Banoffee Pie
A buttery graham cracker crust is filled with dulce de leche and sliced bananas, then topped with homemade whipped cream to create an irresistible banoffee pie!
What Is Banoffee Pie?
Banoffee pie is a quintessentially British dessert. The pie features a buttery graham cracker crust and a dulce de leche and banana filling, all topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
It’s an incredibly rich and decadent dessert that’s easy to throw together. The crust is baked for 10 minutes to help it set up, but otherwise the rest of this recipe is completely no-bake.
Make this for your next holiday party or get together, no matter the season!
Recipe Ingredients
This is a very straightforward recipe that calls for minimal ingredients. You might need to make a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few items, but everything is easy to find. Let’s review the key ingredients in this recipe:
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: If using full-sheets of graham crackers, you will need 11 to 12 to get 1 and 1/2 cups of crumbs. I prefer to make things a little bit easier and use store-bought graham cracker crumbs. If you’re outside of the United States and can’t find graham crackers, digestive biscuits are a great alternative!
- Dulce de Leche: This serves as the base for the banoffee pie. You will need two 13.4-ounce cans or 2 and 1/4 cups. If you prefer to make your own, I have a post on how to make dulce de leche.
- Bananas: You will need three large, ripe bananas. I recommend sticking with bananas that have just turned yellow and are not too brown.
- Whipped Cream: I prefer making my own using heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla (exact measurements are provided in the recipe card below). However, you may use store-bought whipped topping if you prefer.
How to Make Banoffee Pie
This is a very easy banoffee pie recipe, with only the crust and whipped cream topping being made from scratch. The key thing to remember is to let the crust cool completely before adding the filling.
- Make the graham cracker crust: Mix together your graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Then, firmly press it into a 9-inch pie dish. To really pack the crust into the dish, I like to use the bottom and sides of a measuring cup. For more details on how to make the crust, you can refer to my homemade graham cracker crust recipe.
- Bake the crust: This step is technically optional, so if you want to make this recipe completely no-bake you can skip it. However, I find that baking the crust for 8 to 10 minutes makes the pie sturdier and much easier to slice.
- Assemble the filling: Once the crust has cooled, spoon one can of dulce de leche into the pie crust. I like to use an offset spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Top the dulce de leche with banana slices, then spread another can of dulce de leche over the bananas.
- Make the whipped cream: Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat your heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to stiff peaks. Once it’s finished, immediately spread the whipped cream evenly over the pie. If you’ve never made whipped cream before, I have a full post on how to make homemade whipped cream here (and I promise, it’s easy!).
- Chill: The pie needs to rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours before being sliced.
- Serve: Top with chocolate shavings just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Banoffee is actually a wordplay on banana + toffee, referring to the tasty filling in this pie.
Yes, very easily! Instead of buying canned dulce de leche, you can make your own using just sweetened condensed milk. I have a dulce de leche recipe, but it does take 90 minutes to bake, plus the necessary cooling time before it’s safe to use.
Yes, you may substitute the graham crackers with digestive biscuits or even Biscoff cookies.
If covered tightly with plastic wrap, the pie will last for 2 to 3 days in the fridge. Note that the bananas will soften and brown over time, so I recommend enjoying it within the first day or two.
No, I do not recommend freezing this pie. The bananas will change texture once frozen, as will the whipped cream.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This is a great make-ahead dessert! To simplify things, you can bake the graham cracker crust one to two days ahead of time. Once it’s cooled, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and store at room temperature until you’re ready to assemble the pie.
You may also prepare the whole pie the night before and let it chill in the fridge overnight. The whipped cream will hold up just fine for quite a while in the fridge, but keep in mind that it may deflate over time.
If you prefer something more stable, you can try my stabilized whipped cream instead. It stays fluffy longer and also holds up better when served outdoors.
Baking Tips
- If making your own graham cracker crumbs, I recommend crushing them in a food processor for best results. If you don’t have one, a plastic bag and rolling pin will work, it will just take more time!
- Don’t use black bananas for the filling. They’ll be too soft and will fall apart amidst all that dulce de leche. Yellow bananas that are just ripe are perfect for the filling!
- Normally I get eight large slices out of my pies, but note that banoffee pie is very sweet and rich. If you plan on serving this after a big meal, you can easily stretch the pie to feed closer to 10 to 12 people.
More Delicious Pie Recipes
Video Tutorial
Banoffee Pie
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (180 grams)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted (85 grams)
Filling
- 2 (13.4-ounce) cans dulce de leche (2 ¼ cups; 760 grams)
- 3 large ripe bananas
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (240 ml)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar (30 grams)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional Topping
- Chocolate shavings
Instructions
- To make the graham cracker crust: Add the graham cracker crumbs to a large mixing bowl and mix in the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until all of the crumbs are moistened.
- Scoop the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and firmly press it down into an even layer on the bottom and up around the sides of the dish. If needed, use the bottom of a measuring cup to help pack the crust into the pie dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
- To assemble the filling: Scoop half of the dulce de leche (a little over 1 cup or one can) into the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Using an angled spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth it out into one even layer.
- Slice the bananas into ¼-inch thick slices and layer them all over the top of the dulce de leche.
- Scoop the remaining half of the dulce de leche (a little over 1 cup or one can) on top of the sliced bananas. Using an angled spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth it out into one even layer. Set aside.
- To make the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Start mixing on low speed. Once the mixture starts to increase in volume, increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
- Scoop the whipped cream on top of the pie and spread it around all over the top.
- Transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving. Top with chocolate shavings, if desired.
I made this for our church’s Thanksgiving feast, and it was a hit! It was the first dessert (out of dozens and dozens) completely gone, and I didn’t even get to have a full slice! I was able to only scrape up a tiny spoonful off the plate. I heard people at the dessert table asking, “Where’s the banoffee pie?” That was a surprise to me as I had never heard of it, but apparently several people were familiar with it. One woman even told me that she and her husband share a piece of banoffee pie from a restaurant every year on their anniversary! I made this pie because it sounded interesting, but bow it’s definitely a Keeper, and I’ll have to make TWO for the feast next year!
So happy to hear that the pie was such a hit, Christie!