Banana Pudding Pie

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 0 mins

Chill: 2 hrs

Total: 2 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 8 servings

This banana pudding pie is a snap to whip up with a ready-made graham cracker crust, instant vanilla pudding, and freshly sliced bananas. Use frozen, thawed whipped topping or fresh sweetened whipped cream to top it off. Garnish the pie with toasted coconut or chocolate shavings and no one will know how «easy as pie» this was to put together.

Ingredients

• 1 (3.4-ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix

• 1 1/2 cups milk

• 1 graham cracker crust, store-bought or homemade

• 3 or 4 bananas, thinly sliced

• 1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (or whipped cream)

• Shaved chocolate (or toasted coconut), optional garnish

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

   

2. Make instant vanilla pudding by combining mix with milk and following package directions.

   

3. Spread pudding in graham cracker crust and top with sliced bananas.

   

4. Cover pie and place in refrigerator to chill thoroughly.

   

5. Once chilled, spread whipped topping or whipped cream over top. Garnish with shaved chocolate or toasted coconut and serve cold or room temperature.

   

Tips

• The garnish on this banana pudding pie is what makes a very simple recipe look fancy and sophisticated. To create chocolate shavings, you need a bar of chocolate at room temperature and a vegetable peeler or fine grater. Simply run the vegetable peeler over the flat side of the chocolate. Alternatively, you can shave the chocolate bar using the finest side of a grater, as you would grate cheese. Whichever method you choose, make sure to place a piece of wax paper underneath.
• If you would like to sprinkle toasted coconut over the top of the pie, first spread about 1/3 cup of flaked coconut out in a single layer in a dry skillet. Place the skillet over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the coconut is browned; watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove the coconut to a plate to cool before topping pie.
• If you don’t finish the entire pie and want to save some for down the road, you can freeze to eat later. Cover well with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing it in the freezer.

Recipe Variations

• Instead of vanilla pudding, use chocolate, cheesecake, or banana cream flavor.
• You can alter this recipe a bit by combining the pudding and whipped topping together before spreading into the graham cracker crust. This will give the pie a lighter, airier texture. Also feel free to add other fruit along with the bananas, such as raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries. 
• Arrange a layer of banana slices on the bottom of the crust as well.
• Finish the pie with vanilla wafer crumbs.