Delicious vegan Banana Chocolate Cream Pie. Layers of banana and chocolate mousse topped with shredded coconut and fresh bananas for a gluten-free and naturally sweetened wholesome dessert.
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I've always been a big fan of desserts. This is something you already know if you've been reading my blog for, like, a minute. A graduate of a Baking & Patisserie culinary program, a former baker and pastry chef, the blogger behind this blog (which started out as a dessert-centric blog called The Sweet Life) all lead to a pretty strong conclusion that I like my sweets.
While I am a huge proponent of decadent, sugary, over-the-top desserts, I am a much bigger fan of finding ways to get your sweet fix with wholesome and healthful desserts. That is why I love this vegan banana cream pie.
It's a decadent pie made with whole foods, natural sweeteners, and healthy fats. With coconut and chocolate banana custards layered inside a lightly toasted coconut walnut pie shell, what's not to love?
Not only is this pie INCREDIBLE tasting (which we will get to in a minute), it is also made with whole, natural ingredients that were delivered right to my door!
What is iHerb?
That's right. I got almost all my ingredients for this pie online at iHerb. For those of you who aren't familiar, iHerb is an online store filled with over 30,000 natural and organic products ranging from home, beauty, food, pets, supplements, personal care, and more. iHerb carries top-quality brands - ones that you probably recognize - and ships from climate-controlled distribution centers to ensure quality products to over 150 countries around the world!
Here are just a few of the brands they carry:
I first learned of iHerb about 6 years ago. When I found them, they were my go-to one stop shop for all of my health foods such as raw cacao, hemp hearts, and raw nuts. Not only do they have everything I want, but also their shipping is fast and their prices are also great.
This is the place to buy quality and organic staples like maple syrup, and creamed coconut.
When it came to making this wholesome vegan banana cream pie, I knew I wanted to do my shopping at iHerb. It's convenient, affordable, and I am certain to get top-quality ingredients. Among the ingredients, I got from iHerb were:
Everything else I already had at home.
How to shop at iHerb
Picking out my items at iHerb was super easy. Because they only carry the best brands, you don't have to look through a lot of products to find the best one. Simply type in what you're looking for in the search bar and review your selections.
Once you fill up your cart, review it, select shipping and payment methods, and you're good to go. iHerb offers customer service 24 hours a day/7 days a week in 10 different languages, making it an easy and convenient online shopping experience.
Wanna try iHerb for yourself? Returning customers get 5% off their iHerb order, but new customers can get 10% off their first iHerb order by clicking here.
Now that we've talked about our ingredients, let's take a look at this amazing vegan chocolate banana cream pie.
How to Make Banana Cream Pie
This vegan banana cream pie is made up of two layers of custard. The first is a banana coconut layer and the second is a banana chocolate layer. Other than toasting the walnut crust (which you can skip), this dessert is not only vegan and gluten-free but it's also raw! That means it's made with whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods.
Despite its decadence, this vegan cream pie is super simple to make! All you need is the ingredients that I listed above as well as a food processor and a high-powered blender.
Step one - Make the crust
The first step is making the walnut coconut crust. To do this, place the walnuts, shredded coconut, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend it until it forms a small crumb that sticks together when pressed between your fingers. If the crust feels crumbly you can add a tiny bit more maple syrup but don't add more than 1-2 teaspoons or the crust will become too wet.
Transfer the crust to a 9" pie pan and evenly press it into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.* Let cool to room temperature while making the custards.
*This step is optional. If you want a raw dessert, you can skip the toasting of the pie shell.
Step two - Make the custards
To make the custards I recommend a high-powered blender. However, if you don't have one, you can use a food processor. If you are using a food processor, make sure to soak your cashews overnight to get them as soft as possible. This will allow you to have a smooth and creamy consistency for your custards.
Once the cashews are soft, drain and rinse them and place them in a blender along with the other ingredients for the custard.
It's important to use very ripe bananas. Because these custards don't have much sweetener in it, the riper the bananas the more flavor and sweetness will come out. If you still want to add extra sweetness, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or agave nectar. Do note that these sweeteners will make the banana custard look a little brown.
Once the banana custard is made, pour it over the crust, clean out the Vita-mix, and make the chocolate custard by following the same instructions.
Step three - Assemble and serve
Top with chocolate custard and let set up in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Once ready to serve, top with sliced bananas and serve chilled.
Tips and Tricks
- For creamy vegan banana cream pie, this recipe is best made with a high-powered blender. For the creamiest consistency, soak the cashews at least 1 hour in warm water before blending them with the custard ingredients.
- This banana cream pie can be made several days in advance. To store it, tightly wrap it and place it in the freezer. Let thaw 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving. Wait until serving to top with bananas.
- If you can't eat or don't like coconut, you can omit it. Add an additional ¼ cup of cashews to the banana layer to bulk it up.
- Likewise, if you can't eat cashews, try replacing them with Macadamia nuts.
Alright, I think that's all you need to know. It's time to do some shopping at iHerb and start making this banana cream pie today!
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients
Walnut Crust
- 1 ½ cups raw walnuts
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 - 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Coconut Banana Custard
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 2 hours
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup creamed coconut
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Chocolate Banana Custard
- 1 cup cashews, soaked 2 hours
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 very ripe bananas
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
Extras
- 3 bananas, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a food processor mix together walnuts and coconut until well combined. Add maple syrup and blend until it forms a crumbly dough that sticks together when pressed. Transfer the walnut/coconut mixture to a 9" pie pan and press the crust into the bottom and sides of the pan so that it is about ¼" thick. Bake the crust for 10 -12 minutes until the edges are lightly brown and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, add a layer of sliced bananas on the bottom and place in the refrigerator.
- To make the coconut banana custard, drain and rinse 1 cup of raw cashews. Place them in a powerful blender with lemon juice and coconut oil and blend until completely smooth. Add the creamed coconut, bananas, vanilla extract, and salt. Blend until well combined. Spoon the filling into cooled pie crust and spread evenly. Place the pie in the refrigerator and to let it chill while making the chocolate banana custard.
- Clean out the blender. To make the chocolate banana custard, combine the remaining cashews with the maple syrup blending until very smooth. Add cacao powder, bananas, vanilla extract, and salt and blend until well combined. With motor running, slowly add coconut oil until thoroughly mixed. Pour the mousse over the chilled banana custard and return to the refrigerator for 2 hours to let the custards set up.
- When you're ready to serve, top with fresh bananas. The pie should be served chilled.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Jennifer says
I made this and followed the directions exactly. It came out delicious and I’m so happy how healthy and light it was. The only thing is that I wished it had more banana flavor and a little less lemon. I think the lemon overpowered in mine. Next time I think I will skip the lemon with something else (oat milk?).
Shreya says
Hie , what exactly does creamed coconut refer to?can we use coconut cream the canned one ?
Sarah McMinn says
Creamed coconut is different than canned coconut. It's just the solid fatty part. You can pick some up here.
D says
This looks amazing! Do you think you could use silken or soft tofu instead of cashews? Thanks!
Sarah says
Yes, that would work. I suggest extra firm silken tofu
Sarah Wellington says
Hi Sarah, thank you for this amazing recipe. We have a walnut (and almond) allergy in our household, is there anything you would recommend replacing the walnuts with? Thank you! 🙂
Sarah says
Pecans would work great.
Camille E says
Hi! I’m so looking forward to making this amazing looking pie! Can I use cashew milk or oat milk to replace the puréed soaked cashews? Thank you!
Sarah says
Unfortunately no, the consistency is much thicker of the cashews. Without them, the pie would be too loose and never set up.
Judy Hendren says
Im so grateful to your recipes, so nice and natural and delicious Thank you Sarah.
Lisa McMinn says
This looks fantastic... I appreciate your effort to bring some measure of health to sweet desserts!