Exactly a year ago, I made my first banana cream pie for my dad’s birthday and it just so happened to be vegan. Even though I was not yet vegan, I made the pie dairy free because I was following a recipe from the Cafe Gratitude cookbook which my dad had given me.
While the pie was delicious, this year I decided to deviate from the recipe and make my own version of a banana cream pie. My goal was to make it taste way more like banana and a little less like coconut, which the first one leaned toward the latter.
Having been vegan for over 8 months now, I have more experience creating non-dairy recipes so I knew my plan of action right away. Instead of coconut milk, I would use soy milk. And since this is a dessert and desserts are supposed to be a splurge I went ahead and used sugar instead of dates for sweetness. I did, however, use very ripe bananas to increase the sweetness naturally so I would have to use less processed sugars.
You can always substitute the sugar for whatever your favorite sweetener is such as agave or maple syrup, coconut sugar or even dates.
For the crust, I decided to make my favorite graham cracker crust, using non-dairy butter. It tastes just as good as graham cracker crusts I’ve had in the past!
For the whipped cream layer, I decided to use coconut oil so it does have that coconuty flavor. You can easily substitute canola oil for this if you don’t like coconut or have an allergy.
- 10 graham cracker sheets
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 vegan butter
- 6 bananas
- 1 1/2 cups soy milk
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon agar flakes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon agar flakes
- Bake pie crust at 375 for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool completely before filling.
- Whisk the agar flakes into 1 cup of soy milk in a saucepan then turn heat on to medium.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes or until agar flakes are completely dissolved and soy milk is slightly thickened.
- In a blender, combine bananas with the remaining 1/2 cup of soy milk and vanilla. Mix until completely smooth.
- Add the agar soy milk mixture to the blender and combine.
- Once the pie crust has cooled, pour your pie filling on top and place in the fridge to cool and set.
- To make the whipped cream layer, whisk the agar flakes into the soy milk and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add this mixture to a blender with the coconut oil, agave syrup and vanilla in a combine.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl and set in the fridge to cool and thicken for about 20 minutes.
- Once the whipped cream mixture has cooled, put it back into the blender and blend on high for 2-3 minutes to froth it up.
- Pour the whipped cream mixture on top of the banana cream mixture and smooth with a spatula.
- Place the pie back in the fridge to finish setting for about 3-4 hours.
- You can always substitute the sugar for whatever your favorite sweetener is such as agave or maple syrup, coconut sugar or even dates.
- You can decorate your pie with banana slices, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, a dusting of cinnamon or cocao powder or even chocolate shavings!