Mini Banana Cream Pies

Confession: Whenever I have a party or baby/bridal shower to attend or throw, I usually end up buying the food I bring or serve instead of making it myself.

Considering I am a food blogger, after all, this is quite lame.

It’s just that, between stressing out about what I’m going to wear, cleaning the house, or HOW I’M GOING TO GET OUT OF BABIES ‘R’ US ALIVE, the last thing I want to do before a get together is make a million mini quiche from scratch to serve when I could just go to Costco and buy 500 of the damn things for, like, $7.00, you know?

Anyway.

I might have to change my ways for the cutest little, bite-sized desserts I made recently – Mini Banana Cream Pies. I want to pinch their wee, pudding-filled cheeks!

Shortbread cookie dough form the shells of these mini pies, which are filled with store-bought or pre-made vanilla pudding, then topped with whipped cream and a fresh banana slice.

They’re perfect for any get together – from a BBQ to baby shower – and take 2 minutes to assemble once the shortbread shells are baked. I’ll show ya’!

Start by making the shortbread cookie dough for the pie shells, which begins with 6 Tablespoons butter. SOFT butter people. Like, offensively soft. I let mine sit out overnight.

Cream the butter with 1/3 cup powdered sugar until it’s light and fluffy.

It’ll only take a minute!

Next add 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon) and 3/4 flour, then mix everything together until well combined.

Try to forget about the fact that this is an egg-less cookie dough, which is perfectly safe to eat raw, then shape it into a disc, cover it with plastic wrap, and stash it in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to overnight.

30 minutes later, take the dough out of the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for a couple of minutes if it’s too stiff to handle (TWSS), then shape the dough into 20, equal-sized balls.

What I did to make it easy was divide the dough in half, then in half again, then divide the quarters into 5 balls each. It doesn’t have to be perfect either!

Grease a mini muffin tin very well with nonstick spray, then place a dough ball into each cup and press down with your thumb to create a little shell that will eventually hold the pudding, whipped cream, and banana slices.

Make sure to get the dough going up the sides a little!

Bake the shells for 10 minutes at 325 degrees, then let them sit in the tin for 5-7 minutes (until it’s cool enough to handle,) then pop them out with a spoon and cool completely on a wire rack.

Some of my shells rose too far in the center to hold the amount of pudding I wanted to cram inside, so I pressed the centers in with the bottom of a shot glass right when they came out of the oven. The others were fine (and I’m not sure it made that much of a difference – the pudding will still stay in place!)

Next, start the aforementioned cramming! Spoon 1/2 cup chilled vanilla pudding inside a piping or ziplock bag, snip the corner off, then pipe 1-1/2 – 2 teaspoons in the center of each shell. You can use any kind of vanilla pudding you want (I used cough, pudding packs, cough) but whatever you use, just make sure it’s cold.

Spoon 1/2 cup whipped cream into another piping bag, then dollop a bit on the side. If you don’t want to use the piping method for the pudding or whipped cream, a teaspoon should do the trick!

Finally, slice 2 bananas, and pop a slice on top.

Here’s another assembly version – pudding –> banana slice –> whipped cream.

Continue with the rest of the cups!

SQUEE! So cute!

Mini Banana Cream Pies

Mini Banana Cream Pies are the perfect party appetizer. Simple, sweet and petite - try eating just one!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Chilling Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 20 mini pies

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 Tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup prepared vanilla pudding chilled
• 1/2 cup whipped cream
• 2 bananas sliced

Instructions

 

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until smooth, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and salt then beat to combine. Spoon in the flour 1/4 cup at a time, until completely combined. Shape dough into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and generously spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. Divide the dough into 20, equal-sized balls (I divided the dough in half, then each half in half, then each quarter into five balls,) then place one ball into each muffin cup. Use your thumb to press the dough down and create a shell, pressing the dough up the sides a bit. Bake for 10 minutes, cool for 5-7 minutes in the tin, then pop the shells out with a spoon and cool completely on a wire rack. If the dough has not left an indentation in the center of the shell, press down lightly with the bottom of a shot glass as soon as the shells come out of the oven.
• Meanwhile, transfer pudding and whipped cream into individual piping or a ziplock bags, and snip the ends off. Pipe 1-1/2 - 2 teaspoons pudding into the bottom of the shell, pipe a dollop of whipped cream on the side, then place a banana slice on top. Serve immediately. Store extras in the fridge for up to a day.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

How freaking cute are these bite-sized mini pies?!

The shortbread shell is sweet, but not too sweet, and the creamy vanilla pudding melts in your mouth with the banana and whipped cream. So satisfying and sure to be a hit at any get together.

Furthermore, since you use pre-made vanilla pudding and whipped cream, assembly literally takes 2 minutes so you can practically make these on your way out the door, or just before guests arrive.

No party? No problem! Make these for a sweet, portion controlled dessert any night of the week, which is what I did. Although…I’m not sure devouring four mini pies qualifies as showing control.

Ah well, as they say, c’est la vie!

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Cast your vote for favorite pie: fruit, cream, or chocolate?