipe is ridiculously good and uses just 4 simple ingredients! This Hawaiian coconut pudding is made using coconut milk thickened with cornstarch. My small batch recipe makes 3 to 4 servings but can be scaled up easily to serve a big crowd too.
My first time encountering Haupia was from a McDonald’s on Maui. I know you’re probably thinking why on earth would you go to McDonald while vacationing in Hawaii. But it’s kind of a special destination truly, you have to get the pies if nothing else from there. I’ve tried the Haupia and Ube hand pies and really wished they would bring those to the mainland!
There were quite a few treats I created that were inspired by my trips to Hawaii. This Haupia recipe is one of them. I’ve also got these Hawaiian oatmeal chocolate chip coffee cookies with coconut and macadamias, and these Honolulu cookie company inspired chocolate chip macadamia shortbread cookies, as well as this macadamia coconut granola!
Table of Contents
What is Haupia?
First of all, if you don’t already know, Haupia is a coconut milk base Hawaiian dessert. Based on an older Hawaiian dessert cookbook I own, the pudding is traditionally cooked to an almost gelatin consistency, and then served in blocks like this jello cream cheese dessert.
In my Haupia recipe, coconut milk is thickened with cornstarch only to a pudding consistency and served in pretty cups. I really like the presentation in the serving cups, which makes it very convenient and perfect for special occasions too. But I will give you both options for making soft-set and hard-set Haupia.
Helpful tools
This recipe is very simple and you don’t need any special equipment. You’ll need a saucepan to cook the pudding, the size will depend on whether you’re making a small or large batch.
For soft-set Haupia, you’ll need a few serving cups to transfer the pudding to. You can use ice cream cups, crème brûlée ramekins, panna cotta moulds, or a variety of vintage tea cups.
For hard-set Haupia, you’ll need a loaf pan for a smaller batch and a square baking pan for a larger batch.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Coconut milk – you’ll need full fat canned coconut milk or coconut cream. I don’t have favorite brand, any will work. Coconut cream will yield a richer pudding.
- Sugar – granulated sugar is called for but you can use brown sugar too if you want to impart a deeper and richer flavor to the pudding like the coconut sauce I made for these tropical “cinnamon rolls” with macadamia and coconut.
- Cornstarch – this is used to thicken the haupia. You can substitute arrowroot starch or agar agar powder, but cornstarch is the cheapest and most common thickener that you likely already have in your pantry.
- Salt – just a pinch to enhance the sweetness in the pudding.
- Toasted coconut (optional) – I used toasted sweetened coconut flakes to garnish my pudding cups for additional texture and coconut flavor. This is totally optional but it adds a little something extra.
How to make Haupia
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make a cornstarch slurry
Measure out ¼ cup of the coconut water at the bottom of the can, whisk in the cornstarch until smooth.
Tip: Cornstarch needs to be dissolved in cold or room temperature liquid. If you add cornstarch directly to hot liquid, it will not dissolve and become lumpy.
Cook the pudding
Heat the rest of the coconut milk with sugar and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat until simmering. Stream in the cornstarch mixture and stir continuously until the liquid thickens, this should take only a few minutes.
Transfer the pudding to serving cups, allow them to cool to room temperature and refrigerate further before serving. For garnish, I like to toast some sweetened shredded coconut in a skillet until lightly brown and sprinkle over the Haupia.
For hard-set haupia
To get hard-set Haupia that you can cut into squares, continue to cook the pudding after it starts to thicken for another 7 – 10 minutes until the mixture turns translucent and seems to want to stick together in one big blob. Not quite a scientific description but if you just stick to cooking it for at least a total of 10 minutes after you stream in the cornstarch, this should work.
You can transfer this to a small loaf pan, allow it to cool and then refrigerate to set further before cutting it up. If you’re using a 9”x5” loaf pan, this will yield a thin layer of less than ½”. I recommend doubling the recipe to yield a more substantial thickness or you can use a smaller container, like a tupperware, to set it in.
Storage
Keep your haupia pudding refrigerated and eat within a couple of days for the best flavor. The longer they are kept in the fridge the harder they will become and will also lose their flavor, so it is best to eat them as soon as possible. That’s why this recipe only makes a small batch!
📖 Recipe card
4-Ingredient Soft and Creamy Haupia
Equipment
- Pudding Cups
Ingredients
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 oz, 400 ml)
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch (24 g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (45 g)
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut (or more for garnish, toasted, optional)
Instructions
- Add the cornstarch to ¼ cup of the coconut water at the bottom of the coconut milk can and stir until dissolved.
- Add the rest of the coconut milk to a small saucepan along with the sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until all of the sugar dissolves. Slowly stream in the cornstarch mixture while whisking and continue to cook, stirring constantly.
For soft set pudding
- Cook the mixture for just a few minutes until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
- Pour pudding into 3 or 4 small serving cups or ramekins. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to set further if desired, 1 – 2 hours.
For hard set pudding
- Cook the mixture for at least 10 minutes after adding in the cornstarch, stirring constantly. The mixture will turn more translucent and will want to stick together in one big blob.
- Line a loaf pan or a smaller container with a piece of parchment paper, allowing the ends to drape over the side of the pan. Transfer the pudding into the container, using a spatula to scrape it out if necessary. Let cool and then refrigerate to set further, 2 – 4 hours.
- Cut into blocks before serving, this could yield 8 – 10 smaller snack size portions depending on how you cut it.
- Toast the sweetened shredded coconut in a skillet over medium heat until lightly brown and fragrant. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon over the haupia cup just before serving. You can sprinkle this on the haupia square too.
Notes
Nutrition
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Sweet, smooth, creamy, fatty – absolute perfection!! Exactly like homemade Haupia pudding on the islands…not jello like, but pudding like!! Yum!
Thank you so much Katie!!!
My mother recalls haupia pudding from her childhood. I made this for her and it brought back lots of fond memories of growing up in Hawai’i. Though the haupia she knew was the thick version cut into squares I made it soft in little pudding cups. She had nothing but nice things to say about it and I even found her licking the pot! Thank you for a simple but elegant dessert and for a pleasant stroll down memory lane with my 86 year old mother.
Awe Stacey, this so sweet! I’m so happy to hear this brings a bit of joy to your mom. Thank you so much for this, your comment made my day and reminded me exactly why I’m writing this blog.
I’d never heard of Haupia before I found this recipe. I love the pudding texture and that sweet coconut flavour is amazing.
I’m happy to hear you loved these 🙂
Oooooo I wanna try this!!
It’s so easy to make, I hope you’ll love it!
How do I scale this up to lets say a crowd of say 40 people?
Depends on how much you want to make each serving, do you want it to be bite size dessert for 40? Or do you want to make full size pudding cup for 40? For such a big crowd, I suggest making the hard set pudding in a 9×13 pyrex and cut it up into cubes. I would 5x or 6x the recipe, this much should probably fit in the 9×13 pan fully. If that’s not enough, make more and use multiple pans. The cooking time will need to be lengthened when you’re cooking big batch, watch for the texture marker like when it starts to thicken and when it’s pulling together for the hard set pudding. Let me know if you have any other questions.