With a cookie dough like crust and a peanut butter pudding, this Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie is ultra luscious! It’s naturally gluten free and dairy free, and can be made paleo by using cashews instead. It’s very similar to the classic banana cream pie, but with a nut butter flavor combo that’s definitely irresistible. This pie is also a no bake make ahead option so it’s super easy for entertaining.
I love getting requests for recipes because more often than not, it takes me outside my comfort zone and into ideas I would’ve never had myself. This peanut butter banana cream pie is just such a recipe request. I often make my No-Bake Banana Cream Pie or these Deep Dish Peanut Butter Cheesecakes Brownies, (which are a spin off peanut butter pie).
But I really would’ve never thought to combine the two flavors on my own. However, it makes perfect sense though because these two flavors are a classic combination. And classics are ‘classic’ for a reason, they simply never get old.
This pie really should have been called double peanut butter banana cream because the filling is peanut butter flavored, but so is the crust. The crust is like peanut butter cookie dough, which is every bit as good as it sounds.
Then thinly sliced bananas are layered in along with creamy peanut butter pudding. And finally it’s topped with more sliced bananas, and whipped cream of course.
The texture of the pudding is just firm enough to barely hold up as a slice, (see photo above). But also soft enough to be gently sliding over the edges of the crust as it sits on the plate. In other words, my idea of pudding perfection!
Now let’s make this Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie step by step!
Tip for a Paleo pie: Simply replace anything peanut or peanut butter in this recipe with cashew for a paleo version. Cashews make a great crust and cashew butter with it’s incredible rich flavor is perfect with bananas.
First off, you start by making the the peanut butter cookie crust in the food processor. And after the peanuts have been ground into a fine consistency…
… you add a touch of maple syrup and vanilla to make a cookie dough like texture.
Then you pat it into a 9″ pie plate and refrigerate until the pudding is ready. For the pudding, you want to refrigerate it after it’s cooked until it’s either room temperature, or fully chilled before assembling the pie. The reason for this is the bananas, they take on a cooked flavor, and turn brown if hot pudding is poured over them.
Once the pudding has been chilled, it’s time to assemble the pie. Start by adding a layer of thinly sliced banana on the bottom.
Then pour the cooled pudding over the top. From here, cover it tightly and refrigerate for 6-8 hours or until fully set.
Tip: When you’re making this pie for dinner, start it early in the morning so there’s plenty of time for it to set up by dinner time.
Then when you’re ready to serve the pie, finish it off by decorating the top with sliced bananas and whipped cream. To make little whipped cream stars around the edges, place the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a star shaped piping tip.
Then squeeze stars in a border around the edge. If you don’t have a pasty bag, you can use a Ziplock with a small corner snipped off where you can insert your piping tip.
More pie recipe inspiration:
- Paleo S’mores Pudding Pie
- Truffle Chocolate Cream Pie
- No Bake Banana Cream Pie
- The Best Paleo Pumpkin Pie
- Paleo Blueberry Cream Pie
I hope you get a chance to make Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie soon. And if you do, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here in the comments. And for all my dessert recipes, head on over to the recipe index.
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Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 1–9” pie or 8 slices 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
With a cookie dough like crust and a peanut butter pudding, this Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie is ultra luscious! It’s naturally gluten free and dairy free, and can be made paleo by using cashews instead. It’s very similar to the classic banana cream pie, but with a nut butter flavor combo that’s definitely irresistible. This pie is also a no bake make ahead option so it’s super easy for entertaining.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Crust:
2 1/2 cup toasted peanuts, 12-13 ounces, no added salt or sugar, sub in cashews for paleo
1/4 Teaspoon sea salt
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Pudding:
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1 can coconut milk
pinch of sea salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter, sub in cashew butter for paleo
Coconut Whipped Cream:
2 cans chilled coconut milk, see notes
1–2 Tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
Toppings:
3–4 just ripe bananas
1–2 Tablespoons peanuts for decoration, optional, sub in cashews for paleo
Instructions
To make the peanut butter cookie dough crust, place the peanuts and salt into a food processor, and process until the texture is mostly fine with some uneven pieces remaining. Then add the maple syrup and vanilla extract.
Process again until the mixture starts to clump and stick in the machine. If the mixture appears too dry to clump together, add a small amount of water 1 tablespoon at a time until it will stick together.
Place the peanut butter cookie dough crust into a 9″ pie plate, and pat it evenly into a pie crust. Cover and refrigerate the crust while you prepare the rest of the pie.
Make the peanut butter pudding by first whisking together the maple syrup and tapioca starch in a medium sized saucepan until no lumps remain. Then add the coconut milk and pinch of sea salt.
Place the saucepan over high heat, and whisk constantly just until the mixture comes to a boil. Then immediately remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and peanut butter until completely combined.
Transfer the pudding to a container with an airtight lid, and refrigerate until it’s room temperature or chilled.
Then make the coconut whipped cream by scraping the hardened cream off the top of both cans, reserving the liquid for another use like a smoothie.
Then with an electric mixer, whip the cream on high speed until it becomes fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Finally, add maple syrup to taste, a pinch of sea salt, and vanilla extract. Whip the cream again on high speed for 1-2 minutes, then transfer it to a container to be refrigerated.
When the pudding has cooled to room temperature, remove it from the fridge. Measure out 3/4 cup of the coconut whipped cream, and fold it into the pudding until it’s completely combined.
Then remove the crust from the refrigerator and thinly slice 1-2 bananas to layer across the bottom of the crust. You’ll need more or less bananas depending on their size. I used 1.5 for the bottom layer, and 1.5 for the topping for a total of 3.
Pour the pudding over the top of the sliced bananas. Then cover the pie tightly and refrigerate it for 6-8 hours, or until it’s firm enough to slice.
When the pie is thoroughly chilled, remove the remaining whipped cream from the refrigerator. From here you can either put it into a pastry bag fitted with the tip of your choice to pipe a design around the edge. Or you can spread it with a swirly pattern in the middle of the pie.
Finally, thinly slice 1-2 bananas to decorate the top with, and sprinkle with peanuts if desired.
Notes
I’ve found refrigerating the cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator door to give the best results with coconut whipped cream. It’s not quite as cold as other parts of the fridge, and I’ve had consistent results since I started doing this.
This is a very rich and luxurious pie, so you might enjoy half a slice!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
I may or may not have a tear in my eye because this is glorious and kind of my dream dessert. Banana and peanut butter belong together!!
Yes they definitely do, I sure hope you enjoy it!
This looks so completely dreamy!! I am not even huge into banana things, but with the peanut butter, swoon!!!
You could always just make peanut butter pie without bananas!;)
Wow, that peanut butter pudding!!!! 🙂 So pretty too!
Thank you, I’ve been loving the pudding so much, I’ve actually made it without the crust!
I love cream pies and this one won my heart, Kari. Excellent combo of nutrient-dense ingredients. I loved that you use coconut milk and maple syrup! 🙂
I love cream pies too, they’re just so comforting and delicious!
Peanut butter and banana! That ‘s a combo lots of us have loved since we were little kids. Crunchy crust, creamy filling and coconut whipped cream–a great recipe!
Thank you, I still eat peanut butter on bananas for breakfast sometimes, it just never gets old!