Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie
- Total: 4 hr 10 min
- Prep: 45 min
- Inactive: 3 hr
- Cook: 25 min
Ingredients
65 vanilla wafers cookies, finely crushed
1 stick butter, melted, plus more for pan
3 ripe bananas, peeled, thinly sliced on a diagonal
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 cup peanut brittle, ground into crumbs
Chocolate Pudding, recipe follows
Peanut Butter Cream, recipe follows
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup peanut brittle, broken into bite-size pieces
Chocolate Pudding:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
2 cups milk, divided
Peanut Butter Cream:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)
2/3 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a deep 9 by 2-inch pie plate.
- Drizzle the crushed vanilla wafers with the melted butter and stir until blended. Press on the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Pop in the oven and bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.
- Toss the banana slices with the orange juice, making sure all the slices get coated. (This helps keep the bananas from browning.) Place the slices on a paper towel-lined plate and pat any excess juices dry.
- Arrange half the banana slices in a single layer over the cooled crust. Cover completely with the Chocolate Pudding, spreading it with an offset spatula or butter knife. Top with the rest of the bananas. Sprinkle the peanut brittle crumbs over the bananas. Place dollops of the Peanut Butter Cream on top, spreading it out evenly. Chill the pie in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- Whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Whip in the almond extract and sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Take the pie out of the refrigerator. Place dollops of the whipped cream on top and spread it out evenly. Scatter pieces of peanut brittle on top and serve.
Chocolate Pudding:
- Whisk the sugar, cocoa powder and flour in a bowl until there are no lumps. Crack the eggs into the bowl, add the yolks and whisk into a paste. Slowly whisk in 1 cup milk until it is fully incorporated, and then whisk in the remaining 1 cup milk. Put the milk mixture into a saucepan and put over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until it starts to look like pudding, 10 to 15 minutes. It will begin to bubble and it will hold soft peaks when you lift the whisk out. Take off the heat and cool to room temperature.
Peanut Butter Cream:
- Beat the cream cheese and confectioners'sugar with an electric mixer until completely smooth. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, beating until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Working in batches, taking care not to deflate the whipped cream, fold a large spoonful of whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in the remaining cream in 2 additions.
Cook’s Note
To prevent a skin from forming, cover the pudding with plastic wrap, pressing down directly on the surface of the pudding. Poke a few holes throughout to allow to cool to room temperature.