DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE: National Banana Cream Pie Day

Another day, another food holiday! Today is National Banana Cream Pie Day, and this Double Chocolate Banana Cream Pie is a great way of celebrating.

The first recipe is easy and uses natural ingredients, but don't forget to skim down for an even easier Rachael Ray recipe.

The first recipe uses a chocolate wafer crust, so it's doubly chocolate.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (whirl a bunch of chocolate wafer cookies in the blender)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp melted unsalted butter

BANANA CREAM FILLING
3/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 bananas

For crust:
Combine crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.
Press into 9-inch pie pan, evenly coating bottom and up sides of pie pan.
Chill at least 10 minutes.

For filling:
Whip heavy cream with vanilla and powdered sugar until thick and creamy. Refrigerate.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In saucepan, melt 1/2 cup chopped chocolate over low heat.
Remove from heat and whip in 1 cup of whipped topping you previously made and refrigerated. Beat eggs and add to mixture.
Pour into pie shell and bake for 30 minutes.
Cool 15 minutes.
Slice bananas (cut in 1/4 inch slices) and layer on pie.
Top with remaining whipped cream.
Sprinkle with remaining chopped chocolate and banana slices.
Chill

TIP: To prevent skin forming on filling as it cools, cover with plastic wrap. 

Want to make something even easier?
Rachael Ray has a quick and easy Chocolate Banana Cream Pie.

II. CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE  

Ingredients 
1 frozen pie shell, pricked several times with tines of a fork
1 package instant chocolate pudding, prepared to package directions
2 ripe bananas, sliced thin on an angle
1 can spray whipped cream
1 dark chocolate candy bar

Directions
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Bake pie shell 10-12 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and let cool.
Line baked and cooled pie shell with layer of chocolate pudding, about half of prepared amount.
Add layer of bananas.
Top with remaining prepared instant chocolate pudding and remaining bananas.
Cover top with giant swirl of whip cream from spray can, starting at center and working out.
Shave chocolate bar with vegetable peeler and top pie with shavings.
Serve immediately.

Your choice: The first recipe takes a little longer, but you'll be sure of the quality of the ingredients, but the other is as Easy as Pie!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Photo: Kraft Foods

Today is National Peanut Butter Day, and lately I've been focused on Pie in the Sky lately! On Thursday I posted a recipe for Winnie the Pooh's Honey Chocolate Pie. Yesterday was Pie Day, and I posted a recipe for Guinness Chocolate Pie. So for today's holiday, here's a recipe for a decadent Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie. It doesn't get much better than that. This recipe is from Kraft Foods. You can always substitute your own ingredients. Scroll down for links to recipes for creating a similar Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie from scratch.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE

Ingredients
35 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided  (or a high quality dark chocolate)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into quarters
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
2 Tbsp. PLANTERS Salted Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions
1. HEAT oven to 350ºF.
2. MIX wafer crumbs and butter until well blended; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake 5 to 8 min. or until golden brown. Cool completely. Meanwhile, make chocolate curls from 1/2 chocolate square. Refrigerate.
3. MICROWAVE remaining 1-1/2 chocolate squares and peanut butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Place bananas in crust; drizzle with melted chocolate.
4. BEAT pudding mixes and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP. Spread over bananas; top with remaining COOL WHIP.
5. REFRIGERATE 3 hours. Top with chocolate curls and nuts just before serving.

Want to make your Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie from scratch? Try one of these recipes from Joy the Baker or EzraPoundCake's Hunk-a Hunk-a Peanut Butter and Banana Cream Pie.

Photo: Kraft

National Banana Cream Pie Day: Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Another day, another food holiday! Tomorrow (March 2) is National Banana Cream Pie Day, and I thought a Double Chocolate Banana Cream Pie would be a great way of celebrating.

This is a pretty easy recipe and uses natural ingredients. Don't forget to skim down to an easier Rachel Ray recipe. My recipe uses a chocolate wafer crust, so it's doubly chocolate.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA CREAM PIE

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST:

2 c. chocolate wafer crumbs (whirl a bunch of chocolate wafer cookies in the blender)
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. melted sweet butter

BANANA CREAM FILLING:
3/4 cup  dark chocolate broken into small chunks
1 pt. heavy cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (Madagascar, if you have it)
2 eggs
4 tbsp. butter
2 bananas

For crust:
Combine crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, evenly coating bottom and sides of pie pan. Chill at least 10 minutes.

For filling:
Whip heavy cream with vanilla and powdered sugar until thick and creamy. Refrigerate.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In saucepan, melt 1/2 cup broken chocolate pieces over low heat.
Remove from heat and whip in 1 cup of the whipped topping you previously made and refrigerated.
Beat eggs and add to mixture.
Pour into pie shell and bake for 30 minutes.
Cool 15 minutes.
Slice bananas (cut in 1/4 inch pieces) and layer on pie.
Top with the remaining whipped cream mixture.
You can add the remaining chocolate and banana slices on top for decoration...or not.
Chill

TIP: To prevent a skin forming on the filling as it cools, be sure to cover it with saran wrap.

Want to make something even easier? 

Rachel Ray has a quick and easy Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

1 frozen pie shell, pricked several times with tines of a fork
1 package instant chocolate pudding, prepared to package directions
 2 ripe bananas, sliced thin on an angle
1 can spray whipped cream
1 dark chocolate candy bar

Pre-heat oven to 425ºF.

Bake pie shell 10-12 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and let cool.

Line the baked and cooled pie shell with a layer of chocolate pudding, about half of the prepared amount. Add a layer of bananas. Top with remaining prepared instant chocolate pudding and remaining bananas. Cover the top with a giant swirl of whip cream from the spray can, starting at the center and working out. Shave a chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler and top pie with shavings. Serve immediately.

Your choice: The first recipe takes a little longer and you'll be sure of the quality of the ingredients, but the other is as Easy as Pie!

Photo: Food Network.