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
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup gluten free 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.
Nutrition
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!
~~~~~
Cast your vote for favorite pie: fruit, cream, or chocolate?
ellen 06.19.2012
I have never met a pie I didn’t like…fruity, creamy, chocolately, I love them all the same! (unless it has a tough crust, then no thanks!) In spring/summer, I love lemon meringue with a light, flaky crust!
Mark 06.19.2012
What kind of camera and lens do you use for your photography? Those pictures are wonderful! Also, how do you get such great lighting? I’m assuming it’s all daylight?
Shonda 06.19.2012
Definitely cream pie:))))))
Eve P 06.19.2012
Strawberry pie in summer and if I can find it Raisin Cream in the winter. I say find it because I wouldn’t dare make it because I’d be the only one to eat it in my house.
Alysha @ Shesontherun 06.19.2012
How cute! These would be perfect for a baby/wedding shower.
Autumn@Good Eats Girl 06.19.2012
These are so perfectly cute! Love them!
I’m a fruit pie fan! Especially strawberry…YUM!
Lori 06.19.2012
Looks great. I would probably use sugar cookie dough or crushed nilla wafers and butter for the crust, since I’m lazy in the baking department. BUT, I would have to make a proper butterscotch/banana pudding from scratch. My Mimaw would never forgive me if I took that short cut. You could, however, bump up the flavor of a store bought pudding by adding a little vanilla and banana extracts. I would probably add some of the extract (or a banana rum) to the whipped cream….
Jenny 06.19.2012
These are so cute! I can’t wait to make them! LOL. I bet that when you finally get pregnant, you will insist on going to Babies r us ALL the time!
Diane 06.19.2012
Will definitely make these this weekend for my granddaughters graduation party (kindergarten)…sounds and looks delish and oh so easy… thanks, diane
Lauren 06.19.2012
So I usually take the easy when out when it comes to parties as well and always always with dessert. These look so cute! I only wish I had the motivation to bake. :)
Tree 06.19.2012
OMGosh, girl.. you’re killing me here. lol I’m a new follower, and already I’ve loved every new recipe you’ve posted. Can’t wait to try these out!
Lisa 06.19.2012
Love Banana pudding…question though, won’t the bananas turn brown on you if this sits out for more than 30 minutes after slicing? Just curious if you have a trick to keep them fresh.
Iowa Girl Eats 06.20.2012
Mine didn’t start browning until an hour after they were assembled, and didn’t brown hardly at all when I put the extras in the fridge. If you were serving them at a party, you could put half out, then refill from the fridge if you don’t think they’ll go fast enough!
Danielle @ Itsaharleyyylife 06.19.2012
I hate babies r us too. That place is soooo confusing! I must pin this recipe banana pudding is my favorite thing in the world so I’m sure I’ll love these!
Melodie 06.19.2012
Adorable desserts!! Will have to try with chocolate pudding – delish! Thank you for the recipe!
Side note: I have mild panic attacks whenever I go to Babies R Us, as well! Buy Buy Baby is worse – its set up like a Bed, Bath & Beyond so it feels equally claustrophobic and overwhelming. I always just end up calling the person I’m shopping for going “just tell me what you want because I can’t handle it in here!!” LOL
Rebekah 06.19.2012
I can’t stand banana, or vanilla pudding. But these look absolutely gorgeous and so simple! Maybe chocolate pudding and raspberry/strawberry, or oo, passionfruit or orange! Oooo, so many variations!
April 06.19.2012
These are so cute and petite! Great idea for a big ol’ baby shower!
Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe 06.19.2012
These are so cute, I can barely stand it! They look tasty too! There are no parties in my future, but I just might have to make them for myself!
Amanda @ Semi-Health Nut 06.19.2012
Oh my goodness! Adorableness!!
You do such a great job at explaining the recipes…but would you consider adding the total amount of time it took you to make? Just a thought!
Thanks for sharing. :-)
Amy M 06.19.2012
Ummm so cute! You could easily do so many varieties of this by switching the pudding or fruit — chocolate pudding? strawberry slices?!
My favorite pie is fruit — strawberry with a nice flaky crust, and dollop of whipped cream.
Trisha 06.19.2012
Darnit! I totally forgot about strawberry pie. That’s my favorite too… :)
Trisha 06.19.2012
These are so totes adorbs! Banana cream pie is my absolute favorite so I will definitely be trying these out soon. I have to admit though, once fall hits, I’m all about pumpking & apple pie. My pie tastes change with the seasons. ;)