Hawaiian Pineapple Coconut Lush

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword hawaiian-pineapple-coconut-lush, hawaiian-pineapple-dream-dessert

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 25

Chill time 4

Total Time 4 50

Servings pieces

Calories 424kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Crust: In a medium-size mixing bowl toss together the graham cracker crumbs (or vanilla wafer crumbs), macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips, 1/4 cup flaked coconut, sugar and melted butter.
Press firmly onto the bottom of the baking dish. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown and set. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Increase the oven temperature to broil. Spread the remaining coconut on a baking sheet. Toast for 4-5 minutes stirring periodically. Do not walk away. Set aside to cool completely.
Assemble: In a medium-size mixing bowl using an electric mixer, whip together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until smooth and no lumps remain. Fold in the crushed pineapple and 1/3 of the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture by hand to blend. Spread evenly over the cooled crust.
In the same bowl, whip together the pudding mix and milk until thickened but still pourable. Pour the pudding evenly over the cream cheese filling.
Frost the top with the remaining whipped topping. Garnish with toasted coconut and maraschino cherries.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours to set before cutting into pieces. Store leftovers chilled.

Whipped Topping: To decorate the top as pictured, additional Cool Whip will be needed.
Crust Substitutions: You can swap out the graham cracker crumbs using crushed vanilla wafers or crushed shortbread cookie crumbs for the lush cake crust.
Pudding: You can use instant cheesecake pudding mix or instant white chocolate cheesecake pudding mix in place of coconut cream pudding mix, if you're unable to find it. When doing so, stir 1/2 cup flaked coconut into the pudding mixture.
Graham Cracker Crust Tips: Chopped macadamia nuts purchased from the baking aisle at the grocery store will need to be chopped by hand to make them a bit smaller. You can do this using a sharp knife or using a nut chopper. They don't need to be finely ground, but large pieces won't work here or the crust won't hold together.
Crushed Pineapple: You can use crushed pineapple packed in juice or heavy syrup depending on how much sweetness you like.