Banana cream pie has been my favorite type of pie since I was little, it’s creamy, full of bananas, and this version has a buttery graham cracker crust. Follow our recipe, and tips and tricks for the best version of banana cream pie you’ll ever have.
Everyone is sure to love this Banana Cream Pie Recipe
My favorite pie at the Thanksgiving dessert table is always a banana cream pie. And until this year I’ve always just gone the easy route and used a pudding mix based filling for my banana cream pie. But not any more.
This banana cream pie recipe is made completely from scratch. There are no boxes, no mixes, and no shortcuts. But I promise it’s easy to make!
Now I personally think cream pies are better with a graham cracker crust, and apparently so do the majority of people. I did a poll on my instagram and facebook pages, and with over 300 answers over 75% said that a graham cracker crust was better. So, I stuck with my favorite graham cracker crust.
So you’ll start with a buttery and crunchy graham cracker crust. Then the pie is filled with a homemade creamy pudding, that is cooked on the stove top. Layered with lots of banana slices and topped with fresh whipped cream. This is the banana cream pie of your dreams.
Banana Pie Recipe ingredients
This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this banana pie recipe from scratch. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- graham cracker crumbs
- white granulated sugar
- melted butter
- salt
- cornstarch
- whole milk
- egg yolks
- vanilla extract
- large bananas (sliced)
- heavy whipping cream
Choose a Crust for Banana Cream Pie
You’ll start with the pie crust. The pie can be made with a
- traditional pastry crust – You can use a refrigerated pie crust from the grocery store, though I promise homemade is better for this.
- graham cracker crust – For the graham cracker crust, you’ll need graham cracker crumbs, a little sugar, and melted butter. Crush up your graham crackers with a food processor or high powered blender.
- cookie crust options – A cookie crust keeps this pie totally no bake and even easier to make
How to Make Banana Cream Pie from Scratch
- Make the pie crust. For my recipe I use a graham cracker crust, because I love the buttery sweet flavor and crunchy texture. Blend the graham crackers in a food processor, then mix them with sugar and butter. Pour the sandy textured mixture into the pie pan and press it down to cover the bottom and sides of the dish.
- Make the pudding filling. Combine the sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a medium pot and whisk them together. Add in the milk, and whisk it into the mixture. Bring it to a low boil. Once the mixture starts to simmer, lower the temperature and continue to cook it for a few minutes until it starts to thicken.
- Temper the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl, then add in 1/4 cup of the pudding mix stirring it into the eggs, then another 1/4 cup. Scoop the mixture back into the pudding in the pot and let it come to a low boil over medium low heat.
- Continue to thicken. Once a couple bubbles pop in the pudding, let it keep cooking for a few minutes until the pudding is thickened. The pudding won’t thicken a ton in the fridge, so you want it pretty thick on the stove.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add in the butter, and vanilla and stir them into the pudding.
- Cool. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap, pushing it directly on top of the pudding so it doesn’t get a skin, and place it in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.
- Fill the pie crust. Spread the sliced bananas into the prepared pie crust. Then cover it with the cooled pudding. Chill the pie for several hours, or overnight.
- Make the whipped cream. Beat the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Then pipe the whipped cream on top of the pie.
Tips for the best Banana Pie
- You can start the pie with any pie crust you prefer. A traditional pastry crust like in my blueberry pie, you only need 1 pie crust. Or a graham cracker crust, like called for in this recipe. A crust made with Nilla Wafers or Golden Oreos would be really delicious too.
- The pudding will thicken as it cooks. Make sure you give it enough time on the stove to fully thicken. It will thicken a bit more as it chills in the fridge, but if the pudding is runny in the pot it will most likely still be runny when cooled.
- You can also use banana extract instead of, or in addition to the vanilla extract for a stronger banana flavor in the pie.
- For a creamier and fluffier pie filling, you can fold 1 cup of whipped cream (1/2 cup whipping cream whipped) into the pudding mixture before adding it into the pie crust.
- Dip your banana slices in lemon juice before layering them in the pie, to keep them from browning when the pie is cut into.
- The filling is a stove top cooked pudding, which can mean it can be a little messy when slicing. For neater slices, throw the pie in the freezer for about 30 minutes before slicing.
How to store Pie with Banana Cream
All cream pies should be kept in the refrigerator. Wrap the pie carefully in plastic wrap in a pie plate, and you can store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. The longer it is in the fridge the bananas may get more soft and start to weep some extra liquid out.
Homemade Banana Cream Pie FAQs
Because the banana slices are covered quickly they will not be at high risk for oxidation (this happens with the banana slices are in contact with the air), and should not turn brown.
If you are worried about them turning brown you can brush both sides of the banana slices lightly in lemon juice. The citric acid in the lemon juice will slow down the oxidation process.
There are a few reasons a banana cream pie can be runny, but the main reason is that the custard filling is undercooked. The custard will only thicken slightly more when chilled in the fridge, so continue to cook the custard until it practically reaches the desired thickness.
The biggest culprit behind a cream pie that doesn’t set is an undercooked custard. The custard needs to bubble, and then cook for several minutes until thickened, and almost as thick as you’d want it once chilled. If your custard does not start to thicken after chilling in the fridge (but before spreading in the crust) you can try adding it back into a pot and cooking it longer on the stove to let more liquid evaporate, and help it thicken more.
This pie seems like a lot of steps, but I broke each of them down into really simple steps in the recipe to make this extra easy for you. I promise it’s really not too hard and it’s so tasty!
This banana cream pie is so delicious! It’s loaded with so many bananas, lots of whipped cream and the perfect rich pudding filling. It’s perfect for serving up with Thanksgiving dinner. Or it’s a great refreshing dessert for a backyard barbecue. Or perfect to go with Easter dinner.
Looking for more cream pie recipes?
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Ingredients
For the Graham Cracker Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from 10-12 graham cracker sheets)
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 6 TBS butter (melted)
For the Pudding Filling:
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large bananas (sliced)
For the Whipped Cream on Top:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 3 TBS white granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
Instructions
For the Graham Cracker Crust:
- If you're using whole graham crackers, blend them up in a high powered blender or food processor, to make a fine crumb.
- Mix together graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl.
- Pour in the melted butter and stir well to combine to make a nice sandy like texture.
- Pour the graham cracker mixture into a 9inch pie dish and press down evenly to cover the bottom, and up the sides of the pie dish.
- Put in the fridge until firm, at least 15 minutes.
For the Pudding Filling:
- Add the sugar, salt, and cornstarch to a medium sized pot, and whisk them together.
- Pour in the milk, and whisk it into the sugar mixture.
- Heat the mixture over medium high heat, and bring to a low boil.
- Once bubbles appear, lower the temperature to medium low and cook for another few minutes, while stirring often, until the mixture starts to thicken.
- Whisk your egg yolks in a separate medium sized bowl.
- Add 1/4 cup of the hot pudding mixture to the egg yolks. Whisk it together. Add another 1/4 cup of the pudding to the eggs and whisk it together.
- Scoop the egg mixture back into the pudding mixture in the pot. And let the pudding come back to a low boil over medium low heat.
- Once a couple bubbles pop, cook for a few more minutes as the mixture keeps boiling, until the pudding is thickened.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, and butter.
- Cover the pudding with plastic wrap, pushing the plastic wrap directly onto the top of the pudding.
- Place in the fridge and chill for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Spread a small amount of the pudding into the prepared pie crust.
- Spread sliced bananas over the top of the pudding.
- Add remaining pudding to the pie crust and cover with plastic wrap again.
- Chill for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.
For the Whipped Cream on Top:
- In a medium or large bowl, add your heavy cream and beat it until stiff peaks are formed. A stand mixer, or hand mixer work best.
- Add in the sugar and vanilla and beat until they're mixed in.
- Top the pie with fresh whipped cream as desired.
Dot Galas says
I’ve made this twice now. I don’t add sugar to the crust just butter and graham crackers. It’s plenty sweet. The first time I made exactly as directed only I used four egg yolks. The second itinerary I wanted a larger pie so I used three cups of milk and almost a half cup corn starch The key is low heat and to have patience. The slower it cooks, the water from the milk evaporates. Then start adding the egg yolks. I’m take about a cup of the mixture and let it cook enough to add the egg yolks slowly beating the whole time. Less of a chance for the eggs to cook in the hot mixture It set up perfectly. I also used four bananas.
Aimee says
Thanks for the tips! So glad you love it
Jessica says
I’ve had my filling in the fridge now for almost 2 hours and it’s not setting. It was super thick when I put it in now it’s runny. How can I thicken this up?
Aimee says
I would try cooking it on the stove top again, maybe adding in a little more cornstarch, mix 1 TBS cornstarch with 1 TBS water then add that in and cook it again. I’m not sure why it would get more runny in the fridge.
Aimee says
Sorry, wasn’t thinking with my first comment, you can try scooping off the pudding and cooking like I said, or try freezing the pie and eating it frozen so it is solid.
Mel says
Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of milk? Do I still need to to add the cornstarch?
Aimee says
You’ll still need cornstarch to thicken the mixture, I’m not sure you could substitute that much cream for the milk, but you might be able to do a partial substitution.
Rich says
Unfortunately this recipe do not work out for me. The pudding never set up; it was very runny.
Mary says
Came out delicious!
Mads says
I followed this to a T and my pie turned out like garbage. Poor directions that don’t make sense.
Aimee says
So sorry it didn’t work for you, was the custard runny? or what was the problem?
Steamed Egg says
I love banana, and also banana foods, include banana pie, e.g. hahaha
Annie says
I don’t see bananas listed anywhere in the ingredients (other than optional mashed.) I’m going to just start slicing to my heart’s content.
Aimee says
Oops! I used 2, but use as many as you want!
Nancy says
I’ve been baking for 50+ years & am considered to be quite good -after reading the comments I altered a couple of things-however-I was disappointed with the results!! I cut down the sugar slightly & the milk down to 2 cups-added a touch more cornstarch-cooked the pudding longer & it was still not very firm!! Quite disappointing
Aimee says
So sorry Nancy! Sounds like I’ll have to rework the recipe to get it to work for more people :/
Renee Bauwens says
This was so good! It worked out perfectly for me. I read the other comments so just made sure to cook it long enough until it had the right texture and wasn’t too watery. It was longer than 2 minutes. When I make this again I won’t add sugar in the crust as it was a bit too sweet for me. I might reduce the sugar in the filling as well. I didn’t add the mashed banana in the filling and I’m glad. The sliced bananas added plenty of banana flavour. Great recipe, thank you!
janet says
yuck… I wasted my time… was so runny and tasted like old sour milk
Aimee says
So sorry it didn’t turn out for you, if you read the tips, it says you need to make sure you cook it until it’s thick in the pot, because it only thickens a little bit more in the fridge.
Cinthya says
The filling was so yummy , but still runny even after refrigerating it over night and freezing it for 30 minutes before serving . Any suggestions ?
Aimee says
Aw dang it, I’m not sure if you could do anything at this point – my guess is it didn’t quite thicken enough when cooking :/ so if you do decide to make it again I think I’d cook it a minute longer, and make sure it’s really starting to thicken when you do – maybe raise the stove top temp a teeny bit to help too