This Brûléed Peanut Butter Banana Pie is a perfect no-bake pie for summer! It’s made with only a handful of ingredients, and it’s made mostly in the freezer! The crust is a simple vanilla wafer crust, the filling is the perfect creamy balance of whipped cream, peanut butter, and banana! The top gets sprinkled with coarse sugar, and then the pie gets thrown under the broiler to get that crispy sugar crust!
No-bake pies with cookie crusts might be one of my favorite things ever – and I rarely make and/or consume them! If I do, it’s usually at a random party once, maybe twice a year. But I really love them and this one is no exception! Peanut. butter. banana. pie. And it’s brûléed!!! I know it sounds fancy, but I promise you it’s the easiest dessert ever.
First of all, can we take a second to admire those brûléed bananas? They’re pretty much the best thing ever and all you have to do is put the pie under your broiler (after sprinkling it with coarse sugar of course)! I made sure I tested it that way, as well as using a kitchen torch, and both work perfectly. If you use your broiler (which I’m sure most of you will), you will have to put the pie back into the freezer to firm up, since it starts to melt in the hot oven.
If you use a torch, no re-freezing is needed!
The filling starts with some mashed bananas, sweetened condensed milk, creamy peanut butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and whipped cream. I honestly could just stop there and devour a bowl of filling, no problem.
But! We can’t stop there. The filling and the crust TOGETHER is the best. First of all, cookie crusts are my favorite (I honestly don’t really care for traditional, buttery flaky pie crust), unless we’re talking about this galette. Oreo cookie crusts, graham cracker crusts, vanilla wafer crusts, biscoff cookie crusts, honestly give me all of it. So GOOD!
For this crust, I used vanilla wafers – more specifically the ultimate vanilla wafers from Trader Joe’s because they are SO unbelievably vanilla-y and perfect. They have actual specks of vanilla bean in them and I have a hard time not eating the entire container every time.
After we put the filling in the crust, we freeze it for at least 12 hours, or overnight! (I prefer overnight), and then, when we’re ready to brûlée, we add sliced bananas on top, a generous sprinkle of coarse sugar, and then throw it under the broiler to get that perfect, caramelized crunchy sugar top.
Can you even?!
I honestly wish this was an acceptable breakfast because it’s all I want right now.
For a split second I thought about making this pie with tahini, because tahini in desserts is insane, but I’m glad I stuck with the good ol’, classic combo of peanut butter and banana. Forever one of my faves. It’s totally comfort food to me.
But if you’re looking for a tahini dessert, these are the absolute best thing ever.
And I might just have to make an exception to the whole pie for breakfast thing. After all, it’s a holiday weekend! And this needs to go on your Memorial Day Weekend menu!
Brûléed Peanut Butter Banana Pie
This Brûléed Peanut Butter Banana Pie is a perfect no-bake pie for summer! It's made with only a handful of ingredients, and it's made mostly in the freezer! The crust is a simple vanilla wafer crust, the filling is the perfect creamy balance of whipped cream, peanut butter, and banana! The top gets sprinkled with coarse sugar, and then the pie gets thrown under the broiler to get that crispy sugar crust!
Ingredients
For the crust
- 6 ounces vanilla wafers*
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- pinch of salt
For the pie
- 5 large ripe bananas, not overripe (slightly spotty is ok)
- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (not the drippy kind)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, cold
- 3 tablespoons coarse raw sugar*
Instructions
Begin by making the crust. Preheat oven to 350℉. Add cookies to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the melted butter and a pinch of salt and pulse until moistened and combined. Press mixture into a 9'' springform pan, pressing firmly (it should go up the sides about 1/4-1/2'' too. Bake until crust is golden brown on the edges, about 10-12 minutes. Cool crust completely on a cooling rack before filling.
To make the filling, mash 3 of the bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add the condesnsed milk, peanut butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Add the heavy cream to a separate bowl or stand mixer, and beat with electric beaters or the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into crust, and smooth out the top with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 12 hours, or overnight.
*If you're using the broiler to brulee the top, 2 hours before you're ready to serve, remove the pie from the freezer. Preheat broiler to high and position the highest rack in the upper third of the oven. Slice the bananas 1/4-1/2'' thick and lay the slices over the top. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Place under the broiler for 4-5 minutes, or until bananas are golden brown and caramelized. Let pan cool for a few minutes, then place back into the freezer to re-freeze for at least 2 hours (the pie probably got loose and melted a bit while it was in the oven). Remove from springform pan, slice, and serve!
**If you're using a kitchen torch to brulee the top, disregard the broiler step. Once you're ready to serve, remove the pie from the freezer. Slice the bananas 1/4-1/2'' thick and lay the slices over the top. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar until it's deeply golden brown. If the pie seems to have melted a bit, you can place it back into the freezer for a few minutes to firm back up. Remove from springform pan, slice, and serve!
Recipe Notes
*I used the Ultimate Vanilla Wafers from Trader Joe's. They're SO good. I'd highly recommend them, but any vanilla wafer will do!
*For the coarse sugar, I used demerara sugar, but turbinado sugar or sugar in the raw are basically the same thing and will work here too!
*I've included directions for using your broiler to brûlée the pie, as well as a kitchen torch, so see above for each method!
Making this today! Can’t wait to taste it. So glad you are doing a cookbook!! You made a fabulous spread for my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding shower in Ellicott City many years ago.
Yay!! Let me know how it turned out 🙂 Ahhhh yes! I remember! Hope you’re doing well Karen!!