Banana Cream Pie
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How to make THE perfect Banana Cream Pie! My recipe is made with a creamy vanilla pudding, flavored with a thick layer of bananas, served on a crisp vanilla wafer crust and topped off with a fluffy crown of homemade whipped cream! Recipe includes a how-to video!
If you just so happen to be scrambling last minute for something completely perfect and delicious to make for Mother’s Day, this Banana Cream Pie is it.
The filling is silky smooth and made completely from scratch (NO pudding mixes or pre-made mix here) and incredibly flavored with a layer of sliced bananas (oh, and I’m going to tell you how to keep them from browning, too). The topping is my simple, thick and fluffy homemade whipped cream (please skip the Cool Whip for this one!).
While I have a few crust options you can choose from for your own banana cream pie, I strongly recommend you try it with the vanilla wafer crust. It pairs perfectly with the banana flavor, and I have a feeling Mom will love it, too.
For the Crust:
For today’s Banana Cream Pie recipe, I opted to use a vanilla wafer cookie crust. I love the way the banana flavor pairs with the cookie flavors (like banana pudding!), but I do have a few other options you can check out:
- Graham Cracker Crust — Bake according to instructions and allow to cool.
- Easy Pie Crust Recipe — this is a classic, nearly fool-proof pie crust. Blind-bake according to recipe instructions then allow to cool before filling.
- You can also try the macadamia graham cracker crust that I use in my Coconut Cream Pie. A fun twist on the traditional!
If you opt to use a store-bought graham cracker crust (the kind sold pre-made in tins, usually sold near pudding mixes) keep in mind these are much smaller and more shallow than the pie plate that I used here, and you’ll have a lot of filling left over.
How to Make Banana Cream Pie
Banana cream pie is easy to make. Each step below corresponds to the numbered step-by-step photo above.
- Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Add egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream and whisk until well-combined.
- Cook over medium heat and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla extract until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove any possible lumps.
- Let filling cool. Cover with plastic wrap so it doesn’t develop a thick film on the surface.
- Once cooled, pour half of banana cream pie filling into prepared graham cracker crust.
- Layer evenly with bananas. To keep the bananas from browning, dip them in lemon juice and pat them dry before layering in the pie.
- Top with remaining half of filling.
- Top with homemade whipped cream. Chill for several hours before slicing and serving.
Easy as pie 😉
I was a little worried when making this recipe that the layer of (just two!) bananas in the center wouldn’t be enough to give this pie an adequate banana flavor. I was wrong. After chilling for a just few hours in the refrigerator, the banana flavor permeates the rest of the pie and it takes on a very distinct banana flavor.
Enjoy!
More Pies to Try!
Check out some of my favorite Pie Recipes!
Be sure to check out my video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 100 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
Banana Cream Pie Recipe
Ingredients
CRUST¹
- 65 vanilla wafer cookies
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
- 7 Tablespoons salted butter, melted
BANANA CREAM PIE FILLING
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) milk
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) heavy cream
- 3 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces (softened)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 bananas
- ¼ cup lemon or lime juice
HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM
- ¾ cup (175 ml) heavy cream, very cold
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
CRUST
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
- Place wafer cookies in the basin of a food processor and pulse until mixture is nothing but crumbs²65 vanilla wafer cookies
- Add brown sugar and pulse until combined.3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- Add crumbs to melted butter (in a medium/large bowl) and stir until mixture is evenly combined and crumbs are moistened.7 Tablespoons salted butter
- Transfer crumbs to a 9 ½” pie plate and use the clean bottom of a measuring cup to tamp crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate to form the crust.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 13 minutes. Prepare your banana cream pie filling while your pie crust cools completely.
- Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized, heavy duty saucepan until combined.¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream and whisk until all ingredients are combined.5 large egg yolks, 1 ½ cups (355 ml) milk, 1 ½ cups (355 ml) heavy cream
- Place saucepan over medium heat and use a whisk to stir constantly until the mixture comes to a simmer/begins to bubble (this can take 10 minutes or so, do not crank the heat above medium or you can ruin your filling).
- Once simmering, continue to whisk constantly and allow to bubble for 1 minute. Once 1 minute has passed, immediately remove from heat and add butter, 1 Tbsp at a time, whisking until melted and combined after each addition.3 Tablespoons butter
- Whisk in vanilla extract.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour banana cream pie filling through a fine mesh strainer into a large heatproof bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic wrap is covering the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming) and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
- Once cooled, pour half of pudding mixture into your prepared pie crust and spread evenly.
- Slice 2 bananas and dip each slice in lemon or lime juice³. Gently pat dry and place bananas in an even layer over the first layer of pudding. Top banana slices with remaining pudding and smooth with spatula.2 bananas, ¼ cup lemon or lime juice
- Cover the surface of the pie with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator. Chill at least several hours.
- Once you are ready to serve (or several hour before serving), prepare whipped cream. Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl (preferably a metal bowl that you’ve chilled in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes) and use an electric mixer to beat until stiff peaks form⁴.¾ cup (175 ml) heavy cream, ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dollop or pipe⁵ whipped cream over chilled pie and slice⁶ and serve. Enjoy!
- If desired, serve topped with homemade whipped cream and pipe or dollop whipped cream
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Turned out fantastic! I substituted TJ’s vanilla paste for vanilla extract. Got rave reviews from my friends on it!
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Jon! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
I’ve had some really good banana cream pies in my 72 years, and this one might make me forget all of them. This pastry cream is ridiculously rich, et has a sense of lightness. The bananas I used are perfectly ripe, but don’t have a lot of flavor, but somehow the cream coaxed some out of them. I used a regular pie crust, because I like it better than crumb crusts for its contrast with the sweet filling, and it worked great here. You know that I’ve made a lot of your recipes, Sam, and this is one of the best.
Did you use your homemade vanilla cookies?
I actually made the vanilla wafer recipe after making this recipe so no I did not, but it would definitely work and be delicious with the homemade wafers. 🙂
I love Sam, her recipes are the best and her videos are so fun to watch. Can’t wait to try this pie recipe!
I hope you love it, Annmarie! 🙂
This was my challenge: can even a guy like me make a banana cream pie. It seemed like a magical mystery. Thanks to SSR, I could. I could make a Banana cream pie! And now, thanks to my son’s insistence, I make a lot of them. Sometimes I cannot get it to set properly, but if I refrigerate overnight it makes all the difference. (Or I just scoop that baby up with a spoon – I’m not picky here, it is excellent.)
Thanks to SSR for making me a hero capable of magical mysterious pies – which, you know, teaching me something like this is a miracle all by itself.
I’m so glad everyone has been enjoying the pie so much! 🙂
I’m not judging, but did you really intend for us to top it with whipped cream (step 17) AND serve it with more whipped cream (step 18)?
I can imagine you doing that with streusel, of course. 😉
🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHOOPS! I will make sure to correct that, but really, you can’t have enough whipped cream. 😉
After your reply, Sam, I went back and read step 18 again, and because of the word “and” in it, it could even be interpreted as adding whipped cream two more times after step 17. This pie is getting expensive! By the way, I’m making it tonight, so I will leave a review afterwards.
I made two of these and everyone LOVED them.
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Robbie! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
This was incredible but my custard was a little bit more runny than I wanted it to be! I will definitely make this again! How do I make sure the custard gets thick enough?
Hi Meaghan! It may just have needed to cook a little bit longer. You can watch me do it in the video to see the consistency to help give you some visual clues. 🙂
Sam. can I make the banana creme pie with dairy free coconut milk
Hi Patricia! We haven’t tried it, so we’re not sure how it would work 😞
I made this for my sister’s birthday, it’s her favorite pie, I made a 2nd for my home , so good and very easy. Iwill never use another recipe the custard is divine. Every recipe I made of yours , I’m never disappointed thank you
I’m so happy to hear this, Melanie! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for letting me know how it turned out for you, I really appreciate it! 🙂
SOooooooo good! Made this for a potluck meal yesterday. No leftovers . 👍It was also National Banana Cream Pie Day! 🍌😁 You are my go-to site for desserts. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Noreen! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
This was best banana cream pie recipe I’ve ever made and I’ve tried several. They usually come out too soupy but this custard stood up great and had delicious flavor. I did use a standard pie crust though that I homemade. This is now my go to recipe!