This Banana Cream Pie recipe is a year round favorite – Along with Pappy’s Pie Dough in your freezer, and other staples like milk, eggs and vanilla, as long as you can find bananas, you can make this delicious pie for family and friends. Using a traditional cream pie filling, this recipe calls for four medium bananas which strikes a balance between the sweet , smooth vanilla cream and the natural smooth sweetness of the bananas.
We’ve seen recipes using banana pudding instead of traditional cream, but we like the versatility of this cream – plus it uses pantry staples such as milk, flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pods Pappy's Pie Dough thawed but still chilled
4 bananas ripe but firm
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions:
1. Gather ingredients, ensuring that the Pappy's Pie Dough pods have been thawed, but are still chilled. 2.Since you'll be prebaking the shell, pie weights are useful, although you can use dried beans as well.
3. Stack 1/2 pod on top of full pod on a well floured rolling surface. Roll together and out into a 12" circle.
3. Transfer from board to 9" pie pan, ensuring an even amount of crust overhanging the edge of the pan. Trim and crimp with a fork or you fingers.
4. Chill the crust 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line the pie with parchment, then place the pie weights on top of the parchment - make sure they are evenly distributed. Bake on lower rack of the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and continue to bake 10 additional minutes. Cool completely on rack.
5. Whisk flour, sugar and salt together with the milk in a heavy saucepan. Place on medium heat and stir with whisk constantly until it starts to bubble. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until it forms firm mounds or peaks.
6. Stir a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks in a small bowl. This will temper the yolks so they don't turn into scrambled eggs. Stir the tempered yolks back into the rest of the custard. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
7. Slice the bananas about 1/2" thick (or to your liking).
8. Start layering the filling and bananas starting with a few spoons of filling in the bottom of the rebaked, chilled pie crust. Like a lasagne, completely cover the filling with bananas, then filling, then bananas.
9. Make sure the top layer uses the rest of the custard. This layering method ensures your bananas and the chilled custard all stay together when served. Chill at least an hour. You may protect while chilling with a dome, however do not use cling wrap over the custard as it will likely peel off the top layer of this delicious vanilla cream!
10. Prior to serving, whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until hard peaks form.
11. Spread, (or pipe if you prefer) the whipped cream over the top of the pie. Continue to chill until serving time.
12. Slice and enjoy! Keep this pie chilled (if you even have any leftovers!)