caramelized banana cream pie in a glass

Here’s the use case: you’re wrapping up dinner and the craving hits—you want dessert. And not just a square of chocolate or a scoop of ice cream; you want something  indulgent with layers of flavor and texture. What you want is pie, but you don’t have an hour plus to whip one up.

May I recommend? This recipe has all those layers of creamy and crunchy, salty and sweet—and it all comes together in about 10 minutes, thanks to the marvel that is instant pudding. For a true banana flavor, I use the vanilla mix and then fold in freshly mashed banana.

That creamy banana custard is piled atop a layer of buttery crushed almonds and graham cracker crumbs, then topped with caramelized bananas and whipped cream.

Start whipping this up at 8, and you’ll be taking your first bite by 8:15.

Watch the video!

caramelized banana cream pie in a glass

Serves 1 or 2

Ingredients:

1.5 tablespoons vanilla instant pudding powder

1/4 cup almond milk (or any other milk)

2 graham crackers

About 8 almonds

1.5 tablespoons butter, divided

salt

1 banana, divided in half

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

whipped cream for topping (I recommend Reddi-wip in the interest of saving time!)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the instant pudding powder and milk until smooth. Put in the refrigerator to set.

2. Place the graham crackers and almonds between two pieces of parchment or wax paper and use a rolling pin to crush them. Go for small crumbles, not a fine powder.

3. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium low heat. Once it’s melted, sprinkle the cracker crumbs and crushed almonds into the pan along with a light sprinkling of salt. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Stir constantly so the crumbs toast up evenly. Take them off the heat when they appear dry but before they start to burn (this only takes a minute or two) and pour them into your serving glass. Reserve 1 teaspoon for sprinkling over the top.

4. Cut the banana in half and mash up one of the halves. Fold the mashed banana into the pudding, then put the pudding back in the refrigerator.

5. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small container. Cut the second half of the banana into coins and place them in the container. Put the lid on the container and shake to coat the banana coins in the sugar.

6. In the same skillet from step 3, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Then add the sugared banana coins and sprinkle any leftover sugar over the top. Let the bananas cook flat in the butter for a minute before flipping them over and caramelizing the other sides. When both sides of the coins are a deep golden brown, take the pan off the heat and add the vanilla, swirling the pan to mix it in.

7. Take the pudding from the refrigerator and spoon it over the toasted crumbs in the serving glass. Then top the pudding with the caramelized bananas. Finish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of the reserved crumbs.