Banana Cream Pie - made easier! - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

This Banana Cream Pie is made with a homemade pie crust, lots of fresh bananas and a secret ingredient in the homemade custard filling that takes it to the next level!

*This post is generously sponsored by Egg Farmers of Canada and I was compensated for my time in creating this recipe. All opinions are my own. For more information, check out eggs.ca.

Happy almost-Easter weekend, friends!

I’m squeezing in one last Easter dessert for you, and I guarantee that it is easy enough to prep that you’ll still have some time to put your feet up! (Plus I’ve included tips to make it even easier if you really need to cut yourself some slack)

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but my cream pies are at the top of my list when it comes to dessert picks.

A fruit pie?

I could pass.

But smooth and silky custard with chocolate or peanut butter or lemon or coconut or over bananas? Take your slice and just pass me the pan.

What makes homemade pudding pie filling so luscious and thick is all of those glorious eggs.

Eggs play a central part in our Easter celebrations around here: from breakfast (this ham quiche or this breakfast casserole are favorites!), to dinner, to dessert (these Sunny Side Up Pavlovas are on my list to try with family and friends this year!).

We love eggs because they are delicious, nutritious and they’re an essential part of so many of our favorite recipes (and non-recipes — it’s “scrambled eggs for dinner” night around here often!).

Another thing we love?

Knowing that the eggs we grab — from the local grocery store to the big chains — are all fresh, Canadian eggs, thanks to the farmers from coast to coast that work year-round to keep Canadians well-fed.

What forms will your eggs take this Easter weekend? Devilled? French toast? Casseroles, cakes or quiche? Share your creations on social media and use the hashtag #Eastertaining to join in the fun!

How to make Banana Cream Pie:

In an attempt to live up to The Recipe Rebel name, I like to cut a few corners to make delicious food even easier to get on the table. So while this isn’t the most traditional method for making homemade banana cream pie, it works (and if you don’t believe me, believe Cooks Illustrated).

1. Make our pie crust: I use a simple, homemade pie crust in this recipe, but I’ve included a few cheats below if you’d like to skip this step or you’re short on time. The keys to homemade pastry are cold butter and a good chill in the fridge. To make this step even easier, I like to roll our my pastry on a piece of wax paper for easy clean up and an easy transfer.
2. Bake our pie crust: you can either place a piece of parchment paper on top of your pastry and add pie weights on top to prevent shrinking, or you can poke it all over with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Both methods work, and there are pros and cons to both.
   • Pie weights are more effective, but can be a little more finnicky since you still have to remove them to bake the bottom of the pie crust.
   • Docking the pie crust, or giving it a good poke, I have found to be less effective in preventing shrinking and bubbling, but it’s a little easier.
3. Make your filling: this is the easy part! Mix everything together, then cook gently and stir, stir, stir.
4. Add your bananas: I like to stir them into the filling so that they are all coated and I get an even distribution.
5. Top with sweetened whipped cream — not optional.

How to make this easy Banana Cream Pie even easier:

• You can swap out the homemade pastry with a simple homemade or even store bough graham cracker crust (or go chocolate!).
• You can swap out the homemade pastry with a refrigerated pie crust, simply roll it out and bake as directed in the recipe.
• I don’t condone skipping out on the homemade custard filling (you guys — there is no comparison!), but I suppose it could be done.

Variations on this Banana Cream Pie recipe:

• I add a little bit of smooth peanut butter to my filling at the end, because peanut butter and bananas are meant to be together. However, you can absolutely skip this part and the rest of the recipe won’t change at all.
• Add a tablespoonful of cocoa powder (at the beginning) or a handful of chocolate chips (at the end) to the custard filling for a chocolatey twist — even better if you’re also including the peanut butter!
• Swap the sweetened whipped cream for the homemade marshmallow creme from this S’mores Pie.
• Grab a can of dulce de leche (or make your own) and spread a good thick layer in the bottom of your pastry before adding your filling for a Banoffee twist!

More banana recipes you’ll love!

Got extra bananas? Try this luscious Homemade Banana Pudding or our favorite snack — this Healthy Banana Bread.

If you’ve got a little extra time on the weekend, try making a big batch of Healthy Banana Bread or Banana Oatmeal Muffins to stash in the freezer for easy breakfasts throughout the week.