Banana Cream Pie

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.

1. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Add egg yolks, milk, and heavy cream and whisk until well-combined.
2. Cook over medium heat and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla extract until butter is melted and mixture is smooth.
4. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove any possible lumps.
5. Let filling cool. Cover with plastic wrap so it doesn’t develop a thick film on the surface.
6. Once cooled, pour half of banana cream pie filling into prepared graham cracker crust.
7. Layer evenly with bananas. To keep the bananas from browning, dip them in lemon juice and pat them dry before layering in the pie.
8. Top with remaining half of filling.
9. 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!

• Chocolate Pie
• Peanut Butter Pie
• Chocolate Icebox Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Buttermilk Pie

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

My Banana Cream Pie 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!

Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO just below the recipe! 

4.91 from 30 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1 hour hour

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 5 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 slices

Calories: 796kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

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

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Instructions

CRUST

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
• Place wafer cookies in the basin of a food processor and pulse until mixture is nothing but crumbs²
  65 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

¹I like using this vanilla wafer crust to make banana cream pie, however it also tastes great when made with a graham cracker crust (bake according to instructions in recipe) or in a standard pie crust (blind-bake according to instructions).

²If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the cookies by placing them in a large bag and thoroughly smashing them with a rolling pin or mallet until they’re reduced to crumbs.

³Once you slice your bananas, they'll begin to brown almost immediately. Dipping them in acidic lemon or lime juice helps to keep this from happening too quickly.

⁴For detailed information and photos on making homemade whipped cream, please see my how to make whipped cream post.

⁵You can of course use any tip, but I used an Ateco 848

⁶⁵Banana cream pie filling is essentially a pudding, which can make slicing a little messy. For neater slices (like you see in my pictures) you can pop the pie in the freezer for about 30 minutes before slicing. This is not required, though (except for showing off that pretty banana layer in the middle!).

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 796kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 256mg | Sodium: 519mg | Potassium: 290mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 1677IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

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