Peanut, Caramel & Banana Cream Pie

Hello guests of the Virtual Vegan Potluck – welcome to my blog!  I am excited to be joining the VVP for the first time!  I love creating delicious vegan food that is also good for you, and that’s what I had in mind when creating this pie.  Granted, this ain’t no spinach salad, but if you’re splurging on dessert this is a much healthier way to go!  I dreamed up the flavor combination while doing a juice fast last week – literally, daydreamed about it for 5 days.  Peanuts, caramel and banana….yum yum and yum!

This pie has several steps, some of which take some time.  But other than allowing time, it’s really very simple.  The caramel is so easy to make.  I found this great caramel recipe on Oh, Ladycakes and followed it exactly.  One thing to note is that the caramel will lighten up in color as it cools in the refrigerator.  But the taste remains delightful!

Peanut, Caramel & Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• 1.5 bananas, thinly sliced

For the Crust:

• 1 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2 T agave
• 2 T creamy peanut butter (I used Smucker’s natural creamy peanut butter but you can make your own)
• 1/4 t salt

For the cream filling:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 can of coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
• 1 T arrowroot powder
• 1/2 T lemon juice

For the caramel:

• 1 can coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
• 1/2 cup whole cane sugar

Directions:

1. Make the caramel – I followed the directions as found on Oh, Ladycakes.  Remove 1/4 cup of the liquid portion of the coconut milk and place in a pot over medium high heat.  Whisk in 1/2 cup pure cane sugar and bring to a boil for 5-6 minutes, stirring every minute or so.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the cream from the coconut milk (about 1 cup) and let boil for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Remove from heat and pour into a glass jar and let cool on the counter for about an hour.  Place the glass jar in the refrigerator and let cool for another hour.

2. Make the crust – In a food processor, grind the peanuts so that they are finely processed but not yet peanut butter.  In a mixing bowl, combine the peanuts, shredded coconut, agave and peanut butter.  You may need to use your hands to get it thoroughly mixed and doughy.  Press the dough into a pie pan with your fingers and place in refrigerator.

3. Make the cream filling – In a large mixing bowl, break the 3 bananas into thirds and add the lemon juice.  Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth and no clumps remain.  You could also do this with a blender or food processor.  Open the second can of coconut milk and remove the cream and place it in a large mixing bowl.  Add the arrowroot powder to the coconut cream.  Use a hand mixer to whip the cream until it has the consistency of whipped cream.  Add in the blended bananas and briefly whip again, until the cream and bananas are combined.

4. Assemble the pie – Once caramel has had time to cool, pour 2/3 of the caramel over the crust.  Then add a layer of the sliced 1.5 bananas.  Top sliced bananas with the banana-cream mixture.  Return pie to refrigerator and allow to cool for 6 hours.

5. Once pie has cooled, pour more caramel over the top.  You may have a little bit of caramel left over – I suggest using a spoon to take care of this problem 🙂

6. Enjoy your pie!

Thanks for visiting and don’t forget to check out the other great recipes in the Virtual Vegan Potluck!

To visit the fabulous blog preceeding mine in the VVP, click here!

To visit the fabulous blog following mine in the VVP, click here!

To visit the VVP homepage, click here!