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You know how they say that after a while dogs start to look like their owners (or vice versa…but the former is much more tactful/politically correct)?

Well. Apparently that’s also true for pies.

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And if this pie was any indication in the way it deconstructed itself upon any and all attempts to scoop it out of the pan…I think we can infer that it’s momma was a bit frazzled while making it.

With a “a bit” being an understatement.  It was much more like full blown.

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You see, I had originally set out to make the banana butterscotch cream pie from David Lebovitz’s Ready For Dessert but after two failed butterscotch-making attempts, which left my house smelling like burnt brown sugar and my spirits broken, I decided that that was not quite going to work.

Plus I had run out of brown sugar and was about to run out of butter so if that third time wasn’t a charm we were really going to be in disaster mode.

So there I was with a sink full of hardened burnt brown sugar caramel-crusted pots and pans and a rapidly diminishing supply of ingredients, asking myself….

What. Now.

What ingredient that I always have in the house in overabundance also goes oh so perfectly with bananas and chocolate?

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I think we all know where this is going. Peanut butter – saving pies and taking names since the time of the Aztecs.

So I whipped up a peanut butter-infused pastry cream and voila – problem solved. I’m afraid that in my discombobulation, however, I may have not let it thicken up enough, hence the oozing seen above.

But I just told people it was kind of like pudding.  And after one bite…they didn’t notice or care. They just kept eating.

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One year ago…Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
Two years ago…Back on Track Wheat Berries and Chickpea Salad
Three years ago…Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Capers, Quick Pickled Red Onions, The LOLA Burger, One Hour Hamburger Buns
Four years ago…Polenta Gratin with Spinach and Mushrooms

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
Makes one 10-inch pie, adapted from Ready For Dessert and Erica’s Sweet Tooth

Ingredients
For the crust: 

  • 1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate cookie crumbs (I used chocolate Teddy Grahams)
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the peanut butter pastry cream: 

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2-3 medium bananas
  • pinch of fleur de sel or sea salt

For the topping: 

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • cocoa powder for dusting

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. For the crust, grease a 10-inch pie plate. In a medium bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter until well-combined. Press into the pie plate in an even layer across the bottom and up the sides.  Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Bake until it feels firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
  3. To make the pastry cream, combine the milk, 6 tbsp sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until simmering, stirring frequently.
  4. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 2 tbsp sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch until thick, about 30 seconds.
  5. When the milk has come to a simmer, pour about 1/2 cup of it into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly as you do.  Repeat with another 1/2 cup of milk. Pour this into the pan with the remaining milk and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thickened and a few bubbles start to burst on the surface of the cream.
  6. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, peanut butter and vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl.
  7. Peel and cut the bananas into 1/4-inch thick slices and layer in the bottom of the cooled crust. Pour the peanut butter pastry cream into the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.
  8. To make the topping, whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. Add in the sugar and continue whipping until it holds firmer peaks.  Sprinkle the top of the pie with fleur de sel.  Spread the whipped cream topping over the pie. Garnish with a cocoa powder dusting.

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You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
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71 Responses to Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

  1. Simply Life says:

    oh I would eat this in a second and not even notice the texture- added pb is always a bonus!

  2. I totally hate the pressure of only having one stick of butter left! It looks great in the photo, and honestly, if you served it in a bowl even during a fancy dinner party, people would just assume that was how it was ‘supposed’ to look. Most pies cut with a little bit of ‘spillage’ anyway.

  3. Foodycat says:

    This looks so good! I’m sorry your butterscotch didn’t work though. I hate wasting ingredients! This looks good enough to leave out the crust and just pile into bowls.

  4. Omg that looks so good…it may not be textbook perfect but it’s perfect in my eyes!

  5. this is like me the other day with my failed hot cross buns, and dead yeast ended up staying up late making cinnamon rolls 🙂 have a lovely easter and great save

  6. Oozing or no oozing, this look just perfect to me! Love that you turned a “disaster” into something fantastic. You are a rock star 🙂

  7. Oh my gosh! The pictures, oh the pictures! This pie looks amazing! I can see spooning it right from the pan!!!

  8. There is not much I love more for breakfast than PB & banana on toast. Pretty sure I could eat this for breakfast too!

  9. Honestly the oozing makes it look even more delicious. Seriously I’m about to start coming to your lab meetings!

  10. Well I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of glad the first recipe didn’t work out because this pie LOOKS AMAZING. Great idea, lady!

  11. Amy says:

    Oh, I’m sorry, were you saying something about not setting? Oozing? I wasn’t paying attention to that. Because, well…PIE.

  12. Debbie says:

    What a great combination…it doesn’t get any better. It looks great…love the oozing!!!!

  13. Peanut butter and banana is a perfect flavor combination!

  14. Patsy K says:

    Now, that’s my kind of pie! I feel your pain with the ingredients… I hate when I start to run out of something I need to make something that’s just not working out… I think you turned it around beautifully!

  15. Ashley says:

    No wonder you’re in med school…you’re totally saving lives here!! LOVE IT! What a great combo 🙂

  16. Audra says:

    Oh wow. This looks to die for!

  17. I recently made banana cream pie for the second time. The first time it was a bananas foster version and it spilled all over the place when I cut it. But it was still delicious! And now I need this pie because it involves peanut butter O:-)

  18. I LOVE peanut butter and bananas together 🙂

  19. Dining Alone says:

    You can call that whatever you want and I’d eat it and I don’t even like bananas!

  20. sandra says:

    glad to hear I am not the only one (I didn’t really think I was) with these problems – failures and diminishing ingredients. This looks just sublime. I’d eat it, for sure.

  21. Lora says:

    I’ve had the burnt sugar encrusted pots in my sink days as well. Excellent save!

  22. Ashley Bee says:

    Love it, peanutbutter saving pies–haha!

  23. my favorite combination here!!! yum!

  24. Jessie says:

    I always think about pies when I think of what looks like me, too 😉 Sorry to hear about the failed butterscotch – better luck next time! In the meantime, you 100% succeeded with this PB banana pie! I wish I had some right now!

  25. I don’t care that this pie is supposedly a hot mess….all I care about is that I think it’s ooziness is beautiful and I know…i just KNOW it tastes out of this world.

    Ah peanut butter, where would we be without you?

  26. Oozing are not, this is such a brilliant save! I love bananas and peanut butter, esp with chocolate! You are a genius.

  27. It drives me crazy when things don’t turn out and I’ve wasted so many ingredients!! I think this was a win in the end, though…I want a fat slice. 🙂

  28. It just goes to show that wonderful things can come from kitchen adversity! This looks sooo good. I love the oozing by the way. For me, that would have been the ideal texture – I’m not sure how you could have improved on it. 😀

  29. i’m pretty sure i would just eat, too 🙂 love the sounds of this!!

  30. grace says:

    this is something i’d happily lick off my plate, no regrets. very tasty result!

  31. It looks good to me! And if they kept eating it, it must have been good 🙂

  32. It’s so frustrating when recipes don’t turn out how you planned (especially if it involves throwing away burnt/inedible food) – but, at least you got a good save out of this one with the peannut butter. It looks really yummy!

  33. I know I wouldn’t have complained. You could serve it to me in a soup bowl and I would like it. 🙂

  34. Wow, what a pie! This looks so delicious, decadent and perfect for a little indulging. After all, we can’t eat salads all summer!

  35. Amazing! I love how you thought of this on the spot! Now when can I come over to clean off the leftovers?

  36. hahaha if I looked like a pie I HOPE it would be this one too!! What a winner! Hopefully that butterscotch turns out next time 🙂

  37. Kerstin says:

    This sounds better than butterscotch to me! I’m drooling 🙂

  38. eneubauer says:

    Yup… I could stress eat half of that much like a bag of mini peanut butter cups (but much, much better.)

  39. Candace says:

    I was thinking about a banana pudding today; but this pie looks like a better idea. I think it looks delicious. Please pass me a piece?

  40. That Girl says:

    I’m betting you look more put together than a cream pie.

  41. daphne says:

    you are a tease u know Joanne.. regardless of what u intended to do, this still looks SO GOOD! Give me the whole plate.

  42. Kari says:

    I definitely wouldn’t care. In fact, I’d say this is a situation where oozing is entirely warranted! Great save 🙂

  43. Mary says:

    You’ve pressed all my buttons with this one. It sounds over-the-top delicious. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Blessings…Mary

  44. Mary Younkin says:

    This sounds delicious, Joanne. I’ve never been a big fan of banana cream anything, but with PB? Oh, I’m thinking I might need to try it soon. Loving these flavors.

  45. Julia Menn says:

    It sure looks like an oozy yummy pie to me! I once made Tagalong cupcakes w/ a peanut butter buttercream frosting – to this day I’m not sure I can stand the smell of peanut butter when used for baking purposes. Making that frosting was so overpowering and permeated my kitchen for HOURS.

  46. Texture certainly doesn’t matter when it tastes as amazing as this sounds! Plus, pudding itself doesn’t really hold up…so it was just a pudding served in a pie pan rather than a pie 🙂

  47. You really do know the way to my heart Joanne 🙂 Oozing or not, this peanut butter banana cream pie looks like the stuff of my dreams!!

  48. Unknown says:

    It does knida look like you, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. GREG

  49. Lynn says:

    Oh my – that looks delish.

  50. Elizabeth says:

    I’ve just recently discovered the wonders of peanut butter and banana together. I’m not sure what took me so long. This looks delicious!

  51. Yasmeen says:

    Add this to the list of Things My Husband Would Love. Oozing included – I love movement in my food, so this is a plus!

  52. Once in a while, it’s fun to share a recipe gone wrong. Only, I’d say that you made it right. I had that problem with a coconut creme pie that I made last Easter. It was pudding. Nobody complained. The perfectionist in me never posted it. Sorry about the butterscotch disasters. Perseverance will pay off.

  53. Hotly Spiced says:

    Good on you for turning around a disaster and if you don’t mind me saying, it’s always encouraging to know others have bad days in the kitchen too. I’m so glad peanut butter saved the day xx

  54. Gloria Baker says:

    This look heavenly Joanne and I love bananas!!
    Happy Easter!!

  55. Nizz says:

    Good job on your quick witted attitude and strength to move on!
    I left you a little gift on my blog 😉 check it out!
    Have a happy Easter!
    Inês

  56. Your pictures totally have my mouth watering – your pie looks so good!

  57. Jenn Kendall says:

    i totally wish i had this in front of me – i would just be shoving piece after piece in my face…love it!

  58. Can’t tell you how many tells while creating recipes I have every intention of making say kicked up oatmeal cookies and then boom, the batter is all mixed and NO raisins in house.
    Now what?
    Add some cocoa powder and make something else.
    Yes, pb & banana go very well together–good job!

  59. Cathleen says:

    This looks like a delicious surprise. Good thing you kept going to make a dessert. This looks totally worth it!

  60. Ah, Peanut butter and bananas. It’s inspiring to read that a cook like you too can have disasters, so I’m not alone in this.Perhaps will get there someday! It’s funny, a couple weeks back I was mulling how to jazz up a pie crust, and boiw i have landed on a favorite flavor profile: the addition of PB + bananas.

  61. HA! I definitely wouldn’t have even cared that it was all oozing out, in fact, I think it looks pretty freakin’ awesome! And let me just ask you, how much of that burnt crust did you eat? Be honest now 😉

  62. Holy yum! This would go down sooo easily!

  63. Peanut butter and banana are meant to be together. The cream pie looks marvelous!

  64. Oh, lordeeeeee…. I’m swooning all over this pie!

  65. Reeni Pisano says:

    I wouldn’t notice at all so peanut butter smitten am I! Love, love, LOVE this combination!

  66. Juliana says:

    Oh Joanne, this pie looks so good, I am not a fan of banana…but with peanut butter…yum!

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