Banana Cream Pie
4.3
(151)
Most homemade banana cream pie recipes use fresh bananas in some capacity; this version takes it to the extreme. For the pie filling, you’ll stack sliced bananas with layers of vanilla custard, per usual. If you’re feeling extra, you may choose to scatter some freshly sliced bananas on top of the pie when you go to serve. But where this recipe really excels is in the pie shell: Regular old graham cracker crust (itself undeniable) gets an upgrade with a portion of mashed banana folded into the crumbs and melted butter. The result is a slightly chewy pie crust loaded with banana flavor. Indeed, this dessert screams “banana” from top to bottom. For a pie that mimics your favorite banana pudding, you could even swap out the graham crackers for vanilla wafers, no other adjustments necessary. (Pro tip: Blitz the crust ingredients in your food processor for maximum ease.)
Ethereal, light homemade whipped cream is the ideal garnish (much better than store-bought alternatives at contrasting the dense, rich custard). But if you want to change things up, drizzle on an easy caramel sauce, hot fudge, or nutty tahini magic shell.
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What you’ll need
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Pie Pan
$23 At Williams Sonoma
Cuisinart 14-Cup Custom Food Processor
$250 At Target
4 Quart Saucepan
$200 At Amazon
Kuhn Rikon 10-Inch French Whisk
$18 $15 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1½ hours plus chilling
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
Crust
Filling and Assembly
Preparation
Crust
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 350°. Whisk 2½ cups graham cracker crumbs and ⅓ cup (67 g) sugar in a large bowl to combine. Add ¼ cup mashed banana and mix with a rubber spatula to combine. Pour in 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, and mix until crust mixture is evenly moistened.
Step 2
Press mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9½"-diameter glass or metal pie plate. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Step 3
Bake crust until set and golden, 14–16 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.
Filling and Assembly
Step 4
Whisk ½ cup (100 g) sugar, ⅓ cup cornstarch, and ¼ tsp. kosher salt in a heavy medium saucepan to combine. Slowly pour in 1½ cups heavy cream and 1½ cups whole milk, whisking constantly until combined. Add 3 large egg yolks one at a time, whisking vigorously until mixture is smooth after each addition. Scrape in seeds from ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, then add pod.
Step 5
Place saucepan over medium-high heat and cook custard, whisking constantly and making sure to get into corners of pan, until bubbling and thickened, 5–7 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter and 1 tsp. vanilla extract; remove and discard vanilla pod. Scrape custard into a medium bowl and let cool, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.
Step 6
Stir custard to loosen if needed. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of crust. Layer with half of 5 ripe bananas, sliced crosswise ¼" thick. Spread another 1 cup custard over bananas, making sure to cover bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and custard. Press a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pie. Chill until custard is set and crust is slightly softened, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Step 7
Cut pie into wedges and garnish with whipped cream and more sliced bananas if desired.
Do ahead: Pie shell can be baked 2 days ahead of time; wrap well and keep refrigerated or freeze for up to 3 months. Banana Cream Pie can be assembled, without whipped topping, up to 2 days ahead of time; keep chilled.
Editor’s note: Head this way for more of our favorite pie recipes →
Leave a Review
Reviews (151)
Back to TopUpdate: I've made this twice for different occasions now, and both times it was a hit! One was for a potluck at work, and my co-worker said it was 'the bomb' :) I dollop the whipped cream around the side of the pie, then drizzle with caramel sauce in a zig-zag pattern over the top!
foofoodie
9/28/2019
If you are a confident starch + egg yolk custard maker you'll be ok with this recipe. I am not a confident custard maker. My custard appeared thick and ready to take off heat. I followed the recipe carefully. It did take more than 6 minutes for my custard to start to thicken, maybe 10. I cooled it and stirred occasional as instructed. I assembled and refrigeated the pie.... and 3 hours later ... yup SOUP... just like everyone else who said avoid the recipe. I managed to save it by scraping it all out, saving the crust and adding a package of jello instant pudding. The bananas got all mixed in. Put it back in the frig and 2 hours later it was slice-able. If I do it again I'll cook the custard more and take it's temp before taking off heat. I may practice making 'from scratch' custards before attempting this again. There's a pretty good explanation of why egg + starch based custards fail to set here: www.craftybaking.com/learn/baked-goods/custard/problems-and-solutions.
alukasik
Lowell, MA
7/24/2017
Regarding the comments about the filling not setting up, the recipe calls for whisking during the entire 6 minutes of cooking. Try whisking to combine and then switch to a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula. Corn starch is fragile and a whisk can break the threads, causing them to fail to hold. Corn starch only requires 1 minute to set up once it reaches a boil (more like a plop-plop in the case of pudding), so try cutting down that time to 1-2 minutes. Over cooking corn starch also causes it to break down. My rating of the recipe is based on poor instructions only.
sisterchef
Dallas, Texas
7/7/2017
This was an AMAZING pie!!!! The banana in the crust made it taste like candy!
erettke
Lynchburg, VA
5/10/2015
Loved the banana in the crust. Would be delicious with a chocolate cream filling. The filling thickened fine but was way too sweet for our taste. Glad I didn't waste a vanilla bean on this, just used more extract.
merylsue
Hollywood, FL
4/12/2015
I followed the recipe exactly; the pie was easy to make and the custard boiled and thickened right around the 6-minute mark as the recipe stated. The custard itself was very good, if subtly flavored. However, the assembled pie was bland and lacked texture--the overall taste and feel is of mushy banana. I think the banana puree in the crust is part of the problem--the pie would be much better with a plain graham cracker crust that stays crunchy/sandy and has its own flavor. This crust is soft and tastes of banana--just like the filling. I do love banana cream pies, just not this one.
anoncook
2/3/2015
far from a soup if you cook it long enough, im 23, and male with no prior cooking skills really and figured this out. crust could be lowered to 2, 1 3/4 gave you barely enough for the top crust area. custard before bananas tastes great, can't wait to make it again.
kempson
bellingham, wa
9/23/2014
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