The Best Banana Cream Pie
- PREP 20min
- COOK 30min
- TOTAL 50min
Our easy homemade banana cream pie recipe calls on a simple vanilla cookie crust, fresh sliced bananas, sweet and creamy vanilla custard, and enough whipped cream to make you do a happy dance. Of all the classic desserts on Inspired Taste, this easy cream pie with fresh bananas is our favorite!
We recommend cooling the baked pie to room temperature before chilling it in the fridge overnight. The night in the refrigerator helps the custard set and gives the bananas time to infuse the custard with banana flavor.
You Will Need
Banana Cream Pie
10 tablespoons (140g) salted butter, melted
2 ⅔ cups (310g) crushed Nilla Wafers, one 11-ounce box, see notes for substitutes
4 to 5 medium bananas
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (32g) cornstarch
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch fine sea salt
1 cup (235ml) heavy cream
1 cup (235ml) whole milk
Whipped Cream Topping
1 ½ cups (355ml) heavy cream
2 tablespoons (14g) powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dark chocolate, optional for grating on top
Directions
Make the Crust
Preheat the oven to 275°F (135 °C). Choose an 8-inch or 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (false-bottom pan). Lightly coat the bottom and sides with cooking spray or grease with butter.
Use a food processor or a Zip top bag and a rolling pin to crush the Nilla wafers into fine crumbs. You are looking for the texture of coarse sand.
Melt the butter and pour it into a mixing bowl with the crushed wafers. Stir until the crumbs are moistened.
Press the crumb mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides of the tart pan using your fingers. To pack the crumbs down even more and create a smooth crust, use a tall glass or measuring cup to press the mixture inside the pan. To help prevent the crust from crumbling later, run a spoon along the edge where the bottom and sides meet to smooth out any bumps and create a rounded edge. See Joanne do this in the video.
Make the Custard
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla until everything is well blended and smooth.
In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk over medium heat until it gently simmers. Look for tiny bubbles just breaking the surface.
While continuously whisking the egg mixture in the bowl, slowly drizzle in a small amount of the hot cream and milk mixture. Keep whisking as you gradually add more of the hot liquid until everything is combined. Now, carefully pour all the contents of the bowl back into the saucepan.
Turn the heat to low and cook, while whisking, until the custard thickens to the consistency of runny pudding, about 5 minutes. If your custard becomes lumpy, push the lumpy custard through a mesh strainer, see our troubleshooting tip in the article.
Bake the Pie
Thinly slice two bananas and line the bottom of the crust. Pour the warm custard over the bananas, letting it settle around them naturally. You can gently shake the pan to help the custard fill any gaps.
Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. When gently nudging the pan, the custard should be slightly jiggly in the center (think a gentle wave). Don’t worry if you see a few cracks on top, that’s normal.
Let the pie cool completely at room temperature. Then, cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate it overnight.
To Finish (the next day)
Remove the pie from the tart pan and place onto a serving platter.
Use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to beat 1 ½ cups of heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until medium peaks. When holding up a whisk or spatula, the tip of the peak should barely flop over.
Slice two more bananas and cover the top of the pie with them.
Cover the bananas with the whipped cream, swirling it like a cloud. Use a fine grater or a vegetable peeler to shave dark chocolate on top. Serve and enjoy within 2 days. Store leftover banana cream pie in the refrigerator.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Unsalted butter: To use unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt to the butter as it melts.
- Cookie crust substitutes: Nilla wafers are a classic vanilla cookie widely sold in the US. If you cannot find them, try another vanilla cookie, shortbread cookies, or animal crackers in their place. For a different flavor, use graham crackers or ginger cookies. Chocolate cookies will also work for a chocolate crust.
- Lumps in the custard: We try to prevent lumps in the custard by slowly tempering the hot milk and cream into the egg mixture. If your custard has lumps, don’t worry! All you need to do is strain the custard through a sieve.
- Do I need to pre-bake the crust? No, we bake the crust filled with the custard before cooling and chilling in the refrigerator.