Banana Pudding Pie

My husband loves Banana Pudding. And who wouldn't? Have you ever made homemade pudding before? Hello! It's easy and fabulous and beats the pants off the powdered stuff in a box! So you layer up velvety, homemade vanilla pudding, sweet bananas, crunchy vanilla wafer cookies, and fluffy whipped cream. This alone is a fabulous dessert. So I thought to myself, what would make this even better? Stuffing it into a pie crust of course!

I had been tinkering with this recipe concept for quite some time just waiting for the perfect gathering to finally showcase it. So we celebrated Easter this year with family and this stunning Banana Pudding Pie!

Couple of notes to the chef...

1. Between the bananas, pudding, wafers, and whipped cream, there's a lot you're trying to pack into one pie crust. So reach for a deep, like 2 to 3 inches kinda deep, pie dish or tart pan.

2. Do not use over ripe bananas. You want bright yellow bananas for this pie. Otherwise the bananas will weep into your pudding causing you to subsequently weep into your pie.

3. I won't tell if you opt to use a storebought pie dough. But please do yourself a favor and make your own pudding. It's the essence of a Pudding Pie afterall!

4. If you're making this in advance, wait until the day-of to top the pie with the final flourish of whipped cream, sliced bananas and crushed cookies. This way your whipped cream will remain fluffy, your bananas yellow, and your cookies crunchy.

Banana Pudding Pie

Ingredients

For the pie

· 1 9-in pie crust, storebought or homemade

· 5 very yellow bananas, sliced

· 3-4 oz vanilla wafer cookies

For the pudding

· 6 egg yolks

· 6 tbsp cornstarch

· 3 cups whole milk

· ¾ cup heavy cream

· ¾ cup sugar

· ¼ tsp salt

· 1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

· 3 tbsp butter, softened

For the whipped cream

· 3 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

· 1/3 cup powdered sugar

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.

For the pie…form the pie crust into a deep, fluted pie dish or tart pan. Using a fork, dock (prick) the pie crust. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Cover the parchment with baking beans or pie weights. Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and parchment paper and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the crust is fully cooked and golden brown. Allow the crust to cool to room temperature.

For the pudding…whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch in a medium, heat safe bowl until smooth. Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and salt in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Bring the milk mixture to a simmer over medium low heat. Simmer for about 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is heated through. While whisking, very slowly drizzle about 2 cups of the warm milk mixture into the yolks. Constant whisking and slow addition will help to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Once fully combined, while whisking, slowly add the yolk mixture to the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan. Continue to whisk and cook the pudding over low heat until the pudding has thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla bean paste and butter. Once the butter has melted, cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

If serving immediately, prepare the whipped cream. Otherwise, wait to prepare the day-of so the whipped cream does not deflate. For the whipped cream…add the cream to the bowl of a standmixer. Slowly increase the speed of the mixture until the cream begins to thicken. Then beat on high for several minutes until the cream is whipped and stiff. Sprinkle over the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat for another few seconds just until the sugar is incorporated.

To assemble the pie, spread a scant amount of cooled pudding over the bottom of the cooled crust. Arrange slices of about 2 bananas evenly over the layer of pudding. Spread half of the pudding evenly over bananas. Top the pudding with a layer of wafer cookies, followed by another layer of about 2 sliced bananas. Top the bananas with the remaining pudding and smooth into an even surface crust to crust.

If serving the pie immediately, continue to build the pie. Otherwise, cover the surface of the pie with plastic wrap so a pudding skin does not form and chill.

Spoon over half of the whipped cream into the center of the pie. Using an offset spatula, smooth the cream to the edges of the pie and shape into a dome.

Spoon the remaining cream into a piping bag fitted with a large round or star-tip nozzle. Pipe the cream around the edges of the pie. Decorate the pie with the remaining slices of banana and crushed up wafer cookies.

Chill for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours before serving.

Serves 10

Gluten Free Friendly!

For this recipe, pick up your favorite GF storebought pie crust or make your own. Swap the wafer cookies for your favorite GF brand – ours is Kinnikinnick.