An uncommon approach to banana cream pie. This gluten free banana cream pie recipe takes the classic American dessert and deconstructs it into parfait form. The addition of peanuts and salted caramel add an unexpected but totally delicious layer of flavor.
Want to know what I’ve never made before? Banana cream pie. But lately I haven’t been able to get it out of my head! I’ve been eating gluten free for about the past month so I specifically wanted to come up with a gluten free banana cream pie recipe, but if you aren’t gluten free, all you have to do is substitute regular pretzels for the gluten free ones in the crust part of the recipe and use regular flour instead of gluten free flour for the custard.
Whichever way you choose to make this, just MAKE IT. It’s so good, you guys. And it’s just so pretty too when you make it like this, layered in glasses like a parfait. I love desserts served in individual portions, it just makes them feel a little more special.
For this gluten free banana cream pie recipe I decided to make a peanut pretzel crust instead of a traditional pastry crust. It’s a little reminiscent of a graham cracker crust but with a perfectly salty-sweet edge to it. And peanuts and banana are just dreamy together.
But I didn’t stop at the peanut and banana combination. Or even let that be the only salty-sweet component to this gluten free banana cream pie recipe. Oh no. Once I had layered some of that peanut pretzel crust, and vanilla custard, and bananas, and then everything all over again, and then a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top I decided to drizzle them generously with salted caramel sauce and then my tastebuds exploded.
There’s a lot going on – peanuts, pretzels, bananas, vanilla custard, whipped cream, salted caramel – but it works. It works so, so well.
The making of this gluten free banana cream pie recipe is not hard and it doesn’t take a crazy long time either, but I would start making these the day before you plan to serve them so the custard has plenty of time to set in the fridge. And then you will be totally un-stressed and ready to accept accolades from your friends and family when you serve them this dreaminess.
- CRUST
- 2 1/2 oz. lightly salted peanuts
- 2 1/2 oz. gluten free pretzels
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- CUSTARD
- 1 c. whole milk
- 1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp. gluten free flour
- pinch of salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- TOPPING AND ASSEMBLY
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- 1 tbsp. powdered sugar
- salted caramel sauce
- peanuts
- Preheat the oven to 350º.
- Pulse peanuts and GF pretzels in a food processor until they resemble coarse sand. Add melted butter and sugar and pulse until evenly moistened. Spread the mixture loosely on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, bring the milk and cream to simmer in a medium saucepan. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch or arrowroot, GF flour, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk – it will be very thick and maybe a little lumpy. Whisking constantly, add the milk mixture to the yolk mixture a little at a time. Don’t dump it all in at once or it will scramble the eggs! Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until very thick, 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cubed butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and press plastic wrap onto the surface of the custard. Chill until set, at least 2 hours.
- To assemble the banana cream pie parfaits, scoop a couple tablespoons of the crust mixture into the bottoms of six glasses. Top with custard and lay 4-5 banana slices on top. Repeat. Spread enough custard on top of the bananas to cover them and finish with a dollop of whipped cream, a generous drizzle of salted caramel sauce, and a few peanuts.
