I Die for Banana Cream Pie

I wanted to start off my 25 Southern Desserts challenge in the strongest way possible, and nothing is stronger than banana cream pie, my friend. Just about nothin', I tell ya. I started with my mom's recipe, made the pudding myself, and even decided to go with a whole-wheat pie crust to even out the gooey-ness of the cream pie. 

Mmmm, Gooey. Creamy. Pie-y. 

Sorry, I got distracted!

The verdict? A really nice balance between the whole wheat-iness of the crust and the over-the-top sweetness of the filling. If I had to make it again, I might do a nilla wafer crust instead or just go with all pudding. That's the best part, after all. But a valiant effort that even my mom gave the thumbs-up to.

Start with the good stuff... I used half white and half whole wheat flour + Smart Balance

I like bananas as my first layer

...then pudding, then nilla wafers

Drool drool drool. If you let the pie sit in the fridge for about a day, the wafers get soggy and add such an amazing texture to the mushy bananas.

Here, you can see the layers: crust, bananas, pudding, wafers, pudding, bananas, pudding, wafers, whipped cream

The two of us put quite a dent in it in one sitting.

Extreme Close-Up

Recipe after the jump!

Mama's Banana Cream Pie with Whole-Wheat Crust

Helpful Hint: This pie takes about 4 hours to be ready to eat because it must cool, so keep that in mind! I got really hungry waiting for everything to be ready!

Ingredients

For Crust: 

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour 

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup COLD butter-flavored shortening

1/4 cup COLD Smart Balance (Butter-Flavored)

1/4 cup COLD water

For Filling:

1 box heat and serve vanilla Jello-pudding mix (both Paula Deen and my mother swear by this)

2 cups cold whole milk

2 tsp vanilla, divided

4 medium bananas, sliced

1 box Nilla Wafers

Heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Make the pie crust: mix together the flours, salt, and sugar. Then add in the Smart Balance, mixing with a pastry blender until it looks like cornmeal. Then add in the shortening until the mix is the size of small peas. Add in the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you get it to the right consistency (it should be just wet enough to hold together and should not be sticky at all). Roll into a ball and smush down into a disk (just push it down once or twice). Then wrap it in plastic wrap and leave in fridge for at least an hour.

2. While the dough is in the fridge, make the pudding according to the package directions. Add in 1 tsp vanilla for extra flavor and allow to cool. 

3. Preheat the oven to 425F. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out to about an 1/8-inch thick circle. Place in deep-dish or regular pie pan and press in lightly. Poke holes in the crust with a knife and place in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until very light brown. Check it occasionally to make sure it isn't puffing up or pulling away from the pan. If it is, just poke it with the knife where it is puffing or pulling. 

4. Remove the crust from the oven and allow to cool completely in the refrigerator (about an hour). 

5. Once everything is cooled off, place a layer of bananas on the bottom of the crust. Then follow with a layer of pudding. Then follow with a layer of nilla wafers, another layer of pudding, another layer of bananas, etc. until you fill up the crust. 

6. Make the whipped cream: whip on fast speed for about 2 minutes, then add in the powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Spread over the top of the pie. 

7. Place back in the fridge for about an hour to set or serve immediately. This pie gets better with time though, so even saving it overnight would work like an absolute charm. 

This is pretty much a self-contained meal. Yep. Pretty much.