banana cream pie

I had been craving this pie for so long and I finally had the opportunity to try it out. I love creating healthy/Paleo treats that satisfy those cravings for foods I used to love.

So, I knew the flavor I was after and wanted to make it as simple as possible. The crust was so good, I think it makes a good base for energy balls with some other ingredients mixed in of course and a great all around pie crust (hmmm…upcoming recipe.)

The first time I made it, I used coconut palm sugar disks with a little water to melt them equaling ½ C sugar syrup; I also used store bought coconut butter, coconut shreds and bananas. The first time I made it, was my favorite! I think it was the coconut disks since they are sweeter.

I also tried coconut sugar with water to make a syrup, it was good, but made the whole thing so dark, but still tasted good.

Then I tried with dates, it was great as well especially if you’re trying to stay away from sugars. You can adjust the sweetness by simply adding more or leaving some out, especially since you don’t bake it, the flavors can be adjusted easily.

You could easily top this delicious pie with homemade coconut whipped cream.

Ingredients:

CRUST

2 ½ C coconut shreds (unsweetened)
1 C coconut butter (you can make your own easily, see instructions)
½ C sweetener; coconut sugar syrup, maple syrup / OR 1-2 Cups (depending on sweetness desired) juicy pitted dates plus 3 Tbs. coconut oil and 1 Tbs water (put through a food processor until a paste forms)

FILLING

5 bananas, peeled
2 C coconut butter
½ C sweetener; coconut sugar syrup, maple syrup / OR 1-2 Cups (depending on sweetness desired) juicy pitted dates plus 3 Tbs. coconut oil and 1 Tbs water (put through a food processor until a paste forms) You could even leave the sweetener out if you want.
1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions:

Before you begin, have your ingredients ready to make the process faster:

If you’re making your own coconut butter, put 9 Cups in a food processor and turn it on. About 5 minutes later it will be appox. 3 Cups of coconut butter. That’s it, set it aside and use for both crust and filling.
If you are making a sugar syrup, use ¼ the amount of water to sugar; ½ C coconut sugar to 1/8 C water. Set aside.
If you are making a date sweetener, run pitted dates, coconut oil and water through a food processor until a paste forms, set aside.

*If you want this desert to look pretty, line your cake/pie dish with parchment paper and when it’s ready, remove the whole thing and cut into slices (I didn’t have a camera when I tried that, but it was great.)

In a shallow glass cake pan 9×13 or 2 pie pans, place the coconut shreds, coconut butter and your choice liquid sweetener (or date paste). Mix well with your hands and press down to form an even crust at the bottom of the pan.
Next, place the filling ingredients in a food processor until well blended (about 30 seconds).
Evenly spread the banana cream over the crust and sprinkle with coconut shreds if you’d like.
Place the pan in the fridge for about 2 hours or until it sets and you are able to cut it with a knife. (The coconut butter will harden when refrigerated making the cream a semi-solid.)