Recipe for Banana Cream Pie
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.
Servings: 8 servings
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
Instructions
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.