I am so excited I was selected to do a shop at Smart and Final!!! I love Smart and Final the stores are always well stocked, clean and everyone is so helpful!! Be sure to follow Smart and Final on Twitter at #SFSmarties and on FaceBook HERE!
If you want to see my shopping trip take a peek at this URL:
http://my.thismoment.com/moment/view/74665/shopping-at-smart-and-final-for-shoportunity-bananas
My Mission was to buy BANANAS!! I love bananas!! They are full of potassium and B vitamins!! I try to eat at least a half of a banana a day!!
I first thought I wanted to do a Bananas Foster dish but then when I was shopping I came across a Banana Creme Pie!! This gave me an idea!! I love watching the Food Network and one of my favorite shows is Dessert First with Ann Thornton, one episode she made this!
Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie
yes doesn’t that sound to die for?
So I set out to make my pie!!
I made the caramel sauce on Saturday so it had time to completely cool. It is pretty easy I just followed the directions and did not move away from the pan as it can burn so easily!!
This the very hot Caramel sauce see how thin it is?
This is what it looks like when it is cool, it gets thick and yummy!
Next I added the salt.
I made the pudding, and the pie shell earlier too. I didn’t take pictures of the pudding process. I followed the directions and it came out great!!
I put the Vanilla wafers in my food processor which made this easy!!
I melted the butter in the pie pan and then added the crumbs and formed the crust and then popped it in the oven as directed!!
Lets build this bad boy!!
I cut up the bananas and tossed them in that amazing Salted Caramel Sauce!
Now lets really punch it up!! Here we go!! Into the Pie shell it goes!
Then the pudding.
Vanilla wafer layer!
Then we do it again!
Bananas and Caramel!
Pudding!
And Whipped Cream!! Delish!!
Then more Salted Caramel Sauce!!
To top it all off more Vanilla Wafer Crumbs!
Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie!!!
And here is the complete recipe!!
Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie Recipe
courtesy Ann Thornton
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla wafers (60 to 65 cookies)
- 3/4 stick butter, melted
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
- 1 cup homemade caramel, recipe follows, or 1 cup prepared caramel
- Vanilla Pudding, warm, recipe follows
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put the vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are finely crushed. Reserve 1/2 cup to layer in and to top the pie. Pour the remaining crumbs in a 9-inch pie plate. Pour the melted butter over the top and, using a spoon or your hands, combine the ingredients. Press the mixture in the bottom and up the sides and onto the lip of the pie plate. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Peel and slice the bananas, adding them to a bowl. Stir the salt into the caramel sauce and toss the banana slices with the salted caramel. Arrange some banana slices evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread half of the warm Vanilla Pudding over the bananas, top with some more crushed vanilla wafers (reserving some for garnish) and more caramel-coated bananas. Spread the remaining Vanilla Pudding over the top.
In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Add the almond extract and sugar and beat until peaks form. Make sure not to overbeat, or the cream will become lumpy and butter-like. Spread the whipped cream over the pie. Just before serving, garnish with a caramel swirl and the rest of the crushed vanilla wafers.
Caramel Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Combine the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. This is the only time you can stir the sugar. If you stir it while it’s cooking, it turns to rock candy. Place the saucepan over medium to low heat until the sugars start to dissolve, 5 to 10 minutes. Then turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not stir while this is happening. You’ve got to watch the pot, because it goes from caramel to burnt really quickly. And be careful, the mixture is extremely hot!
Turn off the heat and stand back to avoid splattering. Slowly add the cream. Don’t panic – the cream will bubble violently, and the caramel will solidify. Just give it more time to liquefy again-trust me!
Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits. Yield: 3 cups.
Vanilla Pudding:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups milk, divided
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour until all of the lumps are gone. Once it is a fine powder, whisk in the egg yolks and whole eggs and continue whisking until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly whisk in 1 cup milk, and once this is incorporated add the remaining 1 cup milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding, 10 to 15 minutes. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when the whisk is lifted.) Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
I had a great time with this Shoportunity!! I hope you enjoy this post and you gotta make this pie it is amazing!!!
“This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias.”
Amy @ Dealusional says
That sounds soooooo delicious! It looks so easy to make, too. Yum!
admin says
Thanks Amy it is soooo good!!!
Rebecca@RootsAndWingsCo says
That looks delish!
Sara @ Mom Endeavors says
YUM! That sounds SO good! My husband LOVES banana pudding so I bet he would especially “go bananas” for this! 🙂
admin says
Thanks Sara!! This Pie is amazing you gotta try it!! You can use instant pudding and store caramel sauce to make it even that much easier!! I think the one thing I would do different is instead of a layer of Vanilla Wafer crumbs in the middle I would do a layer of the actual cookies!! But I gotta say this is one of my favs!!!
Lala Sams says
Seriousl…I’m grabbing a plate right now! That looks phenomenal. Great job!
{Not Quite} Susie Homemaker says
That looks SOOO yummy!
Liz says
OH this this sooooo good! I want a slice! The Food network always has great recipes to share.
Jules from a Little Bite of Life says
A fellow SFSmartie swooning here–this looks so incredible!! I cannot wait to try this! (And if you need a Bananas Foster recipe, I am featuring one on my blog next week!)
sandi says
ohhhhhhhhh, I WANT SOME!!! it looks delish!
admin says
Come on over Sandi I have some left!!!
Brandie says
Bananas and caramel…YUMMMM!!!