Banoffee Pie

Banoffee Pie is a decadent classic British dessert with layers of graham cracker crust, dulce de leche, banana slices, vanilla whipped cream, and chocolate shavings. 

I made some dulce de leche to make this banoffee pie recipe I found on Food and Wine for my husband’s birthday. The recipe takes time, but it’s worth the effort and is so rich, decadent, and delicious. We all loved the buttery graham cracker crust with the rich, sweet dulce de leche and thought the banana slices and salty vanilla whipped cream made this pie extra special.

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:

• 1¼ cups of dulce de leche (click here for the recipe)  **Homemade is best for this recipe because store-bought dulce de leche can be too runny
• 2 large firm bananas, peeled and sliced into rounds

 Crust:

• Softened butter or cooking spray
• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs, (about 12 crackers)
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt

Whipped Cream:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean pod)
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

Garnish:

• Shaved semi-sweet or dark chocolate

Make the dulce de leche (click here for the recipe).  Side Note: This process takes 4 hours (3 hours cooking/1 hour cooling)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a round pie dish or tart pan with butter or cooking spray.

Make the crust by combining the graham crackers, melted butter, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; blend until completely smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pie dish, pressing evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.

Bake the crust until browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes, rotating the pie plate halfway through baking time.

Place the Crust on a wire rack, and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Assemble the pie by pouring the cooled can of dulce de leche (1¼ cups) over the cooled pie crust, spreading it out evenly.

Next, top with banana rounds in a single, tightly spaced layer over the dulce de leche.

Make the whipped cream by combining the cold cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in the bowl and beating with a hand mixer until medium-stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Immediately spoon the whipped cream over the bananas and spread it out smoothly.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours to allow it to set.

To serve, garnish with shaved chocolate, slice, and enjoy!