Banana Cream Pie Recipe

A flakey homemade butter crust holds creamy vanilla custard with fresh bananas above and below all topped with a giant mound of whipped cream! This pie is hard to beat and will be a home run even if you’re not a big banana fan!

How to Make Banana Cream Pie

1. For the pie crust; preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Whiz together. Grate in chilled butter and drizzle in ice cold water. Mix using a fork.
2. Roll the pastry dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap or a ziplock bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. With a rolling pin, on a well-floured surface, flatten out into a circle at least 1 inch larger than the pie pan, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough so it doesn’t stick to the board. Fold the dough in half and ease it into the pie pan without stretching at all and unfold to fit the pan. With a small sharp paring knife, cut the dough 1 inch larger around than the pan. Fold the edge under and crimp the edge with either your fingers or the tines of a fork.
4. Dock your pie crust. Add tin foil to keep your pie crust propped up. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
5. Make the egg wash by mixing the egg and a dash of heavy cream together. Take out the tin foil and brush the crust with the egg wash.
6. Now dock the pie crust with a fork or sharp knife and add a tent of foil around the sides. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 then reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake until the center is golden. Once the center is golden, remove the pie crust from the oven and set aside
7. For the Filling; whisk the dry ingredients together add milk and whisk again. Cook over medium-high heat until thickened while whisking continuously.
8. Slowly drizzle a cup of the hot milk mixture into the beaten eggs to temper them. Add the egg mixture back into the pot while whisking and cook on medium an additional 2 minutes.
9. Stir in butter and vanilla then mix until dissolved. Cover and chill to bring to room temp.
10. For the Whipped Cream Topping; add heavy cream, sugar and vanilla to a stand mixer. Whip on high until you reach soft peaks. Add the whipped cream to the top of the pie and smooth slightly.
11. Add a thin layer of custard to the base of your cooled pie shell. Slice bananas and place on bottom.
12. Use the rest of the custard filling to fill the pie shell, and whipped cream and more bananas on top.

Pro Tips For this Recipe

• You can make this pie a day ahead, served chilled and it will be delicious!
• If you want to make the pie 2-3 days ahead just add the bananas and whipped cream before serving. Fresh bananas will get brown and mushy in a few days so best to add before serving.
• I LOVE this pie drizzled with a chocolate ganache or sprinkled with some toasted coconut on top. Have them both prepared when you serve so guests can play with some options.
• You can add a tablespoon less cornstarch to the filling for a softer texture. It’s a delicate balance between texture and stability!
• This pie works well with a cookie crust too so feel free to experiment!
• Use vanilla bean paste for an extra hit of vanilla and lovely visual from all those tiny seeds floating throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep the bananas from turning brown?

Brush your bananas lightly with a bit of citrus juice. Lemon works well as does orange and even pineapple. If you don’t want to introduce another flavor to your banana cream pie then consider slicing and arranging the banana on top just before serving.

Should banana cream pie be refrigerated?

You should definitely refrigerate banana cream pie as it is filled with dairy, which should not be left out for longer than an hour or so. Cover with a large cloche or arrange some tin foil loosely over the pie and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Can I make it in advance?

Banana cream pie can be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated. I recommend filling the pie crust with the filling then adding the bananas and whipped cream on top before serving for best results.

If you’ve tried this banana cream pie recipe then don’t forget leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

4.96 from 772 votes

Banana Cream Pie

This is the ultimate banana cream pie; rich, silky, and indulgent yet so light and dreamy. Full of banana flavor with no artificial ingredients!

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Chill time 8 hours hours

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 10 people

Calories 812kcal

Author John Kanell

Video

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

For the Pie Crust

• ▢ 2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour 300g, plus more for rolling
• ▢ 4  tbs  granulated sugar 36g
• ▢ 1/2  tsp  sea salt 3g
• ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter 225g,  chilled
• ▢ 4  tbs  ice water 60mL
• ▢ 1  egg  for the egg wash
• ▢ 1 tbsp cream  for the egg wash

For the Filling

• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 2 egg yolks
• ▢ 1/4 tsp  kosher salt
 2g
• ▢ 1/4 cup corn starch 40g
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 250g
• ▢ 3 cups milk 720mL
• ▢ 1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL
• ▢ 4 tbsp butter 57g, unsalted

For the Whipped Cream Topping

• ▢ 2 cups heavy whipping cream 480mL
• ▢ 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 50g
• ▢ 2 tsp vanilla extract 10mL

For the Assembly

• ▢ 4 bananas sliced

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Pie Crust

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Whiz together. Grate in chilled butter and drizzle in ice cold water. Mix using a fork.
• Roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• With a rolling pin, on a well-floured surface, flatten out into a circle at least 2 inches larger than the pie pan, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough so it doesn't stick to the board. Roll the dough onto your rolling pin.
• Unroll the dough into the pie pan without stretching. Press into pie pan.
• With a small sharp paring knife, cut the dough 1 inch larger around than the pan. Fold the edge under and crimp the edge with either your fingers or the tines of a fork.
• Add a round of parchment paper frilled on the edge onto the crust. Now press tin foil onto the paper, pushing it against the edge of the crust. This will keep your pie crust propped up during baking. 
• Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Take out the tin foil and brush crust with an egg wash, Made with an egg mixed well with a tablespoon of cream. Dock the pie crust.
• Add foil around the sides. Bake another 10 minutes at 425F then reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake until the center is golden, about 15-20 minutes.

For the Filling

• Whisk together the two eggs and two egg yolks in a medium bowl then set aside.
• Add sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium pot. Whisk to combine then pour in milk and whisk again to distribute all the dry ingredients. You don't want clumps!
• Place on medium high heat and whisk continuously until thickened. About 5 minutes or so.
• Once mixture has thickened reduce heat to medium and continue stirring. Cook an additional 6 minutes. then remove from heat.
• Time to temper the eggs! Slowly drizzle in a cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs while whisking vigorously. Add the egg mixture to the pot while whisking and return to medium-high heat for 2 minutes of whisking over heat. 
• Transfer to a large bowl, add vanilla and butter and stir until butter is all melted.
• Cover surface with plastic and chill to bring down to room temperature.


For the Whipped Cream Topping:

• Add heavy cream, sugar and vanilla to a stand mixer. Whip on high until you reach soft peaks.

 I recommend making the whipped cream just before serving but you can do this in advance and chill the whole pie.

For the Assembly

• Use a spatula to smooth a thin layer of the filling onto the bottom of your cooled pie shell.
• Slice two to four bananas and cover bottom of pie with them.
• Pour or spoon the filling into the baked pie shell consistency will depend on how much you chilled the filling. Smooth out, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
• Add the whipped cream to the top of the pie.
• Add more banana slices on top of the whipped cream just before serving.

Notes

• You can make this pie a day ahead, served chilled and it will be delicious!
• If you want to make the pie 2-3 days ahead just add the bananas and whipped cream before serving. Fresh bananas will get brown and mushy in a few days so best to add before serving.
• I LOVE this pie drizzled with a chocolate ganache or sprinkled with some toasted coconut on top. Have them both prepared when you serve so guests can play with some options.
• You can add a tablespoon less cornstarch to the filling for a softer texture. It's a delicate balance between texture and stability!
• This pie works well with a cookie crust too so feel free to experiment!

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 812kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 223mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 223mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 1675IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 3.1mg

*Nutrition Disclaimer

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