Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Homemade Banana Cream Pie

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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!

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.

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!

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Banana Bread Protein Bites

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Banana bread protein bites are full of big banana flavor and filling protein. No gluten, dairy, or added sugar here!

Banana bread protein bites are full of big banana flavor and filling protein. No gluten, dairy, or added sugar here!

I used to make energy bites pretty often, way back before we had kids. I made homemade granola bars, too. It was a period when we had more time than money and I enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, discovering homemade versions of store-bought favorites. The energy bites and granola bars I made were a hit, but sometime around baby number two’s arrival, it just became easier to buy that type of thing.

Fast forward to now. We just welcomed baby number three, but that hasn’t deterred my desire to feed my family more homemade snacks and fewer processed ones. For J and the kids, I want something they enjoy eating and don’t necessarily recognize as healthy. For myself, I want nutritious, calorie-dense snacks that give me the boost I need while nursing.

Banana bread protein bites are full of big banana flavor and filling protein. No gluten, dairy, or added sugar here!

That’s where these banana bread protein bites come in. First, they’re gluten-free (assuming your oats are). They don’t contain dairy or added sugar and, aside from the honey and peanut butter, they get their sweetness mostly from the ripe bananas. The bites themselves aren’t overly-sweet; they won’t be confused with a dessert, but they’re also unlikely to be turned down by my toddlers.

Banana bread protein bites are full of big banana flavor and filling protein. No gluten, dairy, or added sugar here!

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healthy whole wheat blueberry banana muffins

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Healthy whole wheat blueberry banana muffins are lightly sweetened and packed with moist bananas, sweet applesauce, and juicy blueberries.

Healthy whole wheat blueberry banana muffins are lightly sweetened and packed with moist bananas, sweet applesauce, and juicy blueberries.

Let’s be honest. A real blueberry muffin, the kind with white flour and tons of sugar, is nothing more than an unfrosted cupcake. Sure, we like to pretend that muffins are somehow healthier than cake or cookies, but in most cases, they aren’t.

Except for these. Healthy whole wheat blueberry banana muffins are sweetened mostly with bananas that, along with applesauce, keep the muffins moist in the absence of loads of oil or butter. Regular flour is nixed in favor of a heartier white whole wheat version, and each muffin is dotted with juicy blueberries for a pop of freshness.

These muffins are the best kind of healthy; the kind that doesn’t taste like you’re sacrificing anything.

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