Banana Cream Pie Recipe
User Reviews
4.9
Banana Cream Pie Recipe
Description
The Banana Cream Pie begins with a crust made by combining crushed vanilla wafer cookies with brown sugar and melted butter, pressed into a pie plate and baked until firm. The filling is a custard pudding made by whisking sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream, gently cooked over medium heat until it thickens and simmers. Softened butter and vanilla extract are folded in for richness. Sliced bananas are tossed with lemon or lime juice to slow browning and layered within the pie. The top is finished with homemade whipped cream made from very cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
The texture of the pie is creamy and smooth with a soft banana layer, contrasted by the crisp, slightly sweet cookie crust. Chilling the pie before slicing helps achieve cleaner slices due to the pudding texture of the filling.
The recipe suggests alternatives for the crust, such as graham cracker or standard pie crust. Crushing cookies by hand with a rolling pin works if a food processor is unavailable. Details on making whipped cream are referenced for further guidance.
Ingredients
CRUST¹
- 65 vanilla wafer cookies
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar firmly packed
- 7 Tablespoons butter melted, salted
BANANA CREAM PIE FILLING
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 egg large yolks
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 3 Tablespoons butter cut into pieces (softened)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 banana
- ¼ cup lemon juice or lime juice
HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM
- ¾ cup heavy cream very cold
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
CRUST
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
- Place wafer cookies in the basin of a food processor and pulse until mixture is nothing but crumbs²
- Add brown sugar and pulse until combined.
- Add crumbs to melted butter (in a medium/large bowl) and stir until mixture is evenly combined and crumbs are moistened.
- Transfer crumbs to a 9 ½” pie plate and use the clean bottom of a measuring cup to tamp crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate to form the crust.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 13 minutes. Prepare your banana cream pie filling while your pie crust cools completely.
- Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized, heavy duty saucepan until combined.
- Add egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream and whisk until all ingredients are combined.
- Place saucepan over medium heat and use a whisk to stir constantly until the mixture comes to a simmer/begins to bubble (this can take 10 minutes or so, do not crank the heat above medium or you can ruin your filling).
- Once simmering, continue to whisk constantly and allow to bubble for 1 minute. Once 1 minute has passed, immediately remove from heat and add butter, 1 Tbsp at a time, whisking until melted and combined after each addition.
- Whisk in vanilla extract.
- Pour banana cream pie filling through a fine mesh strainer into a large heatproof bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic wrap is covering the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming) and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
- Once cooled, pour half of pudding mixture into your prepared pie crust and spread evenly.
- Slice 2 bananas and dip each slice in lemon or lime juice³. Gently pat dry and place bananas in an even layer over the first layer of pudding. Top banana slices with remaining pudding and smooth with spatula.
- Cover the surface of the pie with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator. Chill at least several hours.
- Once you are ready to serve (or several hour before serving), prepare whipped cream. Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl (preferably a metal bowl that you’ve chilled in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes) and use an electric mixer to beat until stiff peaks form⁴.
- Dollop or pipe⁵ whipped cream over chilled pie and slice⁶ and serve. Enjoy!
- If desired, serve topped with homemade whipped cream and pipe or dollop whipped cream
Notes
- Vanilla wafer crust can be substituted with graham cracker or standard pie crust; bake accordingly.
- If no food processor is available, crush cookies by placing in a bag and smashing with a rolling pin.
- Coating banana slices with lemon or lime juice helps prevent them from browning quickly.
- For detailed guidance on homemade whipped cream, consult a dedicated tutorial.
- Chilling the pie for about 30 minutes before slicing can help achieve neater slices but is optional.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8slices
Amount Per Serving
Calories 796 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1slice | |
| Calories | 796kcal | 40% |
| Carbohydrates | 78g | 26% |
| Protein | 7g | 14% |
| Fat | 52g | 80% |
| Saturated Fat | 29g | 145% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 256mg | 85% |
| Sodium | 519mg | 22% |
| Potassium | 290mg | 6% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 49g | 98% |
| Vitamin A | 1677IU | 34% |
| Vitamin C | 6mg | 7% |
| Calcium | 120mg | 12% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.9
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