Banoffee Pie

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A traditional English dessert made with bananas, dulce de leche, and whipped cream atop a crunchy graham cracker crust.

A new year, a new monthly recipe.

That’s right– 2022 will be the year of pies.

For 6 years now, I have hosted a monthly recipe based around one theme.

In 2017, it was cakes. We did muffins in 2018. In 2019, it was all about bread. In 2020, we did brownies. And in 2021, we did all the no bakes!

I don’t have nearly enough pie recipes on my site, so we’re remedying that, gathering all our pie supplies, and gearing up for a year full of all different kinds of pies in all kinds of crusts with all kinds of fillings and with all the delectable toppings.

So let’s kick this off with a banoffee pie recipe, something you all asked for almost as quickly as I was able to decide on all this pie business!

The word banoffee comes from a combination of the words “banana” and “toffee” which of course, are two of the most important elements of the pie!

You’re probably thinking, “hold up. You just said dulce de leche. What is this toffee business?” And (I promise) I’m not trying to throw you for a loop here.

In the UK, toffee refers to a wide variety of desserts involving caramelized sugar. And so, since dulce de leche is a cooked and caramelized sweetened milk, we have an end product that falls into the “toffee” category in the UK.

You learn something new every day, huh?

For the base of the pie, you’ll need graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar.

Then, for the filling you’ll need bananas and a can of dulce de leche.

Finally, you’ll craft a pillowy topping of whipped cream with heavy cream, sugar (powdered if possible), and a touch of vanilla extract.

I know. Soooo simple, right?

There are essentially 4 layers of the pie: graham cracker crust, banana slices, dulce de leche, and whipped cream.

Who doesn’t love a thick, buttery graham cracker crust? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I think I could just eat the crust all by itself!

If you’re looking for a complete how-to, I go into detail in my graham cracker crust recipe, giving you ALL my tips and tricks for getting the perfect graham cracker crust.

But the basic rundown is this: combine your graham cracker crumbs with butter and sugar, either by hand or in a food processor.

Then, press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of your pie dish. I like to use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the crumbs in tightly, ensuring that the crust doesn’t crumble when I go to cut a slice of this decadent banoffee pie.

Then, you’re going to bake the crust, which binds it together and gives the crust some added structure.

As a side note, if you can’t find graham crackers, you can make your own, OR use 1 and ½ cups of crushed digestive biscuits in place of the graham cracker crumbs in the recipe. So simple!

Since we’re using fresh banana, there are some things we need to consider when purchasing and selecting the bananas used in the recipe.

Firstly, make sure your bananas are newly ripe. That means your bananas should have little (if any) green, but absolutely no black spotting.

This can be a delicate balance to strike, but there is some wiggle room. It’s better to buy your bananas a little under ripe, and allow them to ripen on the counter, than to buy them just ripe enough, since bananas can go downhill quickly.

Bananas that have spotting will release liquid into the pie much more rapidly than just-ripe bananas, meaning that the quality and storage time of your banoffee pie will go down considerably.

For the best results, make sure to use bananas that are still firm, mostly yellow, and free from spots.

Save any spotted bananas for recipes like my Bananas Foster cake, banana bread pudding, salted caramel banana bread, and banana nut muffins. And of course, the classic banana bread, which is perfect for making and stashing in the freezer if you have too many bananas to contend with.

Once you’ve selected the best quality bananas from your bunch, slice them and arrange them in overlapping layers on top of your baked and cooled graham cracker crust.

Dulce de leche translates to “candy made of milk” and is exactly that! It’s created by slowly heating a sweetened milk mixture (most often sweetened condensed milk) until it is caramelized, thick, and spreadable.

As amazing as it is, it can actually be difficult to find in smaller grocery stores and rural areas. Even some bigger cities are lacking this sweet delicacy. But don’t despair! You can totally make your own dulce de leche with just ONE ingredient.

In fact, I have an entire post dedicated to showing you how to make your own homemade dulce de leche. So if you can’t find it, or want to try your hand at making it from scratch, that’s always an option.

Simply pour the dulce de leche on top of the banana layer, and spread it out evenly with a spatula. If you’re having trouble pouring your dulce de leche, simply warm it in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up.

Once your dulce de leche is evenly spread, pop it into the fridge for at least an hour before proceeding to the whipped cream layer. This chilling step gives it a chance to firm up, meaning that the whipped cream has a solid foundation and won’t sink or blend into the banoffee pie filling.

Now, I like to make my whipped cream with powdered sugar. Not only does this make for an ultra smooth, silky result, but it also acts as a stabilizer. Whipped cream that has been stabilized stores better, and for longer periods of time without becoming runny.

To make the whipped cream layer of the banoffee pie, add your heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract to a stand mixer or medium bowl. Using the whisk attachment (for the stand mixer) or an electric hand mixer, whip until medium peaks form, or about 4-5 minutes. It couldn’t be easier!

If you’ve never made your own whipped cream before, be sure to check out my homemade whipped cream post detailing the step-by-step instructions to getting perfect whipped cream every single time. I promise, it’s so easy, and the results (and taste testing opportunities) are worth it!

Using an offset spatula or knife, spread your whipped cream on top of the chilled dulce de leche.

Once the whipped cream is evenly distributed over the pie, place it back in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

Once your pie has finished chilling, you’re ready to get to the BEST part of all: eating!

I knew I liked all the components separately, but I didn’t really know how it would all come together and whether or not it would impress me, wow me, or just “yeah, ok, yum” me.

I was actually completely blown away by just how good this pie was. It reminded me of a slightly sweeter (in a good way) banana cream pudding.

All those textures happening at one time, the smooth bananas and whipped cream, the crunchy and buttery graham cracker bits, and the creamy dulde de leche that got into every bite… It blew me away with how good it was. It may even be in my “top 10 desserts of all time” list now.

Some popular toppings I’ve seen are shaved chocolate, banana slices, toffee bits, peanuts, and even a warm drizzle of additional dulce de leche. If you want to get crazy, you can pick any combination of those toppings to enjoy with your banoffee pie.

If you’re serving this to company, you could even set up a topping station with bowls of crushed peanuts, toffee bits, banana, chocolate, or anything else your heart (and tastebuds) desires!

Your slices will definitely shift around a little bit, meaning it is less picture-perfect than most pies. But what it lacks in presentation, it makes up for in taste. Because oh boy, is it delicious.

This shloopy, creamy, and sweet pie is soft, pillowy, and an absolute JOY to eat. I wouldn’t make it stiff and upright even if I could, but if you really want a pie that is more on the firm side, you could always make your dulce de leche a bit thicker.

Even with a thicker dulce de leche, banoffee pie will always be a little bit on the gooey side, since that is the nature of dulce de leche and is a traditional feature of the pie. In my opinion, it’s better to just roll with it and dive right in… With a napkin close by, of course.

I’m anxious to share more of my pie recipes with you, so stay tuned to see what I’ll be sharing each month. I know one thing for sure: it’s going to be one delicious year!