Banana Cream Pie Recipe
This Banana Cream Pie has a homemade crust, a layer of fresh bananas, and a creamy, silky custard filling. Top it with some whipped cream and get ready to dig in!
If you like bananas, then I bet you are going to love this pie. It’s loaded with bananas and a creamy custard filling. Let’s take a look at how to make this banana cream pie recipe at home.
Ingredients
For this delicious banana cream pie, you need the following ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Vegetable shortening
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Salt
- Cornstarch
- Unflavored gelatin
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla
- Bananas
- Whipped cream
How To Make Banana Cream Pie
The first step in making this pie is making the crust. The pie crust is made with all-purpose flour, salt, vegetable shortening, and cold water.
Combine the flour, salt, and shortening in a mixing bowl. It’s best to use a stand mixer or handheld mixer if you have one. Slowly add the ice-cold water until the dough starts to form a ball.
Roll the pie crust dough out on a lightly floured surface. You want to form a circle large enough to fit your pie pan, which should be about 9-inches in diameter. You can get fancy, if you’d like, and crimp the edges of the crust to make it look pretty.
Next, it’s time to pre-bake the pie crust in an oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s best to line the pie crust with some parchment paper and pie weights or dry beans. This will help to keep the crust from forming air pockets.
Bake the pie crust for 15 minutes. Once the crust has cooled, remove the pie weights/beans and parchment paper.
Next, it’s time to make the custard filling. You do this by combining milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, corn starch, and gelatin in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. You need to whisk it often until it starts to thicken.
Remove the custard base from the heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Set it aside.
Now that the crust is ready and the custard filling has been made, it’s time to start layering the pie. Slice the bananas into uniform pieces and place them on the pie crust. Go ahead and make two layers, because the more bananas the merrier, right?
Pour the custard on top of the bananas and use a spoon or spatula to smooth it around. You want to make sure all of the bananas are covered.
I recommend that you place the prepared pie on a rimmed baking sheet and then bake it at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
I don’t judge you for wanting to try the pie after it comes out of the oven, but it needs to cool so that the custard can finish setting up. Chill it for a few hours or overnight for the best results.
If you are like me, you like pies. One of my favorite pie recipes is my Mini S’mores Pies. Others that I like and you might, too, are Strawbery Pie with Cream Cheese, Pecan Pie, No-Bake Coconut Pie, and No-Bake Mocha Pudding Pie.
When you’re ready to serve it, garnish it with whipped cream and additional banana slices.
Does banana cream pie need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Because this pie has a custard base, it is very important to refrigerate it. It will last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Note: bananas naturally start to turn brown once they have been exposed to air. To help minimize the banana slices from browning on the top, squeeze some lemon juice over them before placing them on the pie.
Do not freeze this banana cream pie.
Can banana cream pie be made with a graham cracker crust?
Absolutely! Depending on the depth of the graham cracker pie crust, you might be able to make two pies with this pie filling recipe.
Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust Ingredients:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup vegetable shortening
- 3-6 Tablespoons ice-cold water
Pie Filling Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 4-6 ripe bananas sliced
Optional, to serve:
- Whipped cream and sliced bananas
Instructions
- Place top oven rack in the center position and pre-heat oven to 400°F.
- Use a stand or hand-held mixer to prepare the pie crust. Add the flour, salt, and shortening in a medium-size bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the ice-cold water a little at a time, until the dough clumps together and can form a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch diameter. Fold the dough in half and then in half again and transfer to a 9-inch diameter deep-dish pie plate. Press the dough down into the pie pan. Trim if there is more than ½ inch of excess dough hanging over the edges. Fold the edges of the dough under, and then crimp together with your thumb or a fork.
- Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dry beans. Blind bake (aka “pre-bake”) the crust in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the crust from the oven and remove the dry beans or pie weights. Set aside.
- To make the filling, combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, corn starch, and gelatin in a large saucepan. Stir until well blended and heat over medium-low heat while whisking often. When the custard has thickened and becomes difficult to stir, turn the heat off and stir in the butter and vanilla. Set aside.
- Slice the bananas and line the bottom of the pie crust with two layers of sliced bananas. Pour the custard over the bananas and smooth the custard out throughout the pie.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- When the baking time finishes, remove pie from oven and cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator. Chill for a few hours or overnight before serving.
- To serve, top with whipped cream and additional banana slices, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Be sure to come back and tell us how your banana pie turned out!
Here’s a lesson for ya: always proofread your comments BEFORE you post! I just read the comment I posted a minute ago and it sounds so mean. I’m going to try again. This time I’ll be more thorough and hopefully won’t sound so harsh.
I was so excited for this pie. I didn’t know custard could be so easy to prepare. Other recipes make it so complicated. The custard was so delicious when it was still warm that I couldn’t wait for the pie! But unfortunately the pie wasn’t good. I thought it was weird that a custard recipe called for gelatin, especially since it also calls for cornstarch as well. When it was time to serve it, it had set up and was very firm, even firmer than the bananas. Nobody liked it and it ended up in the trash. It calls for 1oz of gelatin, but that’s too much. Maybe 1/4 oz (one envelope) instead of 1 oz (four envelopes). I’ll probably try it again using less gelatin (or none at all), and it will probably be excellent. After all, the custard was really good 😋
I really appreciate you coming back again to comment and I really hate that it did not turn out well. I looked online after you left your comments to check other recipes for the amount of gelatin and others have 1 1/2 teaspoons. I have updated the recipe to reflect a lesser quantity and will re-make the recipe with the corrected amount just to make sure that it works (and because I don’t want anyone else having a banana pudding pie that is crap).
I am going to send you a personal email, too.
I threw this pie in the garbage. I thought it was weird that a cream pie called for gelatin and I was right. It ruined an otherwise delicious custard. I was so excited for this pie, but after it was cooled and ready to serve it had set up and was so firm. The custard was firmer than the bananas in the pie. It would’ve been delicious without the gelatin. Just leave that out of it!
Thanks for your comment. I am sorry that the results were not to your liking. I will test the recipe in the near future without using gelatin and see how it turns out.