A slice of dairy free banana cream pie is a light and refreshing dessert. Cool, creamy banana pudding, fluffy whipped topping, and a graham cracker crust make this the perfect sweet treat.
When you have food allergies, some desserts seem like they just can’t be made allergy friendly. And while it may be more difficult, that doesn’t have to be true! Many desserts that seem more “complicated” can be made in a way that is suitable for most diets. You just have to be creative and use the right substitutions.
Banana cream pie is a dessert recipe that’s been requested by my readers. I was a little stumped at first…traditional banana cream pie has a lot of eggs in the custard filling. I wondered how to get around that! Using egg replacers in a recipe that requires so many eggs is usually not the best plan.
But I started thinking about some of the other pies that I’ve made, like this chocolate pudding pie, and I was able to make that successfully without egg replacers, so I thought, why not make a vegan banana cream pie?
The result was a very light and delicious banana pudding filling!
Since it is egg free, it’s not as heavy or rich as a traditional banana cream pie. I really don’t like regular banana cream pie, but I liked this recipe very much. The lightness of the pudding and topping was a very nice surprise.
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Ingredient Notes
- Non-Dairy Milk – For best results, you will want to use a neutral tasting non-dairy milk of your choice You should be able to make a pudding with most dairy free milks. I chose to use So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage, which is very neutral tasting. You could try this with oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, or flax milk.
- Sugar – I used organic cane sugar to make the pudding and for the crust. I don’t recommend coconut sugar or brown sugar for this recipe.
- Corn Starch – I recommend corn starch for best results when making the pudding. Tapioca starch will not work – the pudding will be too gummy and thick.
- Bananas – Use bananas that are ripe, but not overripe.
- Vegan Buttery Spread -Vegan buttery spread like Earth Balance Buttery Spread is needed for the crust. I don’t recommend trying to make the crust with oil.
- Dairy Free Whipped Topping – The secret to the light, airy feeling of this pie is dairy free whipped topping. We like So Delicious Coco Whip, but there are other brands out there as well. If you’re looking for a whipped topping that’s free of coconut, you may want to try this recipe for homemade vegan whipped topping.
- Graham Crackers or Cookies – This pie is made with a very simple graham cracker or cookie crumb crust. Just about any cookie or graham cracker that is safe for your dietary needs should work. See the section below for some ideas.
Options for the Crust
There are many options for making a graham cracker or cookie crust. It really depends on your dietary needs.
You can try graham crackers by Annie’s (these contain gluten), or Nabisco Original Grahams if you are vegan.
If you need a gluten free crust, try Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies. Smoreables Graham Crackers by Kinnikinnick are also a great option.
Any variety of Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookie could work well – try the sugar cookie option if you are avoiding honey.
Step by Step Instructions
- Make the pudding, and chill for 2 hours.
- Once the pudding is chilled, make the no-bake graham cracker crust, and press into a pie pan or tart pan. Place sliced banana on top of the crust.
- Stir a half cup of Coco Whip into the chilled pudding, and spread the pudding over the graham cracker crust.
- Top the pudding layer with the remaining Coco Whip.
- Place the sliced bananas on top of the Coco Whip. Chill the pie overnight so that it firms up.
Storage
Store leftover pie in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for about 3 days.
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Recipe
Dairy Free Banana Cream Pie.
Ingredients
For the filling:
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups non-dairy milk I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 banana mashed
- 1 banana sliced
For the crust:
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs about 10 full size graham crackers
- 6 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread melted
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
For the topping:
- 1 container coco whip
- 1 banana sliced
Instructions
Make the filling:
- Place the sugar, corn starch, and salt in a saucepan and whisk together. Pour in the non-dairy milk while stirring (to avoid lumps). Turn the heat to medium, and cook while stirring constantly.
- Cook over medium heat until bubbling, then reduce heat to low and cook for about 6-7 minutes while stirring. The mixture should start to thicken. Once it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, turn off the heat and stir in the mashed banana and the vanilla.
- Allow the pudding to cool for about 30 minutes before transferring to a bowl and covering with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Make the graham cracker crust:
- Once the pudding has chilled, place the graham crackers in the food processor and pulse until they become fine crumbs. Add the melted vegan buttery spread and sugar, and pulse until the mixture comes together.
- Press into a pie pan or tart pan. Use waxed paper to firmly press the crust down.
Assemble the pie:
- Take the sliced banana and place the slices on top of the graham cracker crust.
- Take the chilled pudding, and stir in a ½ cup of the coco whip.
- Smooth the filling over the graham cracker crust and sliced banana.
- Take the rest of the coco whip and spread that on top of the pudding layer.
- Top the coco whip with more sliced banana.
- Refrigerate the pie for at least 8 hours or overnight. It will be much easier to slice the pie if you chill it for the proper amount of time.
Darryl
I loved this dessert! It was hard to stop eating it.