This Paleo Banana Cream Pie recipe is what dessert dreams are made of! The almond flour pie crust tastes similar to a graham cracker and is filled with a mixture of sliced bananas, silky creme patissiere, and a luscious Italian meringue! This crowd pleasing dessert is SCD, paleo, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
I have to tell you, I'm super excited to share this paleo banana cream pie recipe with you!
The crust is made with almond flour and has a slight butter-y taste even though there's no butter in sight!
The filling is a dairy-free and refined sugar-free version of creme patissiere, also known as pastry cream (I'll explain what this is in a second) that's sandwiched between layers of sliced bananas.
Then the whole pie is topped with a few hearty dollops of honey Italian meringue!
Although it sounds complicated with all those layers, it's actually a very simple recipe that's sure to impress!
Let's start at the bottom and work our way up!
How to make an almond flour pie crust
The crust is only four ingredients and bakes for just 10 to 12 minutes.
It calls for almond flour, honey, melted coconut oil, and cinnamon...that's it!
The crust is crumbly and is very reminiscent of a graham cracker crust.
Combine the crust ingredients, making sure all of the almond flour is wet.
Use your fingers to press the dough as evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Use a fork to poke holes into the crust, then place it in the oven to bake.
Once baked, simply leave the crust on the counter to cool.
Notes:
- This crust is a bit crumbly when cutting into it. For a firmer crust, try my Easy Almond Flour Pie Crust recipe.
- I suggest making the crust the day before making the creme patissiere and storing covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill it.
How do you keep bananas from turning brown in a pie?
Lemon juice!
The first time I made this, I completely spaced out and didn't drizzle any lemon juice on the sliced bananas.
So, I ended up with an incredibly tasty paleo banana cream pie that had ugly brown banana slices in it.
Moral of the story: make sure to pour a little lemon juice on your sliced bananas so that your pie not only tastes good, but looks good too!
Slice the bananas to whatever thickness you'd like, then drizzle them in lemon juice and place in a single layer along the bottom of the cooled pie crust, gently pressing into the crust.
What is creme patissiere?
Long story short, creme patissiere is a fancy French word for pastry cream, which is another word for ...custard! But doesn't creme pattissiere sound so much fancier?!
Since I like to pretend I'm fancy (I'm totally not by the way. I'm currently sitting at my desk in my yoga clothes that may or may not have a combo of toddler drool and peanut butter on them) we're going to continue calling it creme patissiere!
How to make a dairy-free creme patissiere
This rich, silky custard is traditionally made with milk or heavy cream, sugar, and egg yolks.
Since we're keeping this banana cream pie paleo and SCD friendly, the milk is swapped out for coconut milk and honey is used instead of white sugar (if not following the SCD diet, you could use maple syrup instead).
I've made this recipe with both almond milk and coconut milk. The flavor was amazing for both, so feel free to use whichever you have on hand.
I know that the name, creme patissiere, can sound a bit intimidating, but remember...it's a custard!
It takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish to make and it has just 6 simple ingredients!
- almond milk or coconut milk
- honey
- vanilla extract
- sea salt
- egg yolks (reserve three of the egg whites for the meringue)
- melted coconut oil
Whisk the honey, vanilla, salt, and egg yolks in a medium sized bowl while the milk is brought to a boil on the stove.
Next it's time to temper the eggs.
Slowly pour about half of the boiling milk into the egg yolk mixture while constantly whisking.
Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.
Continue to whisk and after about two minutes you'll notice a subtle thickening of the creme patissiere.
Allow it to come to a boil while whisking.
Remove from the heat and pour in the melted coconut oil. Whisk until well combined.
Allow the creme patissiere to cool for about 15 or 20 minutes before pouring it into your pie crust lined with bananas.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set.
How to make meringue
Place room temperature egg whites and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Whisk at high speed until soft peaks form.
While the egg whites are being whisked, heat the honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until a candy thermometer reads 240F or the honey becomes frothy.
Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and, in a steady stream, pour the hot honey into the bowl of whipped egg whites.
Increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and continue to whisk until the meringue becomes thick and glossy.
Meringue is very easy to make but I do have a few helpful tips for you!
- Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature
- The bowl for your mixer MUST be totally clean without any oils left from previous baking
- Mix until the meringue is glossy. If you stop too soon, it will start to deflate and the honey will separate from the egg whites
Once the creme patissiere has set, add another layer of sliced bananas.
Cover the top of the pie with as much (or as little) of the meringue as you'd like!
I decided to garnish my banana cream pie with some chopped walnuts and it added such a nice crunch to each bite...I highly recommend it!
Then, because my love of sweets know no bounds, I added a healthy drizzle of my Salted Caramel Sauce over each slice!
Seriously, THIS is my new favorite dessert!
What can I use instead of meringue?
If you don't want to make the meringue, no problem!
Feel free to top this paleo banana cream pie with my Whipped Coconut Cream!
Hope you enjoy!
Tip: If you have leftover meringue, you can use it in my paleo pumpkin whoopie pie recipe!
More pie and tart recipes you're sure to love!
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NOTE: If following the SCD diet, I suggest contacting the company to verify ingredients before using any prepackaged products.
Recipe
Paleo Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups finely ground blanched almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Creme Patissiere Filling
- 1 ½ cups non-dairy milk almond or coconut milk
- ¼ cup honey
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg yolks reserve 3 egg whites for meringue
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
Meringue
- 3 large egg whites (should be equivalent to 6 Tbsps)
- ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ⅔ cup honey
Bananas and Garnishes
- 2 to 3 medium bananas, sliced and drizzled with lemon juice
- ½ cup chopped walnuts optional
- salted caramel sauce optional
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 inch pie pan with coconut oil.
- Combine all the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Use a fork to prick holes into the dough before placing in the oven.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, add a single layer of sliced bananas to the bottom of the crust. Try to gently press each slice into the crust a bit. This will prevent the bananas from rising once you've poured in the creme patissiere.
Creme Patissiere
- In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, salt, vanilla extract, and egg yolks. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk to a boil. Pour half of the milk into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan and continue whisking over medium heat. There should be a subtle thickening of the creme patissiere after about 2 minutes. Continue to whisk until it begins to boil.
- Remove from the heat and pour in the coconut oil. Mix until well incorporated then strain into a bowl (this will remove any tiny pieces of egg that may have cooked). Allow the creme patissiere to cool for 15 minutes before pouring into the crust lined with bananas.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Meringue
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and lemon juice over medium speed until soft peaks form.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the honey until a candy thermometer reads 240F or the honey becomes bubbly and frothy.
- Reduce mixer speed to medium-low while pouring the honey, in a slow steady stream, into the whipped egg whites.
- Increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the meringue is thick and glossy. About 20 minutes.
Assembly
- Once set, remove the pie from the fridge and arrange another layer of sliced bananas on top of the creme patissiere.
- Spread as much or as little of the the meringue on top of the pie.
- Garnish with chopped walnuts and a drizzle of paleo caramel sauce (optional).
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
- Before beginning, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- The pie crust is a bit crumbly, if you prefer a firmer crust try my Easy Almond Flour Pie Crust recipe.
Jeannette
I have a birthday celebration this weekend and two different diets to consider, one SCD, so this will be perfect as it is and another Whole 30, so I will make another pie with maple syrup instead of honey. It looks delish!!!
Janice
Hi can you use this crust for say a pumpkin pie or would it burn? I make the banana pie once a week ,sometimes I top it with bananas and walnuts blended to a frosting texture we love it pumpkin pie we usually have in a pecan date crust but it would be nice in a crust like this lmk ty
Jennifer Brown
I'm so happy to hear that you enjoy the pie enough to make it every week!! That banana walnut frosting sounds amazing!
With a few slight modifications, the crust should work for a pumpkin pie. I would suggest pre-baking the crust but decrease the bake time to 5 to 8 minutes just until very lightly browned. Allow the crust to cool on the counter for about 10 minutes before placing it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then pour the pumpkin pie filling into the chilled crust and bake. If you notice the edges of the crust getting too brown you can cover them with aluminum foil. Another option is to use a tart pan as opposed to a pie dish since less of the crust is exposed.
I hope this helps!
Janice
This is an excellent recipe, delicious,easy to follow instructions,I made one it was eaten in a day and now I'm making two,we recently changed what we eat,no gluten,no dairy, no sugar, no soy,and it's a challenge,thank you for posting recipes like this!
Jennifer
Really happy to hear that you enjoyed the pie Janice! Good luck on your new health journey!
Ingrid
Hi, my husband doesn’t like the taaiste of coconut oil, can it be replaced with other oil?
Jennifer
Refined coconut oil doesn't taste like coconut. It has a neutral taste and smell, you might want to try that!
Jen
Hi! I’m excited to make this recipe for my husband’s upcoming birthday. How far in advance can it be made? And how long will it keep in the fridge? Thank you. 🙂
Jennifer
The pie can be made the night before but I wouldn't suggest making the meringue until the day you're planning on serving. Any leftovers can be covered and kept in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Just keep in mind though that the crust will start to get soggy after the second day. Hope he has a wonderful birthday!
Nicole
This is super good. Next time I may reduce meringue sweetness. It's almost too sweet
Jennifer
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Nicole!
Angela M
I am making this very soon! Excited to try this Italian Meringue. I made one with sugar over the weekend and it's too sweet, I think the honey will be the right balance!
Jennifer
Hope you like it Angela!
Angela M
There's literally zero chance that I won't! 🙂
Rosa
Hi Jennifer,
I can't have coconut. What can I use in place of the coconut oil?
Jennifer Brown
I haven't tried it myself but if your system can handle dairy then you could try using unsalted butter.