With layers of banana slices, Nilla wafers, creamy pudding, and whipped cream, this banana pudding pie is like classic banana pudding in a pie crust. It’s so good, easy to make and a bit more elegant way to enjoy banana pudding!
The idea for this banana pudding pie came about while testing some updates to my banana cream pie. I tested that filling with a few different milk combinations, including some sweetened condensed milk. I loved the version of the filling with sweetened condensed milk, but in trying to stick with a more traditional filling for that pie, I decided not to use that version for that pie.
However, it was too good not to use it for something! I really love banana pudding that is made with sweetened condensed milk, so it seemed natural to bring that filling into a banana pudding pie layered with banana slices and Nilla wafers. It was an amazing decision because this pie turned out even better than I imagined, and it is so good!
As much as I love my other banana pudding-inspired desserts, like banana pudding poke cake, I am kind of obsessed with this pie. It’s just so darn good! If you love banana pudding as much as me, this pie will be your jam.
Why I’m So Obsessed With This Banana Pudding Pie
- Smooth, creamy filling. The cream filling is creamy and has the best flavor from sweetened condensed milk. Plus, after sitting, it takes on the banana flavor and softens the cookies. It’s thick enough to slice really well, but still soft and creamy.
- A twist on a classic. This pie really is banana pudding in pie form, from the creamy pudding filling to the layers of fresh banana slices and Nilla wafers. It’s a fun new way to enjoy a Southern classic.
- Perfect for summer. While I certainly plan to enjoy banana pudding pie year-round, I do think the light flavors and creamy texture make it perfect for summer. It’s definitely something different to surprise guests with.
Key Ingredients
Here’s an overview of the ingredients needed to make all parts of this banana pudding pie recipe. The exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Crust
- Flour – I recommend using a scale to measure the flour or, if you don’t have one, the spoon and level technique as described in my post on how to properly measure flour. Too much flour will give you a crumbly crust.
- Salt – For flavor!
- Butter – I use only butter in my pie crust, which I explain in-depth in my flaky all butter pie crust recipe (which this crust is based on). The butter must be COLD when starting the crust.
- Ice water – Yes, ice water, not room temperature or cool water. We are trying to keep the butter as cold as possible while making the pie crust dough.
Filling
- Sugar
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch helps thicken the filling to give it the pudding texture.
- Salt – Don’t skip adding salt! It really enhances the flavors already present.
- Whole milk – While 2% would work too, it won’t be as rich and creamy.
- Sweetened condensed milk – The ingredient that inspired this whole pie! Be sure to grab sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated milk.
- Eggs – This recipe uses two eggs plus two additional yolks, which add richness and creaminess to the filling. Be sure to use large eggs at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla helps balance the banana flavor in the filling.
- Butter – The butter for the filling should also be cold and cubed.
- Bananas – Yes, we’re using real bananas in this banana pudding pie! They should be ripe but have very minimal brown spots, if any.
- Nilla wafers – You can’t have banana pudding without Nilla wafers!
Whipped Cream
- Heavy whipping cream – It must be cold or it won’t whip into stiff peaks
- Powdered sugar – Stabilizes the whipped cream so it won’t wilt, like ever.
- Vanilla extract
- Toppings – I like to top my pie with additional Nilla wafers and banana slices.
How To Make Banana Pudding Pie
Each part of this pie comes together in a few steps. However, keep in mind that both the crust and the pie need to chill for several hours. Be sure to plan accordingly! The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
Make the crust
Pulse 3/4 cup flour and salt 2 to 3 times, then add the butter. Process for about 15 seconds until a crumbly dough forms.
Add the remaining flour. Pulse until everything is evenly distributed and the mixture looks sandy.
Transfer to a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of ice water. Fold the dough together with a spatula. Add more water if needed. It’s ready when you can pinch the dough together and it holds.
Work the dough together then shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Roll the pie crust out between two pieces of parchment paper. Drape over the pie plate and shape the crust. Dock the crust with a fork. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Line the chilled crust with parchment paper then fill with pie weights, dry rice, or beans. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and weights. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.
Make the filling
Layer sliced bananas and Nilla wafers in the pie crust.
Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.
Whisk in the milk. Then, add the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and egg yolks. Whisk until combined.
Heat the egg mixture over medium-low, whisking constantly as it comes to a boil. Whisk and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in the vanilla and the butter until completely smooth.
Add half of the filling to the Nilla wafers. Repeat the layers. Place plastic wrap directly on the pie. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
Whip the whipped cream ingredients on high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag. Pipe on top of the pie and decorate as desired.
Tips for the Best Pie
While this banana pudding pie is quite easy and straightforward, I do have a few extra tips for you.
- Chill the pie crust. The pie crust needs to be refrigerated at two different points in the process. While it may be tempting to skip it, I don’t recommend it. The dough needs to be cold when it’s baked with little pieces of butter scattered throughout to get that perfect flaky texture. See my full post on all-butter pie crust for more.
- Blind bake the pie crust. The crust needs to fully bake (and cool) before the filling is added so the bananas don’t brown. If you don’t have pie weights, rice or black beans work great. See my post on How To Blind Bake a Pie Crust for more.
- Use the right temperature ingredients. Pay attention to which ingredients should be chilled and which ones should be at room temperature. For example, for the crust and topping, the butter and heavy cream must be kept cold – but the eggs for the filling should be at room temperature.
- Press the plastic onto the pudding. Before refrigerating the pie to set, place the plastic wrap directly on top of the pie. This will prevent a film from forming on top.
- Try it with a different crust. I decided to use a pastry crust, because it’s easier to slice and serve and there are already plenty of vanilla wafers in the pie. But if you’d like, you could also make a Nilla wafer crust.
- What about tempering the eggs? I don’t temper the eggs in this recipe. It does fine without doing that and when I tested it with tempering, the filling thickened more quickly with the sweetened condensed milk and made it harder to temper the eggs.
How To Store Leftovers
Banana pudding pie should be stored in the fridge, either covered tightly with plastic wrap or transferred to an airtight container. It’s best enjoyed within 3-4 days.
I do not recommend freezing it, as it will change the texture and the bananas will brown.
More Banana Pudding Desserts
Banana Pudding Pie
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Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups (163g) all-purpose flour (divided)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (112g) unsalted butter (cold, cut into ½ inch cubes)
- 2-4 tablespoons ice water
Filling
- ½ cup (104g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (16g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups (420ml) whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups sweetened condensed milk (one 14 oz can)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter (cold and cubed)
- 3-4 large bananas
- 45-50 Nilla wafers
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream (cold)
- 4 tablespoons (29g) powdered sugar
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Additional Nilla wafers (optional)
- Additional banana slices (optional)
Instructions
Make the crust
- NOTE: I make the crust with a food processor because it’s quicker and easier, but you can also do it by hand by adding the cubed butter to all of the flour and salt and cutting the butter into the flour until it’s all combined and the largest pieces of butter remaining are about the size of peas. Then add the water and continue with the rest of the instructions.
- Add 3/4 cup (98g) of flour and salt to a food processor and pulse together 2 to 3 times.
- Scatter the cubed butter over the flour and process until a crumbly dough forms, about 15 seconds. The flour should all be coated – none of the flour should be dry.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup (65g) of flour and pulse a few times until everything is evenly distributed. The doughy pieces should break up and it should look sandy. There shouldn’t be a bunch of big pieces remaining. A few are fine, but it should be mostly evenly distributed.
- Move the mixture to a medium mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons of the ice water. Start with 2 tablespoons and add from there. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold everything together. The crumbs should begin to form larger clusters. If you pinch some of the dough and it holds together nicely, it’s ready. If the dough falls apart, add 1-2 more tablespoons of water and continue to press until dough comes together.
- Work just enough for it to come together, then shape into a disc. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days.
- When ready to bake the crust, place the pie crust onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover the crust with another piece of parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin.
- Peel one piece of the parchment paper off and use the other piece of parchment to lift the pie crust and drape it over a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Carefully peel off the second piece of parchment paper, then shape your pie crust. This pie has a lot of filling and will fill your pie pan, so you want the crust to go all the way up the sides of the pan. “Dock” the crust by pricking the crust with a fork to allow steam to escape evenly. This helps the crust not bubble up and cook unevenly.
- Refrigerate the crust for 2-3 hours or freeze for about 20 minutes You want to be sure the crust is very cold.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line the pie crust with parchment paper. Be sure the parchment paper presses all the way against the crust so that it’s flush. Fill the pie crust with pie weights, dry rice or beans.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown on the edges. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. If you need to speed up cooling, you can place it in the fridge.
Make the filling
- When the crust has cooled, slice the bananas about ¼ inch thick and add half of them to the bottom of the crust. Cover the bananas with an even layer of half of the Nilla wafers. Set aside.
- Add the sugar, cornstarch and salt to a medium saucepan and whisk together until combined and there are no lumps.
- Add the milk and whisk well to combine. You don’t want any lumps. Add the sweetened condensed milk, eggs and egg yolks and whisk together until well combined.
- Heat mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and comes to a boil. Continue whisking and boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract and butter. Whisk until completely smooth and well combined.
- Immediately add half of the filling on top of the Nilla wafer cookies and bananas added to the crust earlier and spread evenly.
- Add a second layer of bananas and Nilla wafers and top with the remaining cream filling. Spread evenly. The pan will be very full.
- Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pie and refrigerate about 4–6 hours or until the pie is set.
Add topping and serve
- When the pie is completely cool and firm, remove the plastic wrap from the pie.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract for the whipped cream to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe the whipped cream onto the top of the pie (I used Ateco tip 847), then decorate with Nilla wafers and banana slices, if desired. Serve.
- Store leftover pie well-covered in the fridge. Best if eaten within 3-4 days.
Notes
- Flour – I recommend using a scale to measure the flour or, if you don’t have one, the spoon and level technique as described in my post on how to properly measure flour. Too much flour will give you a crumbly crust.
- Butter –The butter must be COLD when starting the crust. It creates little pockets of butter that give you the flakey crust.
- Ice water –We are trying to keep the butter as cold as possible while making the pie crust dough.
- Whole milk – While 2% would work too, it won’t be as rich and creamy.
- Powdered sugar – Stabilizes the whipped cream so it won’t wilt.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
