Sweet, creamy, and full of flavor: this Homemade Banana Cream Pie is everything you want the classic dessert to be, and it’s surprisingly easy to make at home!
We spent the week before last in Anaheim so, as is customary when before we go out of town, I looked around the kitchen and took mental inventory of the food I needed to use before we left. We had bananas on the counter and heavy cream in the fridge, and I’d been planning to get Banana Cream Pie up on the blog. Perfect!
Of course, we didn’t need an entire Banana Cream Pie – or even more than a slice or two. Luckily, there seems to be no shortage of people I can text with the offer of free pie. There’s always someone willing to take one off my hands, and they don’t even mind if I’ve removed a slice or two for photo (and tasting) purposes.
I am so happy I made time to share this recipe with y’all. You could definitely use a store-bought graham cracker crust, but homemade is easy and tasty. The same goes for the pie filling; store-bought banana pudding mix will do in a pinch, but it can’t compare to the flavors you’ll develop with my homemade version. And, of course, homemade whipped cream is ten times better than anything you’ll find in a tub at the grocery store.
Homemade Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
6 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
For the Banana Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tsp vanilla
4 bananas, divided
For the Whipped Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter for the graham cracker crust in a large bowl. To the butter at the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar; mix well. Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a nine-inch pie pan, using a drinking glass to pat them down. Bake the crust for eight minutes and then allow it to cool; turn off the oven.
While the crust is baking, mash two of the bananas and slice the other two. To make the filling, you’ll combine the sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, and heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir constantly. Once the mixture boils, allow it to thicken (this will happen quickly) and then remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, the vanilla, and the two mashed bananas.
Pour half the filling into the pie crust and layer the sliced bananas over the top. Pour in the rest of the filling. Cover the pie with plastic wrap, being sure to press it directly on the surface of the filling (this will keep the pie from developing that icky film homemade pudding tends to get).
Refrigerate the your Banana Cream Pie for three at least three hours or, ideally, overnight. Meanwhile, make the whipped cream by combining heavy cream and powdered sugar and mixing on high until it’s nearly the thickness of whipped cream. Add the vanilla and finish whipping, and then spread the whipped cream over the chilled pie. Top with more sliced banana, if desired, but make sure to do that immediately before serving.
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