Banana Cream Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust [Vegan + Gluten Free]

This no-bake vegan +gluten-free banana cream pie is thick, creamy, naturally sweetened, and made with a homemade oatmeal cookie crust. Make this for all the banana lovers in your life!

What’s thick, creamy, filled with (fair trade + organic) bananas, and made with only about 10 minutes of prep time?

BANANA CREAM PIE.

For the crust, I went with a similar oatmeal cookie-inspired situation similar to the one used in these cheesecake cups, which ends up giving off some no-bake oatmeal cookie vibes as the bottom layer of this pie. It’s made from just five simple ingredients, and gets pressed into the bottom of a springform pan for easy serving. I find this type of crust to be easier to make than a homemade graham cracker crust, but if you’re feeling up to it, that would be a delicious option as well!

On top of the crust we’re going to layer lots of banana slices before pouring on our creamy, cashew-based banana pudding.

The best part? It’s made entirely in a blender- just toss a ripe banana, soaked cashews, coconut milk, vanilla, and maple syrup into the blender, give it a whirl, then pour it over top of the crust. Swoon. It starts out the consistency of a milk shake, but after a few hours in the freezer, it turns into a thick, pudding-like layer with a subtle banana flavor and seriously luscious, creamy texture.

Finally, we’re topping this pie with a fluffy layer of coconut whipped cream. Chill a few cans of coconut milk, scoop off the thick cream layer and mix it with a drizzle of maple syrup, then pile it high atop the chilled pie.

The final product is a no-bake, gluten-free, vegan-friendly pie that Kevin (you know, that guy I married who ‘doesn’t like coconut’ ((insert eye roll here)) has been eating a slice every day after work, commenting on how good each layer is. Including that pile of coconut whipped cream on top. Sigh.

I’ve been loving this pie as an after dinner treat, but the real power move here is to eat it for breakfast. Listen: it’s made with ingredients that I totally consider breakfast appropriate (hello oats, maple syrup, cashews, coconut milk, and bananas), so I’ve been scooping some into a bowl, pouring myself a cup of coffee, and feeling like I won the breakfast lottery since I get to eat PIE….for breakfast. I mean, come on. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Whenever you choose to eat it, I think you are going to be obsessed with this easy no-bake banana cream pie. It happens to be vegan/gf, but to be honest, it’s just a dang good banana cream pie. Make it for your mom this weekend? She’s gonna love it.

Before I let you go, let’s have a little chat about bananas, shall we?

The below is not meant to shame anyone for their banana purchases, or to be remotely pretentious: I am seriously passionate about sustainability, access to organic produce, and supporting small farmers, and I think this is information that isn’t always obvious and available to everyone. I acknowledge that it is a priviledge to have access to, and be able to afford, organic products (though I firmly believe that it shouldn’t be), and is not one that I ever take for granted. That said, bananas are one of the few products that are still extremely affordable, even when you’re purchasing them fair trade + organic, and buying them is an easy way to take a small stand against a broken global food system.

Bananas are one of the produce items that I will not buy/eat unless they’re fair trade + organic. Like, for real. I pass up on those yellow babies unless they meet my standards. The reason? The banana industry has a long, dark, oppressive history. Seriously, google ‘dark history of the banana industry’ and prepare to find out about land requisition, slavery and indentured workers on plantation farms, extreme farmer poverty and exposure to toxic pesticides, and the overbearing control the banana industry has on the market. And, it’s not like this is all stuff that happened hundreds of years ago. It’s happening today.

I recently met a scientist who worked on a project testing the pesticide level in conventional bananas across the country and essentially, she wouldn’t even hand a regular banana to a baby, let alone allow him/her to eat it. It was that bad. The popular concept that you don’t need to worry about non-organic bananas because ‘you don’t eat the peel’ is completely misguided- not only because bananas require a large amount of water to grow, and that water carries all of the pesticides up into the banana plants themselves, but because the concept that buying organic ‘doesn’t matter’ if you don’t eat the part that’s covered in pesticides completely disregards the farmers and the planet, both of which bear the brunt of toxic pesticides in non-organic farming.

Plus, bananas are a product that are shipped across the world in a climate-controlled environment (aka, uses lots of fuel), so they’re a product that, for environmental reasons, I try to be very mindful about consuming. If you’re looking for more info and a great source of ethical bananas, I highly recommend searching for Equal Exchange bananas in your area. They’re literally the only ones I will buy, and I sometimes go weeks without buying bananas if I can’t find them. Likewise, when I do, I stock up and freeze them once ripe for using in smoothies, banana bread, etc.

Okay, enough about bananas. If you try out this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your Banana Cream Pie and share it with me on Instagram so I can see! I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen!!

Banana Cream Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust [Vegan + Gluten Free]

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours
Yields: 1 8-inch pie

Ingredients:

crust

• 1 1/2 cups quick or instant oats
• 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

filling

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked*
• 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
• 1 large ripe banana
• 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

topping + assembly

• 2 large ripe bananas
• 2 cans full-fat coconut milk, chilled for at least 4 hours**
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• a handful of chopped almonds (optional)

Instructions:

1. Take out an 8-inch springform (aka cheesecake) pan and ensure the ring is tightly secured around the base. Make space in your freezer for the pan to sit level without tipping.
2. Place all crust ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Then, dump it into the springform pan and use a wet spatula (or wet hands) to press it into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Transfer the pan to the freezer while you make the filling.
3. Place all filling ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or high-powered blender, and blend until completely smooth (about 1 minute).
4. Slice the two remaining bananas into thin (about 1/4-inch or thinner) slices, remove the pan from the freezer, and spread the banana slices out on top of the crust. If desired, reserve 4-6 banana slices to decorate the top of the finished pie.
5. Pour the filling over the banana layer, then transfer the pan back to the freezer to chill for at least 2 hours (or in the fridge for at least 4 hours), before topping and serving.
6. When ready to serve, open the cans of coconut milk and use a spoon to scrape off the thick coconut cream that has settled to the top. Save the milky liquid for smoothies, oatmeal, etc. Place the coconut cream in a small bowl, add maple syrup, and stir with a sturdy spoon until completely smooth and creamy. If your coconut cream is very hard/chunky, let it sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes before mixing, to allow it to soften. Then, top the pie with your coconut whip, add optional banana slices and almonds, and serve!
7. Leftovers keep well in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.

NOTES:
*Soak cashews in almost boiling water for 15 minutes, or in cold water at room temperature for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight. This softens them up and helps keep the filling thick and creamy.
**Canned coconut milk varies in the amount of cream you’ll get from each can, so you may find that you get enough from 1 can to top this pie, or you might need to use some or all of the cream from the second can. Lately, I’ve found the 365 Organic Coconut Milk from Whole Foods has already been separated when I buy it at the store (give the can a shake, and if you don’t hear liquid sloshing around, it’s already separated), and in this case, you don’t need to chill the coconut milk to get it to separate. Simply open the cans, scoop out the cream, and chill your bowl of coconut whip for 30-45 minutes to help it firm up a little before topping the pie, since it will likely be a bit loose. Alternately, if you don’t need to make this pie dairy-free/vegan, feel free to grab some quality heavy cream from the store and make regular whipped cream. I’d recommend using 1 cup of cream + 1 Tablespoon maple syrup, whipped with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

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