Pie in the Face!

My favorite treat all year long is a nice slice of banana cream pie! I love sinking my fork into a dreamy rich heaven of whipped cream, chocolate, and bananas! Here is a great recipe for banana cream pie. There are two types of ways you can do the crust. You can make a graham cracker crust or a chocolate wafer crust. My personal favorite is the chocolate wafer crust but whatever suits your taste works. If you would like the chocolate wafer crust see the bottom and skip the graham cracker crust part.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 12 graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 3 tablespoons boiling water
• 1/3 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a food processor, process graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of water, and process until the crumb clumps together. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pie plate and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then let cool.

In the meantime, make the filling. Put the gelatin in a small bowl; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar and the flour. In a medium bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together. Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin. Set aside to cool slightly.

Arrange the sliced bananas on the graham cracker crust and pour the pudding on top. Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.

Whip the cream with an electric beater. When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped. Slop the whipped cream onto the pie! Enjoy!

Courtesy Ellie Krieger

Chocolate Wafer Crust

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

30 chocolate wafers (enough to make 1 1/2 cups crumbs)

Coat a 9-inch pie pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter. In a food processor, chop the chocolate wafers into fine crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl and mix in the rest of the melted butter. Pat the mixture over the bottom and sides of the pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.