Banoffee Pie

This delicious recipe for banoffee pie is a little different than most. My recipe combines a crunchy Biscoff cookie crust, homemade gooey salted caramel sauce, fresh banana slices, and fluffy whipped cream. Try a slice for yourself to see how creamy and decadent is it!

Overview

• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Components Used: Basic Whipped Cream, Cookie Crumb Crust, Caramel Sauce

I can’t get over how simple yet decadent banoffee pie is. It combines 4 easy components: cookie crust, caramel sauce, bananas, and whipped cream. That’s it! Although it’s incredibly rich and delicious to begin with I couldn’t help but turn it up a notch.

Most recipes for banoffee pie call for using a can of store-bought dulce de leche sauce. While I’m a big fan of dulce de leche, I much prefer to make my own homemade caramel sauce. Once you get the hang of it, caramel sauce is easy to make.

By making your own sauce, you can control the level of sweetness by adding salt and you can control the consistency. For this pie, you want a gooey sauce that coats the bananas but doesn’t leak out when slicing the pie.

I made another twist on a classic by swapping the traditional graham cracker crust with a Biscoff cookie crust. It’s equally as easy to make but you get the added bonus of additional flavor. Biscoff cookies contain wonderful warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Banoffee pie is a classic recipe for a reason. If you haven’t tried it yet, start here.

What is banoffee?

Banoffee pie is a British dessert dating back to the 1970s. It’s typically made with a buttery biscuit crust, a layer of gooey caramel sauce, sliced bananas, and a topping of whipped cream. Banoffee (I’ve also seen it written as banoffi) is a combination of the words banana and toffee.

Components in banoffee pie

Cookie Crust: A more traditional banoffee pie calls for using graham crackers for the crust but for a fun twist, I’m using Biscoff cookies. Biscoff cookies contain warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg adding even more delicious flavor.

If you’d prefer more of a traditional banoffee pie, make my graham cracker crust.

Caramel: As you may have noticed, most recipes call for using canned dulce de leche sauce for the filling. Dulce de leche is gooey and rich but for me, I prefer to make a homemade salted caramel sauce. Caramel sauce is easy to make once you get the hang of it. Adding a hit of salt helps balance out the sweetness in the pie.

For ease and convenience, swap the homemade caramel with canned or jarred dulce de leche sauce.

Bananas: Fresh bananas are crucial in this pie! They need to be fresh but ripe.

Whipped Cream: To top the layers of this scrumptious pie, what could be better than whipped cream? I always recommend making homemade fresh whipped cream as opposed to store-bought. My homemade whipped cream recipe is less sickly sweet than most.

*Optional Chocolate Shavings: While technically optional, a classic way to garnish this pie is by sprinkling shaved chocolate over the whipped cream. It looks beautiful while only adding a hint of chocolate. This small amount does not overpower the dessert and is mostly for looks.

How to make banoffee pie

The process of making a banoffee pie is fairly simple. The only difficult part for some may be making the homemade caramel sauce. It can seem daunting if you haven’t made it before but I’m here to break it down for you. Let’s get started!

Make the crust

For this pie, I am using a crust made of Biscoff cookies. Cookie crusts are typically made with cookie crumbs, additional sugar, and melted butter. Because Biscoff cookies contain plenty of sugar, I have eliminated the extra sugar for this crust. I’ve also reduced the amount of melted butter because Biscoff cookies are already quite moist once they are pulverized.

Pulverize the cookie crumbs using a food processor. Alternatively, you can place the cookies in a large zipper bag and use a rolling pin over the bag. You want a small, powdery crumb.

Combine the crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl. Pour the mixture into a tart pan or pie plate. Firmly press the crust into the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the pan. The bottom of a glass or a measuring cup can be helpful to press the crumbs into an even layer.

I recommend baking the crust to ensure that it is set and for a more toasted flavor. However, this step is completely optional. You can skip baking the crust and refrigerate it while you make the filling.

Make the caramel

If you’ve ever made caramel before, you will recognize this as the “wet method”. The wet method combines sugar and water in a saucepan. The benefit of the wet method is that it slows down the caramelization process and makes it less likely to burn the sugar.

Turn the heat on to medium and watch carefully as the sugar starts to dissolve in the water. As the mixture boils, the sugar will start caramelizing. Stay close by because the caramelization process moves very quickly. If the sugar is caramelizing unevenly, gently swirl the pan to even out the color. This process takes my stovetop about 12 minutes.

Once the sugar smells nutty and is golden brown, add the room temperature diced butter and stir until fully melted. Carefully pour all of the heavy cream into the pan and stir vigorously with a silicone spatula. The mixture will bubble up quite a bit. 

Add the salt and continue cooking and stirring the mixture until it reaches between 220-225°F/ 104-107°C. This step takes my stovetop about 6 minutes.

I highly recommend using a candy thermometer to ensure accuracy. If it doesn’t reach the desired temperature than your caramel will be too thin and become a soupy mess when you slice the pie. If you boil it far beyond the desired temperature, the caramel will be too thick and chewy and more like a candy than a pie filling.

After the caramel has reached temperature, remove the pan from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes before pouring it into the crust. The caramel will thicken as it cools. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.

I like to assemble the crust and filling the day before and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Make the topping and assemble

When ready to serve, make the whipped cream by placing the cold heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.  Begin whipping on medium speed until soft peaks begin to form. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until medium to stiff peaks form. Add the pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, slice the bananas and arrange in a single layer on top of the caramel.

Pipe or spoon the whipped cream over the top of the bananas. Although I didn’t do it here, covering the bananas completely in the whipped cream will help slow down browning. Sprinkle shaved chocolate over the top of the whipped cream if desired. Serve immediately.

Storage

Store the leftover pie covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Make-Ahead Instructions

Pour the caramel filling into the crust and refrigerate for up to 3 days before adding the bananas and whipped cream right before serving.

MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like to try these other delicious pie recipes.

• Easy Key Lime Pie
• Fresh Strawberry Jello Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie

Speaking of banoffee, have you tried my Banoffee Pie Cookies?