How To Make Banoffee Pie

Banoffee pie, as in “banana toffee pie,” strikes an amusing balance between buttery rich sweetness and everyday fruit flavors. This playfulness is exactly what makes it extraordinary. This no-bake pie cuts into a buttery cookie crust full of a creamy brown sugar-flavored toffee filling. Just try saying that three times fast! Topping the sumptuous toffee filling with seemingly ordinary bananas and barely sweetened whipped cream brings balance back to every bite. Be assured this is still one seriously sweet dessert, but one that leaves a wake of ardent admirers in its wake.

Learn how to whip up a picture-perfect crumb crust and a sweet toffee filling, and make the best banoffee pie you’ll ever have with this recipe.

Banoffee pie is a classic British dessert, reportedly invented by a pub owner in the 1970s. The original recipe called for a short pastry pie crust (aka classic flaky pie crust), a creamy toffee-like filling cooked from a can of sweetened condensed milk, and whipped cream and bananas on top. Many modern recipes use a crumb crust made with digestive biscuits and make a toffee from scratch. Our banoffee falls somewhere in the middle, with a shortbread cookie crumb crust and a toffee filling that includes both sugar and the classic sweetened condensed milk.

Here’s what we will cover in this recipe.

• The crust: Learn to make a picture-perfect crumb crust that won’t fall apart.
• The toffee: Harness sweetened condensed milk’s power for thickening.
• The toppings: Learn when to add the bananas and the best whipped cream to use.

As a nod to the original short pastry crust of banoffee pie, this recipe calls for shortbread cookies. Now, this crumb crust isn’t baked so you want to be doubly sure that the crust’s cookie-to-butter ratio is correct before you start pressing it into a tart pan. Grab a handful and squeeze it firmly: Does it stick together in a tight ball and stay together when picked up? Good. Your crumb mixture is ready for crust making. If you had a particularly dry shortbread cookie, add another tablespoon of butter, process, and try the press test again.

• Build this pie in a loose-bottom tart pan rather than a pie plate, so that you can easily remove the pie and you’ll have pretty crimped sides.
• Use a heavy-bottomed glass to firmly pack the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of the tart pan.
• The longer you can chill the crust — both before filling and before cutting, — the better.

Believe it or not, the classic banoffee pie filling is nothing more than sweetened condensed milk boiled until caramelized in the can. Personally, I find the resulting caramel a bit tinny in taste, beyond the fact that the process takes several hours. Instead, we’ll make a quick toffee-flavored syrup with brown sugar and butter and then add a can of sweetened condensed milk. Sweet condensed milk adds a malty richness to be sure, but its greatest power is as a thickener. As it cools, the sweetened condensed milk thickens, making a silky-smooth toffee filling with just a few minutes of cooking.

Are you wondering where the banana is yet? Banoffee pie is topped with slices of fresh banana and whipped cream. The cookie crumb crust and the toffee filling are so incredibly sweet that I recommend using an unsweetened whipped cream for the topping, but I’ve included amounts for sweetening as desired.

Slice and garnish with the bananas just before serving and top the bananas with the whipped cream to prevent the bananas from discoloring. A dusting of bittersweet or dark chocolate shavings also tempers the toffee’s sweetness, although it isn’t required.