While quintessential McDonald's food items can be found from coast to coast — a Big Mac's the same thing in New York, Los Angeles, or Anchorage — regional McDonald's menu items are a source of fascination and envy. Who doesn't want some southern biscuits and gravy for breakfast, or a green chile double cheeseburger like the Golden Arches serves up in New Mexico? Hawaii has been on the receiving end of some delectable exclusive McD's eats. There's the McTeri Deluxe, a teriyaki burger, and, once, you could find ramen in Aloha State McDonald's locations.
A recurring treat that shows up on Hawaiian McDonald's dessert menus is the haupia pie, a fried hand pie stuffed with a jellied coconut filling . Rich, golden, and crispy, the haupia pie is a little taste of the tropics in one delicious bite. Haupia is a traditional Hawaiian dessert, so it makes sense that McDonald's adapted it into a recognizable format for the local market.
Unfortunately, it's impossible to get in the continental United States. McDonald's haupia pies are one-of-a-kind Unlike coconut cream pie, which has ambiguous origins related to American housewives' cookbooks and the import of dried coconut, haupia is not intended to be creamy. In Hawaii, where haupia pie varieties sometimes include sweet potato or chocolate, the haupia is starchy, thanks to a thickening agent like arrowroot powder, cornstarch, or agar agar.
The recipe for haupia is easy enough that even non-Hawaiians can manage it, so you can certainly.