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Incredibly delicious Banoffee Pie made with a buttery Graham cracker crust and filled with slices of banana, dulce de leche, and whipped cream. This classic British dessert is super easy to assemble and is totally addicting. Once you taste the delicious banoffee flavors you won’t be able to resist!
Banoffee Pie is a classic English dessert that gets its name from the ingredients used: banana and toffee! It’s absolutely delicious, made with a Graham cracker crust and filled with bananas, dulce de leche (toffee), and a generous helping of whipped cream. I love to add a layer of toffee bits which adds texture and flavor. I mean who could say no to extra toffee? Garnish it with slices of banana or chocolate shavings for the ultimate dessert.
If you’ve never tried banoffee pie before you are seriously missing out. Check out my step by step recipe tutorial below including important notes on ingredients and all my top tips. Also, don’t forget to check out my recipe video (in the recipe card) where I walk you through the whole recipe! Love the sound of this dessert? You’ll also love my Dulce De Leche Cake, and Sticky Toffee Pudding!
“This pie is DIVINE! Made this for Easter and everyone can’t stop raving about it. This is a new favorite of mine and it’s quick and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!”
Bridget
What You Need To Make This Recipe
Graham crackers – I use graham cracker crumbs for the base of the pie. You could also use digestive biscuits, vanilla wafers, Biscoff cookies, or shortbread. When I tested this with Biscoff, I found that I needed slightly less butter to hold the crumb mixture together than when I use graham cracker crumbs. My graham cracker crust recipe has more details on making the swap and how to do a pinch test to make sure your crust is just right.
Butter – I use unsalted butter to bind the graham crackers together. If you use salted butter make sure to omit the additional salt in the recipe.
Brown sugar – I find that brown sugar is best for the base because it not only adds moisture to help pack everything together but it adds a caramelized flavor too. I have made it with granulated sugar with great results, too, if you don’t have brown sugar.
Dulce de leche – traditionally, condensed milk is heated to make toffee or dulce de leche but for convenience, it’s easier to buy a jar of it. You should be able to find it in the international foods aisle or with the other canned milks in the grocery store. Can’t find it? Don’t worry: follow my recipe for making homemade dulce de leche with a can of sweetened condensed milk!
Bananas – you want an even layer of sliced bananas in this pie. Make sure they are ripe but not overly bruised or they will be too sweet and the banana texture will be too soft.
Whipping cream – banoffee pie is topped with a pillow of whipped cream. Don’t be shy; just layer it all on!
Granulated sugar – I mix this in with the whipped cream to add sweetness. You can also use powdered sugar if you prefer.
Vanilla – make sure to use real vanilla extract and not essence as it doesn’t have a nice flavor. This is a great use for your bottle of homemade vanilla extract, or use vanilla bean paste if you would like little specks of vanilla bean throughout the whipped cream.
Toffee bits – a layer of toffee bits really takes this dessert up a notch. If you can’t find them though, don’t worry, you can leave them out. Or, crush up a toffee candy bar!
How To Make Banoffee Pie
1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl. This make the foundation of the graham cracker crust.
2. Pour in the melted butter then mix with a spatula until well distributed. I like to do the pinch test here to be certain my crust will hold together. To test, squeeze about a tablespoon of the mixture in your fist, then release. If the clump holds together, it’s good to go. If it crumbles apart, stir in another tablespoon of melted butter and test again.
3. Spread the mixture in your pie dish and use a measuring cup or flat-bottomed glass to press down into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Bake until slightly darkened and fragrant. When I tested this, the crust only needed 8 minutes. Since all of the ingredients are already safe to eat, you’re just heating it enough to slightly melt the sugar so all of the crumbs stick together and the crust holds it’s shape when sliced.
4. Pour about one and a half cups of dulce de leche into the baked pie shell and spread to cover the bottom. The dulce de leche should spread easily out of the can, but I have found that if my kitchen is cold, I need to slightly warm it. 10 seconds in a bowl in the microwave does the trick!
5. Fill the pie with sliced bananas. I found that if you press the slices in at an angle so they go into the dulce de leche, you get more banana in every bite!
6. Sprinkle with toffee chips orver the bananas, and drizzle over more dulce de leche, you can add about 1/4 cup or more if desired. Please note that you can add more toffee chips on top if that’s a flavor you enjoy!
7. To make the whipped cream topping, add the cold cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla to a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.
8. Pile the whipped cream on top of the pie and sprinkle over any desired toppings. Chill the pie in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes for you serve or chill until ready to slice.
Top Tips For Making This Recipe
You’ll need a 9-inch pie dish or cake pan to make this recipe. In testing, I used a 9″ pie pan that was 1½ inches deep.
If you don’t buy a box of graham cracker crumbs, you can blitz the crackers or cookies of your choice in a food processor to get fine crumbs, or pop them in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
The crust should be just lightly browned on the edges when it’s done baking. Don’t overtake it or it’ll be too hard.
Make sure to let the crust cool completely before filling. If not, the heat will transfer to the filling, making the dulce de leche soft and the bananas release liquid. That extra moisture can make the crust soft or soggy and fall apart when slicing.
You must use dulce de leche or make your own by heating up sweetened condensed milk. Don’t be tempted to use caramel sauce because it won’t set properly in the fridge and will be too runny.
Let the pie chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before topping with cream. This helps the filling set faster.
You don’t need to be neat when adding the whipped cream on top. It’s best to just dollop it on and make sure it’s covering the filling underneath. It should be pillowy and rustic looking.
Make sure the bananas are completely covered in the filling to stop them from turning brown.
If your bananas are already browning too quickly, you can squeeze a very small amount of lemon juice on top to stop it but don’t go crazy we don’t want to taste the lemon flavor.
Let the banoffee pie chill in the fridge to firm up slightly. Otherwise, it’ll be a little tricky to cut into slices.
I like to garnish this pie with shaved chocolate. If you haven’t made chocolate shavings before it’s quite easy. Use a sharp knife to scrape thin pieces from a bar or block of chocolate then sprinkle them over the pie.
Looking for more garnish ideas? Why not try sprinkling over some nuts such as hazelnuts or peanuts, slices of banana, or more toffee bits.
When cutting into the pie, it’s possible you won’t get a perfect cut like regular pies since the filling is soft. When I tested this pie, I found that the longer it chills (up to about 4 hours), the more stable the pie is for slicing. But at least 30 minutes is still long enough to get a good slice. And this is an easy, rustic pie so don’t worry if your edges aren’t perfectly sharp; it will taste delicious no matter what!
Frequently Asked Questions
Banoffee pie was invented at the Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex by Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding. They were improving upon another pie recipe which used dulce de leche and toffee. The addition of bananas was a game-changer, which created this delicious dessert.
If you can’t find dulce de leche you can make it easily with sweetened condensed milk and nothing else. It’s super easy to make and my recipe gives you two options, boiling or baking. Check out my tutorial that shows you how to make homemade dulce de leche.
Yes, you can prepare the crust in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. If you prepare the whole banoffee pie with filling I only recommend doing so 1-2 days in advance, covering the pie, and topping with whipped cream shortly before serving.
When I tested this, I kept the whole assembled pie in my fridge for 4 days. I sliced it each day, and after 2 days, the whipped cream was deflating and had released some liquid, making the crust soggy.
If the cream on top of your banoffee pie is runny it means you haven’t whipped it for long enough. Make sure the cream is whipped enough to semi-stiff peaks.
You also need to use a thick caramel toffee (dulce de leche) and not a runny caramel sauce or it won’t set in the fridge. Always chill the pie before cutting and serving.
Banoffee pie will last up to 2-3 days in the fridge. If you’re cutting into the pie and saving the rest for later expect some movement from the filling. It might look a bit messy but will still be delicious.
You can freeze the crust with no issues but I don’t recommend freezing the whole prepared pie as the bananas will turn soggy and the fillings will lose their creamy texture. Get more details in my Pie Academy guide on How To Freeze A Pie Crust. The same technique for freezing a crimped pie dough shell can be used for a crumb crust.
Banoffee Pie
Equipment
- 9-inch deep pie dish
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (240g)
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted (141g)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (55g)
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 2 cups dulce de leche divided (about 2, 13.4oz/380g cans)
- 3 bananas sliced
- ½ cup toffee bits plus additional, for garnish if desired (120g)
- 1 pint cold heavy whipping cream (480ml)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and salt.
- Firmly press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
- Bake until lightly set, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Pour 1½ cups dulce de leche into bottom of crust. Spread the toffee into an even layer on the bottom of the crust.
- Top with bananas, arranging in concentric circles, and overlapping slightly.
- Sprinkle with ½ cup toffee bits; drizzle with ¼ to ½ cup (78-156g) of the remaining dulce de leche.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the cream and 3 Tbsp. sugar at medium high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
- Spoon the whipped cream over banana layer, and spread it to completely cover the filling.
- For optional garnishes, you can drop teaspoons of dulce de leche over whipped cream layer and swirl using the back of a spoon. Or, add chocolate shavings, banana slices, or more toffee bits on top.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 3 hours.
- Garnish with toffee bits and banana slices.
Notes
- You’ll need a 9-inch pie dish or cake pan to make this recipe.
- You can blitz the cookies in a food processor to get fine crumbs, or pop them in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- The crust should be just lightly browned, don’t overtake it or it’ll be too hard.
- Make sure to let the crust cool completely before filling.
- You must use dulce de leche or make your own by heating up sweetened condensed milk. Don’t be tempted to use caramel sauce because it won’t set properly in the fridge and will be too runny.
- You don’t need to be neat when adding the whipped cream on top it’s best to just dollop it on and make sure it’s covering the filling underneath. It should be pillowy and rustic looking.
- Make sure the bananas are completely covered in the filling to stop them from turning brown.
- If your bananas are already browning too quickly you can squeeze a very small amount of lemon juice on top to stop it but don’t go crazy we don’t want to taste the lemon flavor.
- Let the banoffee pie chill in the fridge to firm up slightly otherwise, it’ll be a little tricky to cut into slices.
- I like to garnish this pie with shaved chocolate. If you haven’t made chocolate shavings before it’s quite easy. Use a sharp knife to scrape thin pieces from a bar or block of chocolate then sprinkle them over the pie.
- Looking for more garnish ideas? why not try sprinkling over some nuts such as hazelnuts or peanuts, slices of banana, or more toffee bits.
- When cutting into the pie you won’t get a perfect cut like regular pies since the filling is soft.
- Storage – the pie will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- Freezing – the crust can be frozen for up to 3 months but I don’t recommend freezing the prepared pie.
Nutrition
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More Recipes To Try
If you love this pie, try one of these dessert recipes next:
- Banana Cream Pie: a flaky pie crust filled with vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, and whipped cream.
- Banana Pudding: a no-bake dessert layered with a quick vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, and Nilla wafers.
- Bananas Foster: skillet caramelized bananas, flambéd with a touch of rum, and served with vanilla ice cream.
- Key Lime Pie: a classic pie with a graham cracker crust and an easy sweetened condensed milk and lime juice filling.
- Coconut Cream Pie: a chilled coconut custard pie topped with billowy whipped cream in a flaky pie crust.
If you’ve tried this banoffee pie recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
