Healthy Green Kitchen Banana Cream Pie

Mar 14

2014

Banana Cream Pie

When I was a kid, I spent many a winter and spring break with my maternal grandparents in Arizona. Oh, how I loved those vacations.

I loved the fresh orange juice my grandpa would squeeze for us each morning, playing with my brother at the pool, and shopping with my grandparents. I also loved everything my grandma made us to eat. (My parents owned a pretty fancy restaurant so at home we ate things like confit of duck and scalloped potatoes. At my grandparents we got to eat “normal” food: like tacos and banana cream pie!)

Recently, I was thinking about how much I miss my grandparents. Missing them made me crave banana cream pie something fierce, so I decided to make one.

banana cream pie from scratch | healthy green kitchen

My grandma made her pie with a store-bought crust and vanilla pudding from a box: I thought it was the most delicious thing ever, but I opted to make mine with whole foods ingredients from scratch. (I used the recipe in Joy of Cooking because that’s where I turn for classic recipes.) My daughter helped me make it by slicing the bananas and placing them “just so”.

banana cream pie | healthy green kitchen

The verdict? It was pretty darn delicious and I will definitely be making banana cream pie again! Maybe next time I will change it up a bit, though…see the bottom of this post for some amazing-looking banana cream pie variations from fellow bloggers.

banana cream pie from scratch | healthy green kitchen

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Recipe for Banana Cream Pie

Yield: 8 servings

You can make a crust using cookie crumbs instead of graham cracker crumbs: I may do this (and use either vanilla or chocolate cookies) next time. If you are interested in making your own graham crackers, try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. For a gluten-free graham cracker recipe, you can try the one in this post.

Be warned: this pie doesn't slice neatly! The crust is pretty crumbly and the filling is pretty wobbly...we happily spooned our individual servings into bowls.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

*1 1/2 cups fine graham cracker crumbs (I used organic graham crackers and processed them in a food processor)
*6 tablespoons melted butter (I used organic butter)
*1/4 cup sugar (I used organic sugar)
*1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the pie:

*2/3 cup sugar (I used organic sugar)
*1/4 cup cornstarch (look for one that's gmo-free if you prefer to avoid gmos)
*1/4 teaspoon salt (I used fine sea salt)
*2 1/2 cups milk (I used raw, organic milk)
*5 egg yolks (I used eggs from my backyard chickens)
*2 tablespoons butter (I used organic butter), cut into small pieces
*1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

For the crust:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon.

3. Using your fingers, press the graham cracker mixture firmly against the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown, then cool completely.

For the pie:
1. In a heavy saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in the milk, then whisk in the egg yolks.

2. Bring the mixture just barely to a simmer while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

3. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth, scraping the corners of the saucepan well.

4. Return to the heat and bring back to a simmer. Cook for one minute while whisking constantly, then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and the vanilla. Allow to cool slightly (the filling does not need to be cool to fill the pie; in fact it is better if you do not allow it to cool too much).

5. Thinly slice 2-3 ripe (but not overripe) bananas. Spoon 1/3 of the filling into the crust and place 1/3 of the bananas on top. Add another 1/3 of the filling and then more bananas. Finish with the last of the filling and the rest of the bananas. You can top with homemade (or store-bought) whipped cream, if you like.

Adapted slightly from Joy of Cooking.