Banana Cream Pie With Cookie-crumb Crust

Banana Cream Pie With Cookie-crumb Crust

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unbleached flour
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups whole milk (I didn’t have whole so I used 1 cup 2-percent milk and 1 cup heavy cream)
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or almond extract (I used vanilla)
• 3 medium-sized bananas, cut into pieces that are sliced on an angle (the recipe said 2 medium but I found that wasn’t enough)
• Enough cookies to yield 2 cups of crumbs
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

DIRECTIONS:
To make the crust:

1. Place several cookies, broken into small pieces, into bowl of food processor. Pulse repeatedly until they’re the proper consistency (not too finely; you don’t want them to be like paste!).
2. In a medium bowl, place the cookie crumbs, confectioner’s sugar and mix together.
3. Add in the melted butter and mix well with a fork until all the crumbs are a bit moistened.
4. Pour the buttery crumbs into your pie plate. Press them down evenly in the pan, and up the sides.
5. Bake the crust for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Check the crust early to make it’s not getting brown. You just want it to be golden. Set aside the baked crust to cool.

To make the pastry cream:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt, and eggs.
2. In a medium-size saucepan, over medium heat, bring the milk/cream to a boil.
3. Add the hot milk/cream to the egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly to ensure smoothness. Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and return it to the stove; bring it back to a boil. Stir continually with the whisk (if you don’t, you’ll get undesirable lumps!).
4. The pastry cream will thicken quickly. When you see it start to boil in the center, immediately remove it from the heat.
5. Add in the butter and vanilla and stir until smooth. Set aside.

To assemble the pie:

1. Place the sliced banana pieces in the pie shell in concentric circles, more or less.
2. Spoon or pour the warm pastry cream over the bananas and smooth out the top.
3. Cover the top with plastic wrap; the wrap should touch the pastry cream to help prevent a skin from forming.
4. Refrigerate the pie for at least a couple of hours before serving. If you like, top it with sweetened or unsweetened whipped cream.

Recipe for Sugar Cookies (to use as crumbs for pie-crust)
INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups All Purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg 2 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Using mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla. On low speed, add in the flour mixture gradually, mixing until the two are thoroughly blended.
Chill the dough. Roll sections of dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness (or thinner if you prefer; adjust baking time accordingly if thinner). Bake on parchment covered cookie sheets, on middle oven rack, at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes—not until golden brown all over. They should just be light golden on the bottom. Cool on sheet for a few minutes, then remove from sheets to finish cooling on racks.